• Derision: Derision is a noun and it means a deep form of mockery and ridicule. A very deep one mind it! When you just simper at someone it is not derision. Derision is extreme form of humiliation. Other high frequency synonyms of this word that keep appearing in GRE are Disdain, Ridicule, Contempt, Scorn etc. Well the usage could be “Her crude behavior elicited derision’’. Now you know the meaning of the word. Try framing a few meaningful sentences and share them with us either here or forum.

• Debauchery: Debauchery is extreme form of immorality. It is an extreme form of indulgence in things that give person sensual pleasure. Depravity, Decadence, Dissipation and Dissolution are a few High Frequency Synonyms of the word. Note them all in your book. All the five words are equally important for GRE.

• Intransigence: Intransigence and the related nouns keep appearing in GRE time and again. Intransigence is being overtly stubborn. It is being very obdurate and unyielding. A person who is intransigent says ‘NO’ and sticks to it eternally. Recalcitrance, Obstinacy are the high frequency words associated with the word ‘Intransigence’

• Invective: An invective is a violent denunciation. It’s a severe curse. A violent vituperation. Diatribe, Tirade are the words that mean the same and appear in GRE almost every time.

• Austerity: Austerity is extreme form of non-indulgence. The word is an exact opposite for Debauchery. I am sure now you got it right. Sternness, Asceticism are the other synonyms of the word. Reminder: These words are equally important too.

• Voracity: Voracity is being extremely greedy. Rapacity, Avidity are the associated words. A person can have a ‘voracious appetite’ meaning extreme greed for food. One can also demonstrate a ‘Voracious appetite for words’.

• Wastrel: A wastrel is a spendthrift who has no value for money. He is basically a vagabond and loafer. His extravagance goes out of bounds. I think I have defined wastrel in an extreme form and now the word requires no further explanation. What you need to do is to think if you have stopped by a ‘Wastrel’ in your life? If you have and can contribute to this article by sharing with us, nothing will be valued more.

Work on these words that will impart you unusual power in GRE. It’s an absolute fact that these words keep appearing in GRE exam. Try to recollect many visuals that relate to a specific word from the above list, link them to situations, people that you know. Activate your imagination. When you do all these you will have them recorded permanently in your memory.

Remember Always:

Do not just read but work on these words. Use a notebook to jot them down and a dictionary to understand the meaning and the context better. As I always tell: Utter the words aloud- each word five times!!

Indispensable Tactics and Techniques:

1. Work with the word.

2. Expand its meaning into a suitable context.

3. Relate it to the person or situation you know.

4. Share the word with your friends, colleagues

5. Try to pronounce the word aloud at least five times

You need to read this article more than once to attain unusual power during GRE. Do you know some more words- Nouns (specifically) of unusual power. Please do share them here with us. You can also start posting them in forum. So catch you soon!

Wishing you all a great success in GRE!!

Regards,

Anu Veluri

Manager- learnwordlist.com

• Devastate: The verb ‘devastate’ can be both physical and psychological in its effect. Physically an earthquake destroys or devastates everything. The victims of earthquake are psychologically destroyed, dismayed or devastated. Aren’t they? Devastate means to destroy, to demolish, to ruin etc.

• Enjoin: The verb ‘enjoin’ means to command. Usually the prefix ‘en’ puts some emphasis on the latter part of the word. Look at the words enhance, encourage, entail, encumber all these words suggest some kind of emphasis taking place. Similarly the verb ‘enjoin’ means to command. When a doctor enjoins something it means he commands you to follow it inevitably.

· Instigate: To instigate is to stir up, make people revolt. An opposition party leader usually instigates people   to go against the ruling party.

• Effectuate: Effectuate is the verb that’s derived from the noun effect. To effectuate is to bring about a change, to effect something or someone etc.

• Expedite: When your pace becomes really slow and you are not meeting the slated deadlines your boss gets irritated. He suggests you to expedite your pace. To expedite is to accelerate, to speed up etc.

• Preempt: To preempt is to appropriate, to substitute. I will tell you how it works. Imagine a situation wherein you are anxiously seated in front of your television set waiting for the live telecast of One Day International (a cricket match). There’s an unanticipated downpour in the stadium and the match timings are rescheduled. The Television Station airs another program instead of the live telecast; say a Sitar recital or some disease awareness program. This is to preempt. I am sure you will now never forget this word.

• Coerce: To coerce is to pressurize someone, to intimidate, to make people do things by force. For example a traitor coercing (forcing) a person to sign on a document holding a gun against his head! Can you now visualize a situation like that? If yes then you will never forget this word too.

• Extirpate: To extirpate is to destroy something totally. It also means to remove something permanently.

• Commandeer: To commandeer is to order or force into active military service. Just imagine a police officer ordering a relaxed cab driver reading a newspaper to follow the bunch of robbers fleeing right in front of them. He just sits beside the cab driver and tells him ‘follow them!’ The cab driver has nothing better to do than to follow. Such an action is commandeering.

• Embroil: To embroil is to bring into a discord, a conflict. It also means to throw into confusion or complicate things.

**{Example: “Avoid . . . any step that may embroil us with Great Britain” (Alexander Hamilton).}

I suggest you all to act on these words. Imagine many more situations than the words and situations I suggested to implement these words. Think at least five more situations for each word. But please do remember whether you like it or not these are the words that keep appearing in GRE’s (Graduate Record Examination) Verbal Ability Section.

Some important advice as always:

Do not just read but work on these words. Use a notebook to jot them down and a dictionary to understand the meaning and the context better. As I always tell: Utter the words aloud- each word five times!!

Things you should never forget:

1. Work with the word.

2. Expand its meaning into a suitable context.

3. Relate it to the person or situation you know.

4. Share the word with your friends, colleagues

5. Try to pronounce the word aloud at least five times

Read this blog on action verbs more than once to imbibe its essence. Do get back to us with queries in case you have any.

Wishing you success!!

Regards,

Anu Veluri

Manager- learnwordlist.com

** The example has been quoted from dictionary.com.

]]> http://learnwordlist.com/blog/high-frequency-gre-action-words-verbs/2009/10/gre-word-list-test-blog-barrons-vocabulary/feed 121 http://learnwordlist.com/blog/gre-analogy-segment-strategies-and-techniques/2009/10/gre-word-list-test-blog-barrons-vocabulary http://learnwordlist.com/blog/gre-analogy-segment-strategies-and-techniques/2009/10/gre-word-list-test-blog-barrons-vocabulary#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:30:09 +0000 Admin http://learnwordlist.com/blog/?p=134 Hi All! Last week we learned different Analogy types. This week we will see how to apply certain strategies to crack the Analogy segment of the GRE. But before getting into the actual questions we will have a quick glance at the directions and number of questions asked in the exam.

The Analogy section in the GRE appears like this:

Directions: In each of the sample questions, a related pair of words or phrases is followed by five lettered pairs of words or phrases. Click on the lettered pair that best expresses a relationship similar to that expressed in the original pair. (There are 11 questions in this section.)

(Let us remember a few very important points from the preceding blog!)

The Analogies Segment of GRE is one very challenging. Unlike the antonyms segment this segment doesn’t allow the student do some intelligent guessing. The student has to perfectly establish the relationship between the word pair given as the question, and select an answer that confirms a similar relationship.

What’s an Analogy?

Analogy is the study of similarity existing between a word pair. For example there exists a similarity between a human hand and a whale’s flipper, a pump and a heart. A study of such similarity is Analogy.

A word of caution from the GRE Examiners:

{ETS’ guidelines to the students: Analogy questions test your ability to recognize the relationship between the words in a word pair and to recognize when two word pairs display parallel relationships. To answer an analogy question, you must formulate the relationship between the words in the given word pair and then select the answer containing words related to one another in most nearly the same way. Some examples are relationships of kind, size, spatial contiguity, or degree.

Here are some approaches that may be helpful in answering analogy questions:

• Before looking at the answer choices, try to establish a precise relationship between the words in the given pair. It is usually helpful to express that relationship in a phrase or sentence. Then look for the answer choice containing the word pair whose relationship is closest to that of the given pair and can be expressed in a similar fashion.
• Occasionally, more than one of the answer choices may seem to express a relationship similar to that of the given pair. Try to state the relationship more precisely, or identify some aspect of the relationship that is paralleled in only one choice pair.
• Remember that a single word can have several different meanings. Check to be sure you have not overlooked a possible second meaning for one of the words.
• Never decide on the best answer without reading all the answer choices.
• Practice recognizing and formulating relationships between word pairs.}

Let us now look at a model GRE Question and understand the ways to answer it correctly:

SEDATIVE: DROWSINESS:

A. epidemic: contagiousness

B. vaccine: virus

C. laxative: drug

D. anesthetic: numbness

E. therapy: psychosis

Like any other GRE question the Analogy Questions have five answer choices each.

Dear student, when you first glance at and read an analogy question try to establish a relationship between the two words. In a simpler language, try to draw a connecting link between the two words.

Well you might be wondering what a ‘connecting link’ is. A Connecting link is usually a ‘verb’ that bridges the two given words.

Look at the question, there is some relationship between the two words given as the question. Sedative and Drowsiness are related. Now try to think of a connecting link, a verb precisely. A sedative ‘induces’ drowsiness, doesn’t it? Therefore the connecting link between the two words is ‘induces’ a verb. Now apply the connecting link to all the answer choices and see whether the link fits into the context or not. I bet it’s an interesting exercise!

Option A: An epidemic ‘induces’ contagiousness. Absurd isn’t it? An epidemic ‘is’ contagious but it does not ‘induce’ contagiousness. Obviously this is a wrong answer choice.

Option B: A vaccine ’induces’ virus. Sounds inane once again! A vaccine ‘destroys’ virus. Therefore ‘destroys’ becomes the connecting link here in this case, not ‘induces’.

Option C: A laxative ‘induces’ drug. Ruled out! A laxative ‘is’ a drug.

Option D: An anesthetic ‘induces’ numbness. Well, that is true. Anesthetic is a drug that induces numbness. But according to ETS’ guidelines we have to consider all the answer choices before zeroing on a particular one. Let us hold this ‘apparently right’ answer choice for a while.

Option E: Therapy ‘induces’ psychosis. ‘Induces’ doesn’t fit as the connecting link in this context. A therapy (treatment) ‘cures’ psychosis (a mental disorder), it doesn’t ‘induce’ psychosis. Obviously this is not the right answer choice. Hence, the only right answer choice is option D.

This is how we come to the right answer choice eliminating the wrong or the irrelevant ones. But you need to be really fast eliminating the wrong choices. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) will not give you an opulent time frame. You need to think ‘all these’ in a period of say 45 seconds or lesser than that.

Practice and practice alone will help you crack this section smoothly and confidently. We are shortly displaying some really useful Analogy tests on the website and I am sure reading these two blogs on Analogies and taking those tests will enable you to crack the GRE section adeptly.

Read this blog more than once to understand the strategies. Keep in mind the following aspects:

1. Read the question and ‘all’ the answer choices at least once thoroughly

2. Do not jump to conclusion

3. Try to draw a connecting link between the two words given as question

4. Apply the same connecting link to all the answer choices

5. The word pair that takes the connecting link perfectly is your answer choice

Please do get back to us with doubts and queries.

Regards,

Anu Veluri

Manager- Learnwordlist.com

Note: Information within brackets ‘{}’ is provided by ets.org.

Use some strategies that will permanently instill the meaning of the word in your brain- come what may!! Most of the words asked in GRE Verbal Ability Section of the examination are verbs, nouns and adjectives. Knowing this will automatically reduce our burden to half its actual weight and size! We will now see some High Frequency GRE Words (verbs) and how they can be permanently committed to our memory.

These are the verbs that deal with human qualities (traits, personality). The answer to the words personality, traits, behavior comes from the question ‘What do we do?’ Here is a set of high frequency GRE words. Let us understand each word and have it permanently in our memory. Let us see how these words tell us what we do!

• 1. Languish: A person ‘languishes’ i.e., becomes weak when he/she hopelessly yearns/longs for something. To languish is to yearn for, long for and pine for.
  2. Commiserate: A person ‘commiserates’, when he/she has sympathy over the misfortunes and losses of others. To commiserate is to sympathize.
  3. Abhor: A person ‘abhors’ when he/she demonstrates deep hatred for anything. She abhors arguments! Means ‘she hates arguments’ (Is that not a personality trait?). To abhor is to hate something intensely.
  4. Gormandize: A person is said to ‘gormandize’ when he/she has an unusual appetite. When he/she displays craving for eating and usually lose control while doing so. Did you happen to meet any such person? (( Smiles))
  5. Condone: Some people have a forgiving nature. They forgive instantly and keep moving ahead. To condone is to overlook, to ignore, to forgive, and to pardon. Aren’t our Mothers like that?
  6. Importune: These are the people that pester, trouble, annoy others. They have repeated demands. To importune is to pester, to annoy
  7. Grovel: People who grovel literally beg and cringe at the feet of others. They have a kind of slavish attitude. To grovel is to beg, to plead.
  8. Covet: Covet is a high frequency GRE word that shows a person’s irrational craving or desire for anything. To covet is to desire wrongfully, inordinately. Example: To covet another’s property is to desire wrongfully another’s property. Hope you got it right!
  9. Malinger: Malinger is a verb that shows the behavior of a person towards work. To malinger is to shirk, avoid work. Usually kids feign illness to escape from the school. Did you visualize any such kid? Many!! Didn’t you?
  10. Expiate: Expiate is a high frequency GRE word. Did you watch any movie wherein the villain/hero repents after committing a crime? He eventually repents for what he has done and spends the later part of the life trying to amend for the mistakes he committed. Yes you got it. To expiate is to atone for, amend for one’s crimes! Do you know the story of Anguliman (from the legends of Gautam Buddha) and how he expiates his guilt by becoming a staunch follower of Buddhism? Interesting story, isn’t it?

Dear students do not just mug up the meaning of a word, instead work with the word. Expand its meaning into a suitable context. Relate it to the person or situation you know. Share the word with your friends, colleagues and try to pronounce the word aloud at least five times! You will never-never forget it.

Practice the above mentioned words this week and share with us a few more words, verbs that deal with the personality traits of a human being. We shall be awaiting your responses on these high frequency GRE words.

Regards,

Anu Veluri

Manager- learnwordlist.com

‘Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man’, how insightful was Francis Bacon to write this! Indeed reading is one major and basic skill that is tested in many of the competitive examinations these days. No wonder it happens to be one major segment in the GRE.

The GRE General Test has three Reading Comprehension Passages. The length of a typical RC passage is between 500 and 650 words. All these passages have a euphemistic tone and are free from discrimination of any kind. We have to remember that the GRE is an American Examination, naturally the passages deal with the socio-economic, historical and scientific aspects pertaining to the great nation.

The tone of the passages is generally neutral, and the type of the Reading Comprehension is usually discursive (one having many views, contradictions and data pertaining to breakthrough researches). The number of questions asked ranges from 19 to 22.

The above mentioned are the technical details of the exam, now coming to the actual strategies that one needs to adopt for cracking this segment successfully, one has no way but to read the passage effectively, accurately and fast. There is no short-cut once again, to get through this segment with a feather in the cap. As a student you have to run through the passage with all your soul and heart.

It’s a human tendency to read articles faster and understand them better, those that appeal to him/her. Unfortunately you may see extremely ‘boring’ kind of passages on the computer screen in GRE. But that shouldn’t kill your enthusiasm to read. There’s no way my dear student, you have to fall in love with that passage and read it as if you were the writer, or at least a person who’s genuinely interested in similar issue. Yes, that’s right you have to read the passages with a ‘sense of inquiry’. As if there’s nothing between you and the comprehension you are reading. You have to keep your brain focused and free from thoughts not pertaining to GRE when you are reading.

You have to do a progressive reading. I strongly object ‘regression’, i.e. going back to the last read lines time and again. If you are doing that it shows that you are not an effective reader and you need a lot of practice before you take GRE. Few persons are born with photographic memory. We are not Swami Vivekananda or Acharya Vinobha Bhave to remember things in one single go.

Hence, I suggest you make use of the rough paper to jot down important data, dates while reading. This will make you feel committed to the passage. You can also do a lip-sync while reading. This helps in remembering things better. If you complement lip-sync to the movement of your eyes over the lines of RC you will remember the contents of the write-up a better way. Scientific studies prove this. As you are reading have a sense of belonging with the passage. Ask yourself why, where, who, what, which. Put them on the rough paper. Try to predict the future of the passage even as you are reading. Please be objective in your analysis, don’t become subjective. Put yourself in the author’s position and think. There is no ‘in my opinion’ in GRE – RC.

One very important thing about RC is Vocabulary. Please do not become panicky when you find an alien word. Guess the meaning of the word taking the broader context into consideration. Let the alien word not become a potential impediment during the process of reading. Remember, you have to do all these in stark 15 minutes!!

Effective reading techniques for GRE- RC in nutshell:

1. lip-sync while reading

2. read with a sense of inquiry

3. predict the future of the passage

4. remember the 5 Ws

5. guess the meanings of the words ( you don’t know) in broader context

6. do a progressive reading not a regressive one

7. jot down the important dates/data on a rough paper

Some students believe that they can first read the question and then read the passage. Dear students, what will you do when the very first question is asking you the central idea of the passage? Will that not be a criminal wastage of time? And please come out of the fallacy that the questions asked in GRE-RC are direct in nature. Most of them are inferential type questions. So you have to do a lot of ‘reading between the lines’. But the ETS does make your lives easier by providing the passage with paragraph numbers or highlighting certain words in the passage for a quick reference. Please read the passage as if you were in love with it.

Some GRE-RC options that can never be the correct answer choice:

1. All hasty generalizations
2. Options that support discrimination of any kind
3. Options that have an acerbic tone
4. irrelevant options ( red herring fallacy )

So out of the five options you are ideally left with one correct answer choice. Did you get my point there?… (That’s a great clue! smiles)

Let us now read what the ETS has to say about the Reading Comprehension segment of GRE:

{{**Reading comprehension questions measure your ability to read with understanding, insight and discrimination. This type of question explores your ability to analyze a written passage from several perspectives. These include your ability to recognize both explicitly stated elements in the passage and assumptions underlying statements or arguments in the passage as well as the implications of those statements or arguments.

Because the written passage upon which the questions are based presents a sustained discussion of a particular topic, there is ample context for analyzing a variety of relationships.

Pay attention to the following as you review the passage:

• The function of a word in relation to a larger segment of the passage
• The relationships among the various ideas in the passage
• The relationship of the author to the topic or to the audience.

You will find five types of reading comprehension questions to answer:

1. The main point of the passage
2. Information explicitly stated in the passage
3. Information or ideas implied or suggested by the author
4. Possible applications of the author’s ideas to other situations, including the identification of situations or processes analogous to those described in the passage
5. The author’s logic, reasoning, or persuasive techniques

In each edition of the General Test, there are three or more reading comprehension passages, each providing the basis for answering two or more questions. The passages are drawn from different subject matter areas, including the humanities, the social sciences, the biological sciences, and the physical sciences.

Here are some approaches that may help you in answering reading comprehension questions.

• Since reading passages are drawn from many different disciplines and sources, you may not be familiar with the material in every passage. Do not be discouraged if you encounter unfamiliar material. Questions are to be answered on the basis of the information provided in the passage, and you are not expected to rely on outside knowledge of a particular topic.
• You should analyze each passage carefully before answering the accompanying questions. As with any kind of close and thoughtful reading, look for clues that will help you understand less explicit aspects of the passage. Try to separate main ideas from supporting ideas or evidence. Try also to separate the author’s own ideas or attitudes from information he or she is presenting.
• Note transitions from one idea to the next, and examine the relationships among the different ideas or parts of the passage. For example, are they contrasting? Are they complementary? Consider the points the author makes, the conclusions drawn, and how and why those points are made or conclusions are drawn.
• Read each question carefully and be certain that you understand exactly what is being asked.
• Always read all the answer choices before selecting the best answer.
• The best answer is the one that most accurately and most completely answers the questions being posed. Be careful not to pick an answer choice simply because it is a true statement. Be careful also not to be misled by answer choices that are only partially true or only partially satisfy the problem posed in the question.
• Answer the questions on the basis of the information provided in the passage. Do not rely on outside knowledge. Your own views or opinions may sometimes conflict with the views expressed or the information provided in the passage. Be sure that you work within the context of the passage. You should not expect to agree with everything you encounter in reading passages. **}}

Read the article carefully at least two to three times. Approach us with queries in case you have any.

Regards,

Anu Veluri

Manager- learnwordlist.com

{** The following text is an extract from ets.org}

Types of meaning

A. Basic meaning: when you look up a word, the main thing that you want to know is its basic meaning. For ex, in ‘She has fair hair, the word fair= light, opposite of dark or in It’s time to wind up the discussion now, the words wind up= end’.

However, there are lot of other aspects of meaning that it is important to be aware of, particularly when you are studying in more advanced level of English.

B. Polysemy or multiple meanings: A great many words in English have more than one meaning. Look at fair and wind up and their different meanings in these examples:

1. That wasn’t a very fair thing to say (adjective: just)

2. The handsome knight fell in love with the fair maiden (adjective: beautiful)

3. His knowledge of French is fair (adjective: neither very bad nor very good)

4. She has a fair chance of winning the prize (adjective: reasonable)

5. Fair weather is forecast for tomorrow (adjective: dry and pleasant)

6. There is a fair on at the park this week (noun: public event with games and rides)

1. Don’t forget to wind up your watch (turn a knob on a clock work watch so it keeps going).
2. She seems to enjoy winding him up. ( tell someone something in order to deliberately annoy)
3. If he carries on like this he’s going to wind up in prison. ( end up in an unpleasant situation)

C. Synonymy: English has a lot of different words with similar and slightly different meanings. Look these words that are synonymous with fair and wind up (with the meanings illustrated in A):

Fair- light, blonde, colorless, pale, bleached

Wind up- end, finish, complete, close, close, conclude, terminate, discontinue, and abort

D. Collocation: words are used with each other in fairly fixed ways in English. You cannot, for example use all of the synonyms in C as replacements in the example sentences in A. Hair ca be fair, light, blonde or bleached (though each of these has a slightly different meaning) but it is not usually described as pale or colorless. Skin can be fair, light and pale but it is not usually described as blonde, colorless or bleached. Colorless collocates with, for example gas or liquid.

E. Connotation: Words do not only have meanings, they also have associations. At an advanced level of English, it is important to develop an impression of what connotations certain words have. The sentence ‘who is fairest of them all’, for example, immediately makes English speakers think of the wicked step mother in the children’s fairy tale Snow White and the fairer sex refers to women. Fair meaning beautiful or attractive is an old-fashioned word and it has associations with fairy tales and stories about the past.

F. Register: It is important also to note whether any words you are learning have a particular register. For example, apparel is a formal or literary word and to wind up someone is both British and informal.

I want you all to come up with similar words like fair/wind up and their usage.

I shall wait for your response.

Kind Regards,

Anu Veluri

Manager, Learnwordlist.com

]]> http://learnwordlist.com/blog/experts-say/2009/05/gre-word-list-test-blog-barrons-vocabulary/feed 9 http://learnwordlist.com/blog/silence-is-not-golden/2009/03/gre-word-list-test-blog-barrons-vocabulary http://learnwordlist.com/blog/silence-is-not-golden/2009/03/gre-word-list-test-blog-barrons-vocabulary#comments Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:49:42 +0000 Admin http://learnwordlist.com/blog/?p=3 How true!! I had to rewrite this proverb in order to meet the requirement of GRE students.

“Words, Words and Words”, this is all about GRE Verbal. The more words you know the brighter the chances of securing an awesome score in the Verbal Ability segment. The brighter are the chances for securing a seat in that coveted University you always aspired to be in.

As most of us know the GRE Verbal Ability part has four main sections- Antonyms, Sentence Completion, Analogies and Reading Comprehension I would like to start a sequence of explanation for all the major components of the GRE. To begin with, I will first deal with Vocabulary as one major controlling factor to crack the first three question types in the aforementioned sentence.

The Wikipedia defines Vocabulary as a person’s set of words he/she is familiar with in a language. A vocabulary usually grows and evolves with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. I guess we all now understand how justified is the ETS to include this very pertinent field in order to sift the rightful candidates for the American Universities.

Adding to your vocabulary is certainly not a Herculean task. It is much easier than you realize. Setting realistic goals for snow balling your vocabulary list is very important. An average person would have, not more than 1000-1500 words stored in his/her memory. When I say 1500 it’s a bit on the higher side!! At the same time one cannot become a Winston Churchill with an awesome 10,000 words at one’s command! To score a perfect 800 in GRE Verbal you need to have a decent understanding of say 3500 words (which are usually termed – High Frequency GRE Words). They are called ‘High Frequency’ because once you land in the US of A; you will get to hear these words the most on the College Campus. Once you equip yourself with these magical words, you would be able to locate yourself more appropriately. There would be no embarrassing occasion (misunderstanding, misconstruing) whatsoever.

I would now like to speak on some ‘realistic goals’ that you may like to set for yourself. But before dealing with the ‘realistic’ goals I would like to comment on the ‘unrealistic’ ones.

Some unrealistic goals students set for themselves:

1. Learning 20-30 new words a day!
2. ‘Remembering words’ and ‘learning by heart’ techniques
3. Memorizing words in sequence, i.e. (let me first complete list A and then I will go to list B…that’s a big pain in the neck isn’t it?…phew!!)
4. Learning the words mechanically without imbibing it’s flavor
5. Not caring even a bit for the word history and considering test taking a sheer mechanical process

What are the realistic goals?

1. Start adding to your ‘Vocabulary’ list well in advance
2. Do not try to imbibe the meaning of more than 3-5 words a day
3. Learn the ‘synonyms’ of the words that you shortlist for a day
4. Start reading good magazines, journals and newspapers
5. Develop vision, ear and heart for good words
6. Adding to vocabulary is fun! Do not make it a stress generating act for yourself!

The more words you know, the more articulate speaker you can be. Such a credential boosts and enhances your confidence, building your profile cut above the rest!

Therefore, for all you aspirants!

Silence is definitely not golden in today’s competitive world. Hope all you guys now would surely agree with me.

Stay tuned to my Blog to catch up with a Series on GRE Verbal Prep Strategies and more comments on Vocabulary Development/ Improvement Strategy.

Kindly post queries on the topic if any.

Anu Veluri

Manager- Learnwordlist.com

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