<p>I've come across a few unique approaches to memorizing vocabulary for the SAT. I could never sit and memorize word after word, I tried some of these. And yes, they worked much better than I expected.</p>
<p>I was first introduced to this product by my high school teacher. She made our class memorize 10 words each week... and it was super easy with the cartoons provided =D</p>
<p>"Youre so impertinent
Youre so impudent
You talk back all of the time" WHAAT!!!?</p>
<p>4) Read magazines like TIME and US Today. I've heard they all have excellent, well written articles..... though i'm not sure how thats suppose to help your vocab o.O</p>
<hr>
<p>These are just a few things I came up with at the top of my head. As you can probably tell, I enjoy the "musical" approach much more than the "stare and memorize".</p>
<p>If know of any other great products, please let me know =D</p>
<p>Try using the words in everyday speech. Like at least 3 times. And don't just say the word 3 times and just say, "I know the word." Use the words you learn when talking to your friends, or else eventually you'll forget the words.</p>
<p>Dang.... you guys are seriously committed to this. I could never sit down and memorize hundreds of words. I saw flocabulary at Barns and Nobles the other day, but i decided not to purchase it there. $16 is sort've expensive. </p>
<p>What i've been doing is, when im taking a practice test I circle all the words that I didnt know. Then i go back and define them all and try to memorize them..... i dont know if its really helping though o.O</p>
<p>Honestly, memorizing a ton of vocabulary will help of course, but only in sentence completions. You don't really need a big vocabulary to do well in the reading passages. I guess I would work more on the critical reading passages than vocabulary, since that'll probably increase your score more. Or at least work on critical reading as you're working on vocab... don't just do vocab.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Read classic books, and write down all the words you don't know...then make a big list. For example, Scarlet Letter is chock full of SAT words.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Classics aren't good, especially Dickenson's novels. His novels are full of subject-verb disagreements (I guess it's dialect).</p>
<p>Yup, I just got the College Board SAT book (big blue one). Do you think I should finish the whole book? Cause 800pgs.... i dont know if I should skip around or just do it pg by pg.</p>
<p>One way that makes memorizing vocabulary words less tedious and a lot more fun (at least to me!) is to make each word into its own individual song. I do this all the time when I memorize words - I try to find a little tune that matches the rhythm of the word and its definition and I sing the word + meaning until I've got it into my head. You don't even have to remember the tune - when you go back to review the words, the tune just comes back along as you read it. It's a lot less boring than reading the word over and over in a drone-kind of voice, and you could sing the vocab tune any time you want wherever you are. </p>
<p>I do this all the time, and it made me kind of enjoy memorizing vocabulary words!</p>
<p>The only problem for me is that I don't know WHICH words to memorize..last time I memorized about 437 words, and only a few came on the test. Roots get too confusing; "in" can mean into, within, or toward, AND a negative meaning. See what I mean?</p>
<p>So I'm looking for a good list of vocabulary words that are likely to appear on the test. I've heard of Testmaster's Oct. list, but I'm taking the test in November now. Any ideas?</p>
<p>I've been using this one for about a week. It's great! The music's cool enough...kinda cheesy alt/rock, but it's catchy. The lyrics are easy to remember--which is crucial because the definitions of the words are in the lyrics. </p>
<p>But the study guide is pretty awesome too. The sentences they use to define the words are bizarre and hysterical!!!!!</p>
<p>This is one my favorite ones:</p>
<p>REDRESS -- compensation:
"Outraged vegetarians demanded REDRESS from Nature's Goodsome Foods, Inc. when it was discovered that their "Hawaiian Sunrise Fruit Salad" was really just a can of guava-flavored pig eyes."</p>
<p>I like this one too:</p>
<p>INCONSEQUENTIAL -- trivial or unimportant:</p>
<p>"As long as you have love, money is INCONSEQUENTIAL. Unless, of course, you also enjoy food and shelter; then you need money."</p>
<p>They're all kinda like that.</p>
<p>It doesn't have as many words as Flocabulary or Vocab Rock, like 250 or so, but they're REALLY easy to remember, IMHO.</p>
<p>If you completely read Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis and do all the exercises etc. you should be fine, there is no need to sit and memorize as many words as you can because your more likely to forget them then.</p>
<p>"I've been using this one for about a week. It's great! The music's cool enough...kinda cheesy alt/rock, but it's catchy. The lyrics are easy to remember--which is crucial because the definitions of the words are in the lyrics."</p>
<p>I MUST agree with Crypsis! I've been through three songs (listened, learned vocab... really fun!) then took a practice test in one of SAT prep books, and it really worked! While my Math and Writing area got roughly the same score I got on real SAT, my CR reading score was up by 90 points more. (just after 3 songs. but this was only practice test in Peterson's book so I don't know how reliable it was. Still made me happy, though : D)</p>
<p>It's quite fun to learn the vocab, and not only do I like the sentences but the word explanations, too. :)</p>
<p>A few years ago there was an amusing press report about the SAT vocabulary shower curtain. Maybe it's still available. </p>
<p>But my serious advice is to READ, READ, READ, and READ. Just yesterday, I reread the preface of a Chinese reader I used as a student decades ago. I found out that author has the same theory, even expressed in the same all-capital emphasis, for learning to read Chinese (which I have done) as I now pass on for learning to read English: READ, READ, and READ. Read a lot. Read what you like. Read what is nearby (the breakfast cereal box, or the instructions for a home appliance, anything). Turn off the TV and read. Put down the video game controller and read. And so on. It's pretty apparent from examples in recent tests that these days the College Board likes to come up with reading questions such as "In this passage, the word [whatever word] most nearly means ______," so that context clues are king and memorizing word lists in cram books will only go so far in helping you improve your score. </p>
<p>i agree with tokenadult. the only real way to increase your vocabulary in a meaningful and authentic way is to read intelligently written (or at least well written) source material.</p>
<p>also, as a general caution, be careful of verifying the usefulness of an SAT word list by comparing it to available practice tests, since most word lists are derived from existing practice tests. since CB isn't obligated to stick to any particular words when it makes up new tests, the fact that a word appears in a word list and in a practice test is no indication that it will likely appear on the SAT when you take it for real.</p>