Vocabulary and other subtle acts of learning.

Where do we learn vocabulary, after they stop giving us spelling tests in third grade? I know now that many people cram for the language portion of the SAT -- I would have scored higher if I'd thought of that. I am especially interested in where we pick up the subtlety of English, which often has dozens of words in various categories. It's why a real thesaurus is so useful -- it's like a sliding scale of notes.

I have had a lot of odd language changes in my brain, with the problems my condition has caused. I don't always trust my own choice of vocabulary. So when a sentence like this comes out in the novel:

She decided his comment wasn’t a question so much as a supposition. Therefore, she didn’t have to answer it.

I suddenly stop and think: "Can I use ‘supposition’ like this?"

( Can I? )