While growing up much of my access to English was through written words (literature, newspapers, magazines etc.) so my English vocabulary grew primarily due to

While growing up much of my access to English was through written words (literature, newspapers, magazines etc.) so my English vocabulary grew primarily due to my readings. I do have run into a few minor troubles when I use some of the words I learnt so in my speech. Despite that, I think learning via reading has been a net gain for me. So I don't necessarily agree that one should never learn a word without learning how it sounds.