With the start of the new school year comes the inevitable challenge of balancing a new courseload. Maybe you are not even a student, but are balancing the courseload of government, economics, and epidemiology (patterns of disease), trying to keep up with the news. In any case, with so much information overload, the scale can easily tip. This is why it is of utmost importance to figure out how you best learn. Some people are visual learners, some kinesthetic, some auditory, and the list goes on. Still, no matter how you learn, there is a simple but effective way to streamline the process. Like the title says, you know words, you know things.
“NO MATTER WHAT SEASON OF LIFE YOU ARE IN, KEEP PRESSING ON TOWARDS WISDOM.”
Think of the word monochromatic. What does that even mean? Well, if you simplify the word, you may surprise yourself by figuring out the meaning. Mono just means one, and chrome means color. So, monochromatic means “one color.” This pattern is so important to understand, especially when you are diving deep into a subjects like theology, human anatomy and physiology, and even social studies.
So what? Am I just wasting my time writing about something that you already knew about or can type into Google in a matter of seconds? Nope; my goal is to encourage you to take Greek and Latin roots seriously. You probably already knew about all of this, but how much time have you truly taken to apply it? On a timed assignment, quiz, or test, knowing the meaning of a word could be the difference between getting a question right and getting a question wrong. Therefore, not only will this help you to see drastic improvements in the areas of reading comprehension and writing, but you will improve overall as a student too. You also will not need to rely so heavily on specific word memorization as you can use your knowledge of certain roots and apply them to a whole host of different situations.
Speaking from experience, teachers, especially at the college level, will include lots of complex words that you have never heard of before. I remember how intimidated I felt when I was reading through my first college syllabus. It was filled with many fancy words that I did not understand. This made it feel like I was struggling with the content, when in fact it was just the vocabulary that was throwing me off. Moral of the story: do not let fancy jargon deceive you. Understanding words is simpler than you think; and when you know words, you know things. So, no matter what season of life you are in, keep pressing on towards wisdom (Proverbs 19:8).
