vocab builder

[cubs11]

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how did you improve your vocab? i have the kaplan vocab in a box, online vocab building exercises, and a gre book with vocab exercises. there are many options, but i was wondering what seemed to help most with building vocab for the verbal section.

 

[DVMorBust]

How much time do you have?

No, seriously. The key isn't to be able to recognize every word they show you so much as easily figure out what the word means. The easiest (and most time consuming) way to do this is to study Latin, and maybe some Greek.

Second easiest, I'd recommend learning prefixes/suffixes real well, and getting good at process of elimination for strategies on what the different relationships, etc. mean.

Third, I'd say read lots. And not novels, but some good non-fiction type stuff, preferably humanities - oriented or not as academic. Perhaps even those 'SAT study' novels with different words picked out and defined (have not tried them, just saw them the other day in the bookstore and thought it seemed like a neat idea).

If your crunched for time, then flashcards would help...but be sure to not try and memorize different words so much as see how words relate to each other, how roots look different in different forms, and how prefixes can alter the meaning (not always the same in English!).

 

[sumstorm]

Memorize words in categories. One of the kaplan books does this: it gives you the word, a definition, then a list of words that mean basicly the same thing. So, make a list of words that mean wise, and another list that means good. Sometimes I would make funny sentences or paragraphs that used all the words in a list. It really helped it stick. I would also make 'concept cards' with the general meaning and a list of words I could use for that meaning on the other side.

Etymology helps me a lot! I will look of the origins of a word, which also helps contextualize it.

I also will look for quotes with the word in it.

For me, it is all about relating the words to things I know...and creating a strong visual image and mnemonic that helps me hang onto it.

I also use www.flashcardexchange.com even though I am not a fan of flashcards.

 

[CatVet2Be]

I love computer games and video games so for me finding websites that had GRE quizzes made a huge difference. There may be some that will teach you the roots of words as well which if you're in a time crunch is the best way to go. I also used to put up a word of the day in the hallway where I would walk past it multiple times a day. I'm not a good flashcard person, in 2 weeks I barely memorized any of my Amino Acids for Biochem but after finding an online program I had all 20 down in 2 days: 1 and 3 letter abbreviations, structures and characteristics. The key is trying to figure out what learning method keeps you most interested.

 

[CatVet2Be]

By the way sumstorm, thanks for that link! I was checking it out and it has some great anatomy flashcards. For some reason my brain is more conducive to computer generated flashcards than hand held paper ones 🙄. School is still months away but I'm already freaking out about anatomy.

 

[StillDreaming]

you're not going to build your vocab in a couple weeks, the best thing to do it read newspapers and highlight or write down words you don't know, looks them up then re-read the sentence to help understand the meaning better.

But if all you only have a couple weeks, it sounds like you're doing all you can. I memorized the top 500 words and then worked through the kaplan book (math and verbal) and then bought the verbal work book for extra problems... I wouldn';t say i increased my vocab, but i memorized enough to get a decent score on the verbal section, don't ask me what some of those words mean now lol.

Good luck!

 

[elefante7]

freerice.com is highly addicting and can help with vocab too. I did it during breaks of studying other vocab for the GRE.

 

[jglovicz]

What I did to up my vocab was I got a pack of flashcards (supposedly the top 200 words on the GRE). There were actually about 4 of them that appeared on the test itself. I did look at some root words and latin, but I felt that there were SO many exceptions to every rule that it wasn't helpful for me...I didn't have time to just naturally read more books with vocab I wasn't familiar with (lets be honest, I've never seen some of the words on the GRE vocab in my life, and I wouldn't say that I live under a rock). If you have a box of >200 words that you can memorize (I just did a new stack of ~25 every day, and when I finished with those, I made sure I still knew all the words I had done in previous days), that might work out really well (like I said, out of 200 words, 4 or 5 showed up on my exam...those are a solid 4 or 5 that I would have had to guess on). Good luck!

 

[cubs11]

thanks! i have been going over the box of supposed gre words for a couple months now. i like the idea of the kaplan book with one meaning and the list of words under that category. categorizing always seems to help me. i'll have to check out the websites given as well. thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[TurtleLover]

freerice.com is highly addicting and can help with vocab too. I did it during breaks of studying other vocab for the GRE.

YES! I agree! I am doing freerice.com now and I try to get 2000 points everytime I do it. It's good because a lot of the words are repetitive too so you get to see them over and over again. And yes, some of those words were even words on my flashcards from kaplan!

 

[DVMorBust]

One thing to keep in mind for everyone studying for the GRE is that frequently, they'll use the lesser known meaning of a word. This is a really lame example, but say instead of using 'finish' to mean 'end', they would use it to mean 'protective coating'.

So just keep that in mind when studying words - and don't fall into the trap of thinking that you know a word - make SURE you read all definitions while studying!

 

[Skillet9886]

I also did a lot of freerice.com. I bought flashcards, but never used them, and I borrowed one of my roommate's GRE prep workbooks. I signed up for a bunch of word of the day emails, like from dictionary.com. Another really good site I liked was greword.com. That gives you the option of getting daily emails as well. It also has little games and stuff to try to help you memorize. When I was studying, I focused less on memorizing individual words, and more on each word's root and what it meant.

I also spent a lot of time doing crossword puzzles. I'm convinced that helped the most, because it just put my brain in more of a mindset to figure out words.

 

[Georgia Peach]

The site www.number2.com is good for vocabulary and math skills.