One of the biggest barriers to learning a new subject is its nomenclature, meaning the set of terms used to describe the things it deals with. A subject must have accurate labels which have exact meanings before it can be understood and communicated.

If I were to describe parts of the body as “thingamabobs” and “whatsernames”, we would all be in a confusion, so the accurate naming of something is a very important part of any field.

A student comes along and starts to study something and has a terrible time of it. Why? Because he or she not only has a lot of new principles and methods to learn, but a whole new language as well. Unless the student understands this, unless he or she realizes that one has to “know the words before one can sing the tune”, he or she is not going to get very far in any field of study or endeavour.

Now I am going to give you an important datum:

The only reason a person gives up a study or becomes confused or unable to learn is because he or she has gone past a word that was not understood.

The confusion or inability to grasp or learn comes AFTER a word that the person did not have defined and understood.

Have you ever had the experience of coming to the end of a page and realizing you didn’t know what you had read? Well, somewhere earlier on that page you went past a word that you had no definition for.

Here’s an example. “It was found that when the crepuscule arrived the children were quieter and when it was not present, they were much livelier.” You see what happens. You think you don’t understand the whole idea, but the inability to understand came entirely from the one word you could not define, crepuscule which means twilight or darkness.

This datum about not going past an undefined word is the most important fact in the whole subject of study. Every subject you have taken up and abandoned had its words which you failed to get defined.

Therefore, in studying Scientology be very, very certain you never go past a word you do not fully understand. If the material becomes confusing or you can’t seem to grasp it, there will be a word just earlier that you have not understood. Don’t go any further, but go back to BEFORE you got into trouble, find the misunderstood word and get it defined.

That is why we have a dictionary. It will not only be the new and unusual words that you will have to look up. Some commonly used words can often be misdefined and so cause confusion. So don’t depend on our dictionary alone. Use a general English language dictionary as well for any non-Scientology word you do not understand when you are reading or studying.

Some words that a student misunderstands and looks up can yet remain troublesome.

It’s this way: The student runs across a word he or she doesn’t understand. He or she looks it up, finds a substitute word and uses that.

Of course the first word is still misunderstood and remains a bother.

Example: (Line in text) “The size was Gargantuan.” The student looks up Gargantuan, finds “Like Gargantua, huge.” The student uses “huge” as a synonym and reads the text line, “The size was ‘huge’.” A short while later he or she is found still incapable of understanding the paragraph below “Gargantua” in the text.

The principle is that one goes dull after passing over a word one does not understand and brightens up the moment he spots the word that wasn’t grasped. In actual fact, the brightening up occurs whether one defines the word or not.

But to put another word in the place of the existing words is to mess it all up.

The correct procedure is to look over, get defined well and understand the word that was used.

In this case the word was “Gargantuan”. Very well, what’s that? It means “Like Gargantua” according to the dictionary.

Who or what was Gargantua? The dictionary says it was the name of a gigantic King in a book written by the author Rabelais. Cheers, the student thinks, the sentence meant, “The size was a gigantic King.” Oops! That’s the same mistake again, like “huge”. But we’re nearer.

So what to do? Use Gargantuan in a few sentences you make up and bingo! You suddenly understand the word that was used.

Now you read it right. “The size was Gargantuan.” And what does that mean? It means, “The size was Gargantuan.” And nothing else.

Scientology words and their definitions are the gateway to a new look and understanding of life. Understanding them will help you live better, and will assist you along the road of truth that is Scientology.

Note: More complete information on Scientology technology in the field of study and education is contained in L. Ron Hubbard’s eight tape recorded Study Lectures. Send for your free Catalog which lists these in detail, available from the publishers.