<p>Hi.</p>
<p>I want to study the Barron's 4000 Word list, because I am a foreigner
and have difficulties with the CR and WR Sections.
I know, studying vocabulary is only a part of my preparation.
When referring to that 4000 Word list of Barron's is it the one
which is supposed to be for the GRE?</p>
<p>Barrons</a> Gre Wordlist Having more than 4000 words...</p>
<p>This one? Or is there a different one?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Read the discussion about vocabulary lists:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/763933-new-feature-best-sat-prep-forum-faqs-please-read-before-posting.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/763933-new-feature-best-sat-prep-forum-faqs-please-read-before-posting.html</a></p>
<p>The list wasn’t updated for about 8 years?</p>
<p>Updating that list would not increase its relevance. </p>
<p>The Barron’s list is close to worthless in terms of preparation. Compared to other lists, the only difference is that the waste of time is simply longer. You will accomplish a lot more by merely READING the older versions of the SAT and working through the recent editions.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice Xiggi, I appreciate it.
And I know about your opinion on vocabulary lists.</p>
<p>For me, I do not think it is worthless studying vocabulary.
It actually helped me a lot so far. The point is that I barely
could understand CR passages about 6 months ago.
On the one hand, it is simply the fact that I have lived in the
US for seven months now which made it easier for me to
understand CR Passages.
On the other hand, it is my continuously studying of vocabulary.
I got about 1100 words out of DH including all the synonyms
and words in the examples which I didn’t know.
And it helped me A LOT.
Xiggi, you are a native English speaker, so maybe you cannot
really understand the impact of studying vocabulary on foreign students?
How shall I grasp and even use techniques for CR if I stumble upon
unfamiliar words in every sentence?
Yeah, you still can get a lot out of the context unfamiliar words are used in,
but when you have to distinguish between only slightly differing answer
choices a superficial grasp is not enough - at least not for me.</p>
<p>I am not studying words:
I am translating the words to my native language and at the same time I use
[Dictionary.com</a> | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com](<a href=“http://www.dictionary.com%5DDictionary.com”>http://www.dictionary.com) to get all the different meanings a word can have. I try
to use these words in my daily speech and I am talking about them with native
speakers to check if I got the meanings correctly.</p>
<p>And furthermore, I am not only studying for the 19 SC Questions but the whole CR Section.
I know vocabulary is not everything and I admit that maybe it is not the most efficient way of studying but for me personally it gives confidence, better understanding, and less disappointment.</p>
<p>I just thought there might be a more up-to-date list available.
And I was confused that the 4000 Word list I found was entitled with GRE Word list.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It is because I understand the potential impact of studying vocabulary through lists that I do NOT recommend them. This does not mean I do not recommend increasing your knowledge of “words.” </p>
<p>My point is that you should do it THROUGH practicing with tests and a source of words. Practicing with context is totally different than mindlessly trying to memorize thousands of words, especially when most of them are irrelevant. </p>
<p>And, for the nth time, working through older tests with a reference source is not different from using DH without the tests. Where do you think they culled the words from? 
Simply stated, if you are willing to do the work, why not do it as efficiently as possible. Otherwise, why not memorizing the entire Webster? </p>
<p>As far as the question about the 4,000 words, I thought most everyone knows that Barron’s simply recycled a GRE list and fed it to unsuspecting SAT testers.</p>