GRE Vocab Capacity 2017 Edition Powerful Memory Tricks and Mnemonics to Learn GRE Vocabulary Words Now with more than 1,300 mnemonics! By Brian McElroy and Vince Kotchian Contents Why This Book Is Different Mnemonic Examples Word Root Examples How To Use This Book Other Tips The Mnemonics Appendix: Word Roots Index Acknowledgments Why This Book Is Different There are tons of books, apps, and websites designed to help you learn GRE words. However, if you’ve tried typical vocabulary study methods, they might not have worked very well for you. The problem with most vocabulary products is that the sentences in the books are boring! Your brain might not naturally form connections to the meanings of words if they’re not presented to you in a memorable, creative way. GRE Vocab Capacity is different. We’ve not only clearly defined the words but we’ve also created sentences designed to help you remember the words through a variety of unusual associations - using mnemonics. Mnemonic Examples A mnemonic is just a memory device. It works by creating a link in your brain to something else, so that recall of one thing helps recall of the other. This can be done in many ways – but the strongest links are through senses, emotions, rhymes, and patterns. Consider this example: quash (verb): to completely stop from happening. Think: squash. The best way to quash an invasion of ants in your kitchen is simple: squash them. Now your brain has a link from the word quash (which it may not have known) to the word squash (which it probably knows). Both words sound and look the same, so it’s easy to create a visual and aural link. If you picture someone squashing ants (and maybe get grossed out), you have another visual link as well as an emotional link. Here’s another example: eschew (verb): to avoid. Think: ah-choo! Eschew people who say "ah-choo!" unless you want to catch their colds. The word eschew sounds similar to a sneeze (ah-choo!), so your brain will now link the two sounds. If you picture yourself avoiding someone who is about to sneeze in your face, even better! Again, the more connections you make in your brain to the new word, the easier it will be for you to recall it. Word Root Examples Word roots are parts of words that often mean the same thing. For example, the root chron pretty much always has something to do with time: synchronize, chronological, etc. So knowing what word roots mean can be useful in helping you learn words. They can also provide a hint for the meaning of words that you don’t know. However, English is a funny language, and roots don’t always have the same meaning - it can depend on what word they’re in. So what you shouldn’t expect from roots is that they’ll be reliable to help you determine the definition of a word you don’t know. Keep in mind that knowing your word roots is not a substitute for knowing the actual definitions of words. We’ve included an appendix with this book that lists many common word roots along with their usual definitions, and an easy example word that uses the root. For example: chron: time. Think: chronological: arranged in order of time. We recommend learning all the word roots if you have time. It may be helpful to learn all the word roots first and then begin learning words you don’t know, looking for instances of the roots to help you learn the new words. Word Root Tip: the more letters you can match from the beginning of a word you do know to a word you don’t know, the more likely it is they have similar meanings. Matching five or more letters is a good benchmark. For example, if you know that pacifist has to do with being peaceful, you’d be right in guessing that pacific has a similar meaning since they both start with pacifi. How To Use This Book One tool we recommend is periodic review of flashcards. The "tactile learning" (in other words, learning by doing) aspect of making your own cards is very effective. Buying pre-made flashcards skips this step, and you miss out on an opportunity to "write it down in your head" by physically writing the words and definitions down yourself. Here’s an example of what a flashcard might look like: Notice that the front of the card just has the word with its pronunciation. Using the word when talking to someone that day will help you learn it. The back of the card contains a brief definition, a mnemonic (which you can invent or find in this book), a sentence using the word in a way that calls to mind its meaning, and any synonyms of the word you’d also like to learn (try an online dictionary like m-w.com to look up synonyms of a word). Here’s a method and chart that describe the order with which to study your cards: 1) Create 50 custom vocabulary flashcards: a) Side A shows the word and its pronunciation. b) Side B shows the definition, part-of-speech, mnemonic, sample sentence, and synonym(s). 2) Label the cards with numbers 1-50 and stack them in order. 3) Use the table below to decide which cards to study and review each day. Other Learning Tips For troublesome words - or for any word you want to be sure of - we recommend writing down the word’s definition in your own words, then making up your own sentence using the word. Until you can explain something in your own words, you probably don’t fully understand it, and your own definitions and sentences will often be more memorable than ours. Some people go straight to the most bizarre looking words in the book, but don’t overlook the words that you “kind of” know but can’t easily define. That goes for words outside this book, too. If you can’t easily define a word you see in the newspaper, for instance, look it up! The context you read it in will help you learn it. For words that just won’t stick in your brain, try associating a movement with the word. Making a specific gesture with your body every time you study the word will provide an additional connection in your memory. A few more suggestions: Modify it. If you don't like our mnemonic or think that it can be improved, then use your own. They are your own customized cards to do with what you like. Even draw a picture or make a collage if it helps. Shuffle. When studying a group of cards, don’t always study them in the same order, so your brain won’t be able to associate one card with another. Study before bed. Studies have shown that memorization-type tasks are best studied during the hours preceding a full night's sleep. One popular theory to explain this phenomenon is that when we sleep, our mind organizes the day's events, starting with the most recent ones. One last tip: use it or lose it! The more you can work your new vocabulary into your daily speech and writing, the more you’ll remember it. You might sound nerdy, but it’s worth it. Our hope is that this book not only helps you improve your vocabulary, but also inspires you to start creating your own mnemonics! - Brian and Vince P.S. - We encourage you to write a review of GRE Vocab Capacity on Amazon.com to tell others about your experience with the book. Please contact us directly for suggestions that you might have so we can improve the book for future readers. We’re also available for private tutoring of the GRE, as well as the GMAT, SAT, ACT, and ISEE - either in person (in San Diego) or online (via Skype).