MCAT Verbal

[gameg2l]

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I know there has been a lot of discussions on this already, but I am thinking of starting Verbal earlier than other subjects since English is not my first language.

I have very weak vocabulary (proven elsewhere) to a point where I might not even be able to correctly read the articles.
Knowing that, I am thinking of challenging myself to memorize Barron's 3500 word list which I know a lot of you already did for SAT.
How much a day would be more reasonable? I really want to try 100 /day, but it is insane -- I did it for 4 days, then I got lazy, but still, that's 400 words I'd have a little memory of. Would this vocab training be a total overkill? I just thought I need a lot of vocabs under my belt... not just for MCAT

I've seen suggestions like reading the economist. So I went to Android market and downloaded their app right away 🙂 do I need to subscribe? Would just the editors highlight be good enough? I am wondering what other reading resources are good? (I heard fictions are not as important so I am not going to read those)

I bought the EK 101 verbal book. Do you think I should start right now? or after I nailed the vocab list?

I am pending my TPRH verbal book, what kind of format is it in?

Finally, grammar, can someone give me some advice as to how I can improve this? Which book would be the best for me (I need to nail this fast!)

I really hope all these verbal training increase my English ability... it has haunted me for so long.

Thanks for everyone's advice. 😍

 

[PhaseShift11]

Don't memorize a dictionary.

The most reasonable would be memorizing 0 words/day.

Read other news sources as well, but the Economist is good for that sort of purpose.
I don't know about their app but their main site has articles.

No, don't start EK 101 or TPRH until you're ready to begin studying for the MCAT (like 2-3 months before you write it).

Grammar is best obtained by reading and talking, not memorizing rules.

 

[kehlsh]

vocab training will do you a little good, perhaps harm u cuz 1. ur wasting ur time 2. ur brain might be spending memory space in stupid vocab instead of more useful mcat knowledge/content

mcat verbal is critical thinking meaning you have to practice reading not memorizing bunch of random words

i'd start out with reading anything with a keen interest. force yourself to read knowledgable material as if you are so interested in them, thereby developing reading intuition

 

[KindofBlue]

I don't think it will help you much either, because those vocabularies are mostly words that are barely used in real life.
I too would suggest start reading a lot, and since your self-assessed reading level is a bit low, start from easier material. While reading, you could still learn new words by looking them up online, and achieve better reading skills too, so I think it's much beneficial that way.
But if you really think it will help, I think memorizing something like around 20~30 a day would be realistic, although 100 isn't too crazy either.

Start with something like your local newspaper and then eventually move on to material like The Economist and Smithsonian.
Some may disagree, but the Science magazine website I think is good too. But not the actual research article, only the summaries and editor's letter type of things. I felt it was a good amount of scienc-y type article exposure for me.

As for grammar, I felt that the best way for me to learn was by reading. I think you have a basic understanding of grammar (judging from your writing), and all the technical crap about grammar is really useless, so read a lot, and you'll eventually get more familiar with different types of phrases and sentence structures. For this, reading something interesting like a novel would be fine, IMO.

The structure of EK101 and TPRH are the same; passages, problems, and explanation. Those are pretty valuable tools for the MCAT, so I think I would save them till it's about 3 months before your test, when you actually start studying.

 

[gameg2l]

Thank you all for your valuable advice
Local papers are a little bit on the easier side with some vocabs here and there that I had to guess the meaning here and there.
I will start regularly reading Economist, Smithsonian, Wallstreet Journal, and Science America like suggested.
As for vocabularies, I will still memorize 30 /day to just enrich my ability to understand the articles.
For grammar, I'm hoping doing the above reading will help fast enough.

Again, thanks for everything! I hope I don't screw up!

 

[PingPongPro]

Thank you all for your valuable advice
Local papers are a little bit on the easier side with some vocabs here and there that I had to guess the meaning here and there.
I will start regularly reading Economist, Smithsonian, Wallstreet Journal, and Science America like suggested.
As for vocabularies, I will still memorize 30 /day to just enrich my ability to understand the articles.
For grammar, I'm hoping doing the above reading will help fast enough.

Again, thanks for everything! I hope I don't screw up!

Memorizing even 30 words a day is a waste of time/effort. I understand you have trouble with vocab, but there is very very little chance the words you learn will be used in the passage. Even if it is used, there is very little chance it is vital to understanding the entire passage. I recommend studying/learning the greek/latin roots (i.e something like this: https://www.msu.edu/~defores1/gre/roots/gre_rts_afx2.htm). There are many better sources than the one I posted, maybe check out a bookstore. This is probably a lot more beneficial to you since it will be more applicable to a wide range of words. Its somewhat analogous to learning the IUPAC convention of naming organic molecules rather than learning each molecule's name individually. If you stumble upon a word you don't know, it becomes a lot easier deducing the meaning by the roots and the context of the word.

 

[snorlax]

I disagree with all the above. I actively study vocabulary from vocabulary books (in 3 different languages) and it is extremely helpful and enriching for me. When I come across a word in real life that I have studied in a vocab book, it is greatly reinforced. Had I not studied a particular word, I might have continued to overlook it.

It comes down to learning style. Most people are lazy and can't sit down to memorize some vocabulary words. If you feel like your vocabulary is lacking, there's no more efficient way to gain a huge vocabulary fast than studying them in a book that has compiled appropriate academic word lists for your convenience.

 

[PingPongPro]

I disagree with all the above. I actively study vocabulary from vocabulary books (in 3 different languages) and it is extremely helpful and enriching for me. When I come across a word in real life that I have studied in a vocab book, it is greatly reinforced. Had I not studied a particular word, I might have continued to overlook it.

It comes down to learning style. Most people are lazy and can't sit down to memorize some vocabulary words. If you feel like your vocabulary is lacking, there's no more efficient way to gain a huge vocabulary fast than studying them in a book that has compiled appropriate academic word lists for your convenience.

How much time would you say you spent memorizing vocab lists? How often would you come across a word that you recently learned and remember what it meant on the spot? And how often was not knowing a word detrimental to understanding the entire article, paper, etc.?

I don't think most people are lazy and can't memorize word lists. I think most people are just smart enough to realize that the work required to memorize word lists is not worth it. There are simply better ways to spend your time studying for the MCAT than memorizing words.

 

[ThereSheGoes]

Studying vocab words won't do you any good. The passages aren't going to surprise you with difficult vocab words. It's more about your comprehension skills and understanding the bottom line. If you can understand journal articles, then you'll be fine.

Also, I wouldn't begin the EK101 until you've studied the verbal techniques and reasoning skills. I used TPR Verbal and EK Verbal Reasoning books. The EK passages aren't trully representative of the real thing, but it will help.

 

[Sailor Senshi Dermystify]

I subscribed to the Wall Street Journal and the Economist.

I actually love reading the Economist 🙂 and think it's a great READ! It's much better than the New Yorker, lol. I am going to read the paper everyday for a month and then start doing verbal passages!

 

[shushumiga]

My english is a second languagee too and I wouldn't suggest to the OP memorizing bunch of vocab words because that is not the way to go. Even if you decide to memorize words put them in sentences. I started reading the journal "Cell" and the New York Times and I am pleased with the level of difficulty I encounter reading the articles. Sometimes I don't understand a word or two but in the context it makes sense. There is no guarantee that the memorized words that you learn will show up on a passage for the test day. Right now I am trying to read fast and comprehend the articles and ask myself questions while reading. Can't wait to take the beast January 2012

 

[snorlax]

How much time would you say you spent memorizing vocab lists? How often would you come across a word that you recently learned and remember what it meant on the spot? And how often was not knowing a word detrimental to understanding the entire article, paper, etc.?

I don't think most people are lazy and can't memorize word lists. I think most people are just smart enough to realize that the work required to memorize word lists is not worth it. There are simply better ways to spend your time studying for the MCAT than memorizing words.

I study vocab every night in bed before falling asleep. 5-30 minutes depending how tired I am. Typically, I study Spanish and Italian, which are my second languages. However, 1 month before my MCAT, I was studying only English vocab. And I went through 2 Word Smart books (that I had previously memorized for my SAT 4 years ago) and a larger Barron's book. I have to say, having a higher vocabulay made me feel more confident when I approached the verbal section. If I don't have to infer meaning from context (probability of success <1), I am more likely to understand everything in the passage.

And I am a native English speaker. If I was preparing for an exam in Spanish or Italian, I would be studying vocab for hours per day.

As for forgetting words, apparently a big name in TESL (I don't remember his name) said you have to forget the meaning of a word 4 times in order to finally learn it. Whether this is true, it definitely emphasizes that the more instances you are exposed to a word, the more likely you are able to pick up that word. So while vocab enrichment may be at the bottom of the priority list when studying for the MCAT (it was on mine in fact), it is not worthless, and is in fact, useful after the MCAT (as opposed to many MCAT topics).

 

[vin5cent0]

I don't believe you have any chance of memorizing 100 words a day. NONE. I usually try and memorize ONE word a day from my "word of the day" and I often forget it days later. Your brain just can't memorize a hundred definitions in one day, let alone keep them.

Your best bet is to just challenge yourself to start reading difficult pieces, and to read them until you understand the point of them.

 

[KindofBlue]

OP, I forgot to remind you, don't pay for any of the subscriptions. Everything is, or at least the ones that matter, are available for free, so just subscribe with a free membership.
I only read the headlines for Economist, so there hasn't been an issue with memberships there.
But for WSJ, some of the articles are not available for unpaid members. You can go around this by searching the article on google, which lets you go around that to view the article. Google lets you read 2 or 3 articles for free per day I think.

 

[sejin8642]

Speaking English as his second language, the OP is in a different situation than us. It's true that the MCAT verbal is a critical thinking test not a vocabulary test. But yet, you need to have good vocabulary background in order to understand SENTENCES first so that you can do critical thinking later. If the incomprehension comes from lack of vocabulary, then yes, he needs to study vocabulary. But SAT vocabulary is too much as those words barely come up in the MCAT verbal. So I found an another book that might be fit for his needs; 504 Absolutely Essential Words. Words in this book are specifically chosen based on frequency of appearance in newspapers, magazines, or daily uses, which is good enough for MCAT.

 

[gameg2l]

Thanks for everyone's advice again!
One thing I wanna point out is--- I'm a girl lol...
For the Journals, KindofBlue, thanks for letting me know about the free stuff.
I totally agree that SAT vocab are kind of useless... I've never seen most of them...

sejin8642, I will check that book out. I think 504 is definitely manageable, probably can get those down before school start so I can keep reviewing them till I remember them like I remember how to spell apple X)

Oh, and PingPongPro thanks for the link to the root words. I've been thinking about studying those from a book named English Vocabulary Elements. It's got a whole section of those 🙂

snorlax, you are totally right, I can only kind of guess what those 400 words that I remembered 2 weeks ago mean. Can't say I am familiar with them at all. Vocab takes persistence which I lack... 🙁

dermocrat88, I actually like economist as well... they have some very interesting stuff. This week's issue on Asian women fleeing from marriage gave some interesting insights on Asian values. It is interesting to see British people trying to understand Asians (I'm Asian, so it's amusing to compare the difference I think exist between Eastern and Western cultures to the journal writer's)

 

[Sailor Senshi Dermystify]

Thanks for everyone's advice again!
One thing I wanna point out is--- I'm a girl lol...
For the Journals, KindofBlue, thanks for letting me know about the free stuff.
I totally agree that SAT vocab are kind of useless... I've never seen most of them...

sejin8642, I will check that book out. I think 504 is definitely manageable, probably can get those down before school start so I can keep reviewing them till I remember them like I remember how to spell apple X)

Oh, and PingPongPro thanks for the link to the root words. I've been thinking about studying those from a book named English Vocabulary Elements. It's got a whole section of those 🙂

snorlax, you are totally right, I can only kind of guess what those 400 words that I remembered 2 weeks ago mean. Can't say I am familiar with them at all. Vocab takes persistence which I lack... 🙁

dermocrat88, I actually like economist as well... they have some very interesting stuff. This week's issue on Asian women fleeing from marriage gave some interesting insights on Asian values. It is interesting to see British people trying to understand Asians (I'm Asian, so it's amusing to compare the difference I think exist between Eastern and Western cultures to the journal writer's)

👍 The Economist is not a difficult read at all actually 🙂. It's very interesting and I am currently living in Asia for a year 😀. I am living in South Korea with a home stay family.
Yeah, I love reading the Economist but the New Yorker is 😡