Reading is Fundamental
By Jeff Ballif, Intern (@jeffballif)
Recently I’ve been expanding my reading selection in order to gain a more broad vocabulary and refine my writing style. I started out my journey with a copy of The New Yorker. So far in my reading, I’ve counted several words that I have to admit I don’t know the meaning of. Among them are nascent, draconian, mélange and ebullient. I dutifully consulted the dictionary on the meanings of these words to find out that nascent means up-and-coming, draconian refers to a law or rule with high severity, mélange is another word for a brew or concoction and ebullient is a sophisticated way of saying cheerful, jovial or bright.
Although I’ve never considered myself pedestrian in the use of the English language, I respect the fact that I have much to learn from the writing found in highbrow magazines the likes of The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The Economist. Consistently reading top-tier magazines helps to improve writing style, vocabulary, grammar and punctuation – all of which are required skills for public relations specialists.
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