Many larger words are actually two smaller words shoved together. These are called "compound words," and they make reading large words quite easy.

You already know many compound words.

• doghouse
• rainbow
• catbox
• woodland

Compound words use smaller words to combine meanings. A 'doghouse' is a house for a dog. A 'woodland' is a land covered with trees. Simple enough, right? What do you think these compound words mean?

• chatterbox
• forthright
• landmark

And how about these?

• tenpin
• bedpost
• bathmat
• puffball

Once you start looking for words made up of two smaller words, you'll see them everywhere (Ah-ha! There's one now!).

• selectman
• muskmelon
• postmistress
• snapdragon
• basketball

Notice how the words on the list have gradually gotten longer and longer? Hopefully, that has built your confidence somewhat. You CAN read long words!

The great thing about true compound words is that once you've seen the two little words contained within them, you know what the word means. There's little guesswork involved in decoding 'congressman' once you've separated 'congress' and 'man.' You can see that 'strongbox' means a sturdy place to keep things when you spot the words 'strong' and 'box.' The little words within compound words give them their meaning.

Be careful, though, not to assume too much about words that seem to have one word hiding in them. Watch out for words like

• spinach
• trumpet
• cosmetic

In the first word, you can pick out the word 'spin,' but it has little to do with the leafy green vegetable. See 'pet' in 'trumpet'? Not connected, is it? The word 'met' is hiding within 'cosmetic', but again, there's little connection. To truly be a compound word, there must be two words lending meaning to the whole.

Now that you know what you're looking for, how many compound words can you find in text that you have lying around? Look in books, newspapers, and magazines. See how many compound words you can find, and jot them down.

Take a look at your list when it gets to twenty or so. How many of these words have more than eight letters? More than ten? More than twelve? Some compound words are very large and look pretty intimidating, but now that you have the hang of working with them, you'll never need to feel overwhelmed again!