Why can sounding out an unfamiliar word to unlock its meaning? saying the sounds of a word can you to see that the author of the text has made a mistake that blocks your understanding. by sounding out a word and saying it to yourself, you will be forced to stop thinking about other things that are distracting you as you read. hearing a word spoken aloud can reveal that, even though it is not part of your reading vocabulary, it is part of your speaking and listening vocabularies. the meanings of most unfamiliar words can be gathered simply by saying them rather than reading them. which one?