<p>Hi!</p>
<p>How is the list of 1000 vocabulary words by sparknotes? Anyone with experiences using it?</p>
<p>How about the 1443 words with mnemonics by John LaCarna. </p>
<p>I think that vocabulary words are better memorized with mnemonics, maybe we can make a mnemonic project for the sparknotes 1000 words:</p>
<p>Someone posts a mnemonic and a sentence INCORPORATING the mnemonic, then I'll compile them. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>haha I was thinking of the same idea until I discovered this: [Mnemonic</a> Dictionary - Fun and easy way to build your vocabulary!](<a href=“http://mnemonicdictionary.com%5DMnemonic”>http://mnemonicdictionary.com) </p>
<p>Excellent resource to complement the sparknotes vocab list. Just note though that some of the mnemonics link to hindi terms, which I and you probably don’t understand. Nevertheless there is a copious number of mnemonics that any english reader will easily comprehend. </p>
<p>By the way if you are interested in compiling a mnemonic booklet I would love to join you. Just note that I will be taking the december test (in 9 days?) so it will have to be done fast. :D</p>
<p>:-( Is this your last SAT test? I would be really busy in the next few days…</p>
<p>The examples are kind of crude in some cases, like this: abhor sounds like “a whore” and we generally hate a whore…so to hate someone is abhoring that person</p>
<p>Unfortunately it’s my first and last SAT. I can continue helping you after the SAT though. (I could always use some extra vocab to be more grandiloquent in my personal life)</p>
<p>And ya I think the mnemonic ideas are quite crude at times (That’s why I tend to rephrase them to less crude things in my mind(e.g. Abhor: abhor sounds like a horse (I hate horses) so abhor means hate).</p>
<p>Sometimes, my mnemonics seem forced, like I sometimes make names just to force a mnemonic out, and make ridiculous. </p>
<p>Like, for example, abet. I wrote: ==A== winning ==bet== in the casino would abet his financial condition.</p>
<p>I hope that other people would end up reading this. I would encourage them to make their own non-crude, sensible mnemonics. I would be posting a google docs form soon for this. </p>
<p>By the way, do you use Direct Hits? It seems a good buy (although I did not buy it, I am not advertising). The index of words are free here legally: <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Hits-Core-Vocabulary-Edition/dp/1936551055/ref=pd_sim_b_13[/url]”>http://www.amazon.com/Direct-Hits-Core-Vocabulary-Edition/dp/1936551055/ref=pd_sim_b_13</a>. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Yes I did use Direct hits. (until the 20th word that is). I find that the words are undoubtably frequent hitters but it is a pain to study because the author overdid the examples in my opinion. They are far too long and there is not enough separated lists (e.g. first list is like 50 words long) so this makes it a chore and you probably would end up not studying any further out of lassitude. </p>
<p>Instead, I mainly preped using Hot words by Barrons which is not as high hitting but is nevertheless fun (or more fun at least) to study. Moreover, it also categorizes the words which allows you to learn 10 words of similar definition with ease. However, I do acknowledge that this book is much less hitting. For this reason I tried/intend to try 2 other sources of vocab:</p>
<p>Sparknotes: Its list is surprisingly pretty good based on reviews
The Essential Critical Reading book: Its amazingly accurate and unlike Direct Hits, the lists are shorter. This book is definitely worth buying.</p>
<p>I have the 300 Essential words. I think that examples in usage are better than usage…</p>
<p>I think that the 300 Essential words are in similar format as Barron’s</p>
<p>I think that PR is around the same format too…</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Bye!</p>
<p>Some enjoy wasting their time …</p>
<p>Who are you referring to? Me? How am I wasting my time by studying vocabulary?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I think he was talking about me <— wasting time studying vocab after SAT.</p>
<p>Well, you might need vocab for the GRE if you want to go to graduate school… </p>
<p>This seems to be the most reliable list:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1191190-top-400-vocabulary-words.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1191190-top-400-vocabulary-words.html</a>.</p>
<p>…as it is backed up by statistical data. (wonder why vocab books do not publish the percentages to make their books more attractive…)</p>
<p>BUT, most of the words there are not vocabulary words because I know already about 1/2 of those words. </p>
<p>Sorry for going off-topic, but is the Barron’s 3500 word list even legit? I don’t see any references of the word list on Google to the Barron’s company…</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>