WHY MORE WORD SMART - How to Build an Impressive Vocabulary - More Word Smart

More Word Smart: How to Build an Impressive Vocabulary (2012)

Chapter 1. WHY MORE WORD SMART?

ABOUT WORD SMART

We wrote the first Word Smart thinking it would be our only vocabulary book. Most vocabulary books include too many words that people rarely use, and not enough of the words people actually encounter in school or in their daily lives. For Word Smart, we wanted only the most important words in an educated vocabulary, the words intelligent people truly need to know to do well in school and in their careers.

Here’s what we said on the back cover of Word Smart:

Improving your vocabulary is important, but where do you start? The English language has hundreds of thousands of words. To find out which words you absolutely need to know, The Princeton Review researched the vocabularies of educated adults. We analyzed newspapers from The New York Times to The Wall Street Journal, magazines from Time to Scientific American, and books from current bestsellers to the classics. We threw out the words that most people know and focused on the words that people misunderstand or misuse. From these, we selected the 823 words that appeared most frequently.

Since we first wrote those words, hundreds of thousands of people have purchased Word Smart. Many of them, having learned the words in the first volume, did not want to stop there. They asked us for other important words they should know.

So we set out to collect another batch of words. We went through the same research process we did when compiling our first volume. We still concentrated on the words that occurred most frequently, but there were some important differences in the way we made our final selection.

THE WORLD HAS CHANGED

In the first place, the world has changed a lot. With the international and end-of-century upheavals of recent years, many political and religious words gained increasing usage. Increasing globalization made us more aware of foreign languages, and as a result many foreign words and phrases gained popularity.

WE KNOW MORE ABOUT PEOPLE’S VOCABULARIES

Another consideration affecting the words we selected was our growing experience with students and adults and their use and misuse of language. Many important words in More Word Smart failed to make the cut for the first volume because we thought that most educated people use these words correctly. We were wrong.

We discovered that many students and adults learn words from context. They figure out the definition of difficult words from the general meaning of the sentences or paragraphs containing them. Unfortunately, this often gives a vague understanding; at best, a word’s context will provide only a general idea of its meaning. This volume contains many deceivingly simple words that educated people misuse, misunderstand, or confuse with other words.

We’ve also included a chapter near the end of this book that focuses exclusively on usage errors. It’s a continuation of the Common Usage Errors chapter in the original Word Smart.

WE WANT OUR READERS TO USE THESE WORDS

The last major difference in writing More Word Smart is that we wanted to place greater emphasis on pronunciation. The speaking vocabularies of most people, the words they use in everyday speech, are much smaller than the number of words they actually know. Even highly educated people avoid saying many of the words they know simply because they aren’t sure how to pronounce them.

In researching the correct pronunciation of the More Word Smart words, we were astonished—we ourselves had been confidently mispronouncing dozens of words for years! (Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice since just about all our educated friends had been mispronouncing these words right along with us.) We’ve gone to great lengths to emphasize correct pronunciation so you won’t embarrass yourself when you speak up in class or try to impress your friends with your growing linguistic virtuosity.

MORE WORD SMART VERSUS WORD SMART

The words in this volume are just as important as the words in our first book. The words here are perhaps a bit more difficult and appear somewhat less frequently, but they all belong in an educated vocabulary. For variety, this book also contains new drills to help you learn and remember the words.

We assume that you have already read the original Word Smart. In it we outlined various methods for learning and memorizing new words, as well as the best way to use the dictionary and thesaurus. In case you haven’t read our first vocabulary book, here is a summary of the main points and techniques we discussed:

SUMMARY OF WORD SMART

1. Learning new words should be fun, not drudgery. Children learn new words so quickly because they have a keen interest in the world around them and in communicating with others. Become receptive to the words around you.

2. The words you use say a lot about you. Your vocabulary is the foundation of your ability to think and your ability to share your thoughts with other people.

· The number of words you know is less important than the care you take in understanding the ones you already know.

· Big, important-sounding words are not necessarily better. A good vocabulary consists of words that educated people use in everyday life.

· Read well-written newspapers, magazines, and books, and make the effort to be aware of new words and learn them from context.

3. Use a dictionary to verify meanings—and pronunciations—of words that you’ve learned from context.

· Simply reading the dictionary is a pretty inefficient way to learn new words. This is because most dictionaries discuss only the meanings of words, and not the context in which these words are used.

· Not all dictionaries have the same features. Check to make sure that your dictionary includes word etymologies (the history of the words’ origins). Ideally, it should also indicate proper usage of synonyms or related words.

· Don’t stop at the first definition you read. Be sure to look up secondary meanings and parts of speech. Note the etymology to see what other words the word is related to. And practice pronunciation!

· Consider purchasing a good portable paperback or electronic dictionary so you can immediately confirm definitions you encounter in everyday life.

4. Synonyms are not interchangeable! Use a thesaurus to find the precise word to capture your meaning, but be sure to verify its exact definition and usage in a dictionary.

· The exact word you want to use depends not only on its meaning and connotation, but also on the overall rhythm, vocabulary level, variety, and effect you are trying to achieve.

5. Memorizing a word, mnemonics, wacky mental images, and etymologies can be helpful.

· Mnemonics are memorization devices that typically work by associating something you’re trying to remember with an already familiar idea, image, or pattern (such as a rhyming scheme). “Spring forward, fall back” is an example of a mnemonic.

· The etymology, or root origins, of a word will help your understanding and memory by relating the word to others you already know. The meanings of mnemonic, amnesia, and amnesty, for example, all have to do with memory.

· Careful! Etymology can sometimes be misleading because the meaning and connotation of a word change over the centuries.

6. Use flash cards to review new words. Be creative when writing the flash card: Colors and drawings will help you remember the word.

7. Keep a notebook of the words you learn. Strive to learn five to ten words per day.

8. Use new words you’ve learned in everyday conversation. It may feel artificial at first, but there is no other way to make them a part of your more natural-feeling vocabulary.

HOW WE WROTE THE WORD SMART DEFINITIONS AND ENTRIES

Each entry begins with the preferred pronunciation of the word. We say “preferred” because, depending on the dictionary you use, a word can be pronounced several ways. When a dictionary lists more than one pronunciation, the first is the preferred pronunciation. The trouble is that excellent dictionaries often disagree about the preferred pronunciation. Consulting numerous sources, we chose the pronunciation preferred by the majority of experts. So stick with our pronunciation and you’ll never embarrass yourself. Say each word aloud several times. This will help you remember the meaning of the word as well as its pronunciation.

Note the part of speech following the pronunciation. Many words can be used as nouns and verbs, or verbs and adjectives, and the pronunciations often vary depending on the usages.

After the part of speech, we provide the definition and synonyms, often using Word Smart words. Sometimes we deliberately use a difficult word in our definition to help you relate the listing with other words you ought to know.

The trouble with dictionaries is that they rarely illustrate the correct usage of a word. We believe that you need to see a word used in a concrete context in order to understand it. So following the definition you will find at least one or two sentences illustrating the proper usage of a word.

When it will help you remember or understand a word, we discuss its history or relate it to other important words.

Finally, we list different parts of speech. Whenever a different part of speech is pronounced differently from the main listing, we provide a separate pronunciation.

HOW YOU SHOULD USE THIS BOOK

Some people approach the word list from the beginning and go all the way through to the end. While this is a thorough approach, it may be quicker to use the Quick Quizzes throughout to hone in on the words you need help with. Some Princeton Review students start with the Final Exam Drills that appear at the end of the book. They take one of these quizzes and then look up any words they get wrong. Other students use the list of roots at the end of the book and learn groups of related words together. Students studying for the SAT or GRE can turn immediately to Chapters 4 and 5. (The original Word Smart has more SAT- and GRE-specific lists, and if you want plenty of serious vocabulary work for the GRE, be sure to check out our Word Smart for the GRE.)

What we’re basically saying is this: Any way you want to use this book is fine—just use it!

OUR PRONUNCIATION KEY

We’ve never liked the pronunciation keys most dictionaries use. This may offend pedants and lexicographers, but we have decided to use a simplified pronunciation key. Our key is based on consistent phonetic sounds so you don’t have to memorize it. Still, it would be a good idea to take a few minutes now and familiarize yourself with it (especially the e and the i):

The letter(s)

is (are) pronounced like the letter(s)

in the word(s)

 a

 a

bat, can

 ah

 o

con, on

 aw

 aw

paw, straw

 ay

 a

skate, rake

 e

 e

stem, hem, err

 ee

 ea

steam, clean

 i

 i

rim, chin, hint

 ing

 ing

sing, ring

 oh

 o

row, tow

 oo

 oo

room, boom

 ow

 ow

cow, brow

 oy

 oy

boy, toy

 u, uh

 u

run, bun

 y (ye, eye)

 i

climb, time

 ch

 ch

chair, chin

 f

 f, ph

film, phony

 g

 g

go, goon

 j

 j

join, jungle

 k

 c

cool, cat

 s

 s

solid, wisp

 sh

 sh

shoe, wish

 z

 z

zoo, razor

 zh

 s

measure

All other consonants are pronounced as you would expect. Capitalized letters are accented.

THE PRINCETON REVIEW APPROACH

The philosophy behind The Princeton Review is simple: We teach exactly what students need to know, and we make our courses smart, efficient, and fun. We were founded in the early 1980s, and just a few years later, we grew to have the largest SAT course in the country. Our success is indisputable. We’re proud to compare our results with those of any preparation course in the nation. In addition, our first book, Cracking the SAT, was the first of its kind to appear on the New York Times best-seller list.

Our innovative method of teaching vocabulary is responsible for much of our success. Many of the questions on standardized tests are really vocabulary questions, such as the sentence completion items on the Verbal portions of the SAT and GRE. To score high on these tests, students need to know the right words.

We’ve put a lot of thought into how people learn—and remember—new words. The methods we’ve developed are easy to use and, we believe, extremely effective. There’s nothing particularly startling about them. But they do work. And although they were developed primarily for high school students, they can be used profitably by anyone who wants to build a stronger, smarter vocabulary.