When English is not your mother tongue and you don’t speak it frequently, it is normal to not get the meaning of occasional English words in some texts. What do you do then?
I often consult useful online resources like wordreference and hyperdictionary, which offer many tools for non-native English speakers/readers.
But it’s also helpful when newspapers give you a hand for understanding. At NYT.com, double-clicking any word in a story brings up a popup window with a definition. This “reference search” feature is powered by Answers.com. It’s not always successful (for instance, in this NYT.com story today, a definition was available for “Viagra” but not for “gunmen”), but for a non-native speaker this built-in feature can help.
On the other hand, the Spanish-language edition of BBC World Service includes a Learn English section, where you can learn the language through news, sounds, movies and even games. This is part of the BBC World Service’s decades-long tradition of offering English-language training in many languages.
From this side of the world, where it is not easy to find somebody who speaks English fluently, both approaches are a much appreciated when following English-language news.
