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Quick Summary

This blog post discusses strategies for building a strong vocabulary for GRE preparation. I highlight the importance of vocabulary in the GRE, especially in the new shorter format, and suggest using a comprehensive word list of over 1500 words. I also note that while other reputable word lists like those from Magoosh, Manhattan, Kaplan, Princeton, and Barrons usually contain around 800 to 900 words, these lists often miss new important words and contain outdated ones.

The post focuses on three main techniques for vocabulary acquisition:

1. Flashcards using Anki: I recommend using Anki, a digital flashcard app, for its spaced repetition feature, which helps in memorizing words effectively. The process involves creating personalized flashcards and organizing them for structured learning.
2. Reading from High-Quality Websites: Spending 15-20 minutes daily reading articles from websites like ‘Long Reads,’ ‘The Atlantic,’ and ‘The New Yorker’ is suggested. These articles often contain GRE words, helping with vocabulary and comprehension.
3. Solving actual GRE questions: For those with less preparation time, focusing on words from GRE sample questions and integrating them into the Anki app is recommended. This method helps concentrate on the most crucial words and their usage in the GRE.

I emphasize that these methods, proven effective through their teaching experience, require dedication and effort. I also recommend creating personalized flashcards, focusing on unfamiliar words, and including multiple meanings and synonyms for each word. The post concludes by stressing the importance of consistent practice over two to three months for significant vocabulary improvement in the GRE.

Youtube Video

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Where to begin preparing word?

In this blog post, I will delve into an intriguing topic: the challenges of building a strong vocabulary for those embarking on GRE preparation. With a plethora of word lists saturating the market, prospective test-takers often find themselves at a crossroads, uncertain of where to start their vocabulary-building journey.

A few weeks ago, I shared my personal word list with you, which comprises over 1500 GRE words that are frequently tested in the new shorter GRE format. I mentioned that my students who are presently preparing for the exam have successfully utilized this word list, reporting minimal issues with vocabulary-related challenges. This list, however, is quite extensive and comprehensive.

In fact, when you consider other reputable word lists such as those from Magoosh, Manhattan, Kaplan, Princeton, Barrons, or any other high-quality source, you’ll find that they typically consist of just 800 to 900 words. However, problem with these reputable word lists is that they haven’t been updated in a while and contain a lot of outdated words and miss on many new important words.

My word list is indeed more comprehensive, catering specifically to individuals striving for exceptionally high scores on the verbal section, aiming for scores in the 165 range and beyond.

While it’s advisable to consult this word list for top-tier performance, the crucial question remains: how should one go about preparing for such an extensive vocabulary challenge?

Vocabulary acquisition can be a source of frustration for many, presenting various hurdles and occasionally leading to monotony and boredom. Often, individuals struggle to commit words to memory, and over time, they may become discouraged or forget the words they’ve learned. Retaining a substantial number of words can prove challenging.

In this blog post, I aim to explore 3 fundamental techniques for mastering vocabulary acquisition. I recommend integrating a blend of these methods into your vocabulary preparation regimen. These techniques have been honed and proven effective through over a decade of my teaching experience with GRE aspirants. They have been rigorously tested on my students, yielding excellent results.

However, it’s essential to bear in mind that success in vocabulary acquisition requires dedication and effort; there are no shortcuts to effective preparation.

Technique 1: Flashcards using Anki.

First and foremost, let’s delve into the use of flashcards—a time-tested method that has been employed for centuries, well before the advent of the GRE. Flashcards have been a primary tool for vocabulary memorization.

Even during my own GRE preparation in 2006-2007, vocabulary held significant importance, requiring the mastery of 4000-5000 words. Back then, digital resources were scarce, and I created physical flashcards. I vividly recall having a substantial collection, meticulously organized in a shoebox. Flashcards I successfully recalled were placed in one stack, while those requiring further attention were placed in another, forming a structured approach to learning.

Indeed, times have evolved, and the digital era has ushered in more convenient tools for learning and memorization. One highly recommended flashcard application that has gained widespread acclaim is Anki. Anki is not only popular among medical students but also widely used across various disciplines that require extensive memorization, such as medicine, where rote memorization plays a crucial role. Its effectiveness lies in its ability to optimize the learning process through spaced repetition, making it an invaluable resource for GRE aspirants seeking to conquer the vocabulary challenge.

Brief overview of Anki’s functionality

The Anki flashcard app proves to be incredibly versatile. Its utility extends to memorizing a wide array of information, including mathematical formulas and beyond. What’s even more appealing is that it’s entirely freeto use. Simply download it on your desktop or laptop and start creating your personalized flashcards as needed. While I won’t go into exhaustive detail here, I can provide you with a brief glimpse of its functionality.

The Anki flashcard app offers a highly effective and personalized learning experience. When you begin preparing for a deck, which may contain around 15-20 words in this case, you can take advantage of its intelligent features.

For example, let’s consider the word “prophetic.” Once you’ve reviewed the flashcard and feel confident in your understanding of the word, you can provide real-time feedback. If you click “easy,” the software will store this information in its memory. It will then use spaced repetition to optimize your learning experience.

So, if you indicate that you know the meaning of “prophetic ” by clicking “easy,” the app will schedule it for review again after five days. However, if you find that you don’t remember a word or feel uncertain, you can select “hard,” and the app will prompt you to review it again sooner, perhaps after a few minutes. Similarly, if your memory is a bit shaky, you can choose “good,” and it will reappear after 10 minutes. This dynamic scheduling ensures that you spend more time on the words you find challenging while reinforcing those you know well, optimizing your vocabulary preparation process.

The concept of spaced repetition is at the core of the Anki flashcard app’s effectiveness.

It draws upon insights from psychology and cognitive science. The idea is rooted in the psychological principle that if you repeatedly encounter and engage with information at carefully spaced intervals, it enhances memory retention. There’s extensive research behind this concept, determining the optimal timing for review to maximize memorization.

One of the remarkable aspects of Anki is that it automates this process. Users don’t need to adjust settings or fine-tune intervals manually. The app intelligently schedules review sessions based on each user’s feedback and performance, ensuring that difficult words are revisited more frequently and reinforcing the learning process over time. It’s a powerful tool for efficient and effective vocabulary acquisition.

Always create your own flashcards

Creating your own flashcards is an excellent approach when you have 2-3 months to prepare for the GRE. It not only helps you solidify your understanding of words but also actively engages you in the learning process. By making the effort to create flashcards, you start memorizing words during the creation process itself, which is a significant advantage of this method.

When creating flashcards, it’s a good practice to focus on words you don’t already know. For instance, if you are familiar with the word “abeyance,” you may skip creating a flashcard for it. However, for words like “kowtow,” which are unfamiliar, you can look up all its meanings (primary, secondary, tertiary) and add them to your flashcard deck. This method ensures that you are actively learning and consolidating your vocabulary as you build your flashcard collection.

Once you’ve chosen a name for your flashcard deck, you can proceed with the next steps. Let’s take the word ‘abase,’ for example, which you’ve copied along with its meaning from your study materials. You’ll paste both the word and its meaning into your flashcard. If you prefer, you can also craft your own sentence as a mnemonic aid, or you can select a sentence from a GRE context and include it here.

While this process does require effort, I highly recommend it. The reason is twofold:

• First, as you actively engage with the words during the creation of these flashcards, you’ll notice that many words become ingrained in your memory.
• Second, you won’t need to create flashcards for every word in your vocabulary list, only for those you’re less familiar with. This approach not only streamlines your vocabulary preparation but also ensures you focus your efforts where they are most needed.

It’s crucial to emphasize that when creating flashcards, you should account for not only the primary but also the secondary meanings of a word. Many words, such as ‘want,’ carry multiple interpretations. For instance, ‘want’ can signify ‘having a desire for something,’ but it can also mean ‘the absence of something or insufficiency.’ Since both meanings are assessed in the GRE, it’s imperative to have flashcards encompassing all possible interpretations. Thus, it’s vital to meticulously scrutinize each word in your list.

Take another example, the word ‘abandon’; it’s a word with diverse connotations. On one hand, it can denote ‘to forsake someone, akin to deserting,’ while on the other, it can represent ‘complete lack of restraint,’ as seen in the phrase ‘she sings and sways with total abandon.’

Therefore, it’s essential to scrutinize each word on your vocabulary list diligently, searching for any secondary meanings that might be unfamiliar, aside from the primary or tertiary definitions.

One notable limitation of flashcard apps like Magoosh and similar tools is their tendency to predominantly provide primary meanings for words. Secondary and tertiary meanings are often overlooked or underrepresented, even though many GRE words carry both primary and secondary meanings in practical usage.

To illustrate further, let’s consider the word ‘insurmountable’ as another example, which is commonly encountered in the GRE. ‘Insurmountable’ indeed denotes something that cannot be climbed, akin to ‘insurmount,’ representing a mountain that is impossible to ascend. However, it also possesses a secondary meaning, signifying something that is challenging or difficult to understand. It’s worth noting that these nuanced interpretations are often omitted in ready-made flashcard apps.

Additionally, I highly recommend including three to five synonyms for each word. Synonyms hold particular significance in GRE, as they are also examined in sentence equivalence questions. Therefore, it’s imperative to incorporate synonyms into your flashcards, as they play a vital role in GRE testing.

Creating your personalized flashcards need not consume an excessive amount of time.  

Consider this scenario: you have an hour dedicated to vocabulary study. What I typically do is randomize a selection of 15 words from the word list. I strongly recommend randomizing your word list as it diversifies your exposure to the vocabulary.

Now that the list is randomized, I might encounter words like ‘detrimental’ and ‘slander’ that I’m not familiar with. On the other hand, I may come across a word like fawning‘,’ which I think I know, but I double-check for its secondary meaning to be thorough.

For words like ‘belittle’ with just one primary meaning, the process is straightforward. I simply pasted its primary definition, considering it has a sole meaning. Additionally, I might pick a sentence from the provided context or craft my own, which aids in reinforcing my understanding of the word. To enhance memorization further, I include four or five synonyms for the word.

The remarkable aspect of this entire process is its efficiency. You can gauge for yourself that it takes no more than a minute per flashcard. Moreover, the act of creating these flashcards often results in me memorizing the word naturally, while simultaneously having a ready flashcard at my disposal.

By adopting this approach, if I’m tackling 15 to 20 words each day, it typically takes me a mere 20 minutes to assemble my own deck. I organize these decks by labeling them as “day one,” “day two,” and so forth, systematically adding 15 to 20 new words daily.

Following this, I invest another 20 minutes in revising and consolidating my knowledge. I engage with the deck, dedicating around 10-15 minutes to study its contents. Subsequently, I pause, allowing the information to settle. The next day, I revisit the same deck, focusing on words I still don’t know well. The flashcard app continues to present me with those I struggle with, sparing me from reviewing the words I’ve already mastered. This approach enables an efficient and gradual learning process.

In the span of just one hour, your vocabulary preparation can become truly remarkable because you’re actively engaged in the learning process. This method represents active learning, in contrast to passive learning, where you rely solely on pre-made flashcards created by others. Passive learning can be tedious and less effective, as you passively absorb words without active participation.

Every individual has their own unique approach to learning, and this method allows for that flexibility. Some people find that creating their own sentences for words is effective, while others may use analogies or mnemonics to aid memory. With this approach, you can seamlessly integrate your mnemonics into the flashcard app. For instance, if you initially struggle to remember a word like ‘abhorrent’ but create a mnemonic to help, you can add this mnemonic to your deck. This personalized, active learning approach empowers you to master vocabulary more effectively and efficiently.

Imagine that out of the 1,544 words in your list, you initially struggle with 80% of them, while you already know 20%. This means you have approximately 1,200 words left to tackle. If you are dedicating three days a week to vocabulary study, which amounts to around 24 days per month, over two months (48 days), you will effectively and comfortably prepare a list of 1,000 words. This consistent approach ensures comprehensive vocabulary development within a manageable timeframe.

Allocating one hour each day, five days a week, for GRE preparation is a manageable commitment for anyone. During this time, it’s highly recommended to create your own flashcards using the free Anki flashcard app. This app incorporates sophisticated algorithms, ensuring that you receive optimal exposure to words you need to master. It intuitively determines when to present words for review, facilitating efficient and effective vocabulary preparation.

Technique 2: Reading from High-Quality Website

In addition to this, I highly recommend another valuable technique: spending 15-20 minutes daily reading one or two articles from reputable news websites. This habit can significantly enhance your vocabulary and overall comprehension.

I’d like to share three specific news websites with you: ‘Long Reads,’ ‘The Atlantic,’ and ‘The New Yorker.’ These three sources have proven to be highly beneficial for vocabulary enrichment.

Here’s why I strongly recommend this practice: The articles featured on these websites often contain a remarkable overlap with GRE vocabulary. It’s almost as if GRE questions and these articles are drawing from the same word pool. Even in relatively short articles spanning 500-700 words, you’ll consistently encounter a minimum of 20-30 GRE words. This alignment makes them excellent resources for vocabulary enhancement.

For instance, let’s take a look at an article. In this article alone, you’ll encounter words like ‘authoritarian,’ ‘tyrant,’ ‘notorious,’ ‘vigilant,’ ‘vigilantes,’ ‘fettered,’ ‘coerce,’ ‘plausible,’ ‘flailing,’ ‘offended,’ ‘condescending,’ ‘euphemism,’ ‘arbitrariness,’ ‘giddy,’ and ‘vernacular.’ These words are all commonly found in GRE vocabulary.

Similarly, in another article, you’ll come across words such as ‘demonstrate,’ ‘compendious,’ ‘provoking,’ ‘disingenuous,’ ‘frill,’ ‘utilitarian,’ ‘tickle,’ ‘grandiosity,’ and ‘jab’—all of which are relevant to GRE preparation.

Here’s yet another example from ‘Long Reads,’ featuring words like ‘dissonance,’ ‘harrowing,’ ‘muddle,’ ‘tedious,’ ‘protege,’ ‘dwell,’ ‘paradox,’ ‘murky,’ ‘omnipresent,’ ‘unflinching,’ ‘crackle,’ ‘quibble,’ ‘loathe,’ ‘feign,’ ‘antagonist,’ ‘guise,’ and ‘fraud.’ These words consistently appear in GRE materials, making these articles a valuable resource for vocabulary enhancement.

What’s particularly fascinating is the recurrence of these words. In every article, you’ll encounter a consistent set of 20-30 words from GRE’s 1200-word list.

The real beauty of this reading approach lies in the fact that it allows you to grasp vocabulary in its natural context. While flashcards serve a crucial purpose, they can sometimes feel tedious and monotonous. This method doesn’t replace flashcard usage; rather, it complements it effectively.

By regularly immersing yourself in articles from these websites, you’ll witness these same words cropping up repeatedly. This reinforcement occurs within meaningful contexts, helping you not only remember the words but also understand how they are used contextually. What’s more, these articles are on par with the reading level of GRE materials, making them a seamless addition to your preparation.

Many students ask if there are any specific articles that one should focus on from these websites.

Consider delving into book reviews, where literary critics offer their insights and perspectives. Furthermore, explore editorial opinion pieces, particularly those characterized by academic-style English. These sources present a level of language and discourse closely aligned with what you’ll encounter in GRE materials.

Extend your reading into biographies related to various fields such as arts, sciences, and biology. Many of these biographies host a wide array of informative articles.

When engaging with these articles, it’s essential to focus on academic subjects rather than highly specialized or technology-related topics. GRE typically draws from subjects like literary criticism, arts, sciences, biology, astronomy, and history—areas that may not align with your personal interests.

These practices are crucial for your GRE preparation. First, they reinforce the vocabulary words you encounter in your reading. Second, they cultivate your familiarity with a wide range of topics. Moreover, you’ll consistently encounter the advanced vocabulary featured in GRE materials during this process.

Technique 3: Solving actual GRE questions.

Now, I’d like to emphasize a particular aspect, especially beneficial for those with less than a month to prepare for the GRE. In such cases, where creating extensive flashcards or dedicating 20 minutes daily to in-depth reading may not be feasible, it’s essential to prioritize your focus on the most critical words and their usage.

If you find yourself in this situation, here’s a direct recommendation for you: Focus on 250+ sample questions provided by GRE (official guides) as well as those in their PowerPrep mock exam series. While solving these questions, pay close attention to the words present in the questions and answer choices. Make it a point to prepare these words as you encounter them.

Extract those words from the questions and integrate them into Anki’s flashcard app. This approach offers dual benefits. Firstly, it allows you to concentrate on the most crucial 400-500 words commonly encountered in GRE. Secondly, you’ll simultaneously engage with the usage of these words, which mirrors the practice onegains from reading articles on ‘Long Reads’ and similar sources. Although the depth may not be as extensive, you’ll still gain a substantial understanding of how GRE employs these words, how it assesses subtle variations in their meanings, and other nuances.

Simply spread these 250+ questions out over a month. This way, you’ll only need to tackle a few questions each day, and the entire process should not consume more than approximately 45 minutes per day. By following this routine, you’ll effortlessly accumulate around 20 new words per day while addressing your GRE preparation needs.

Conclusion:

To sum up, these are the three key areas of focus for someone who has a comfortable three-month preparation period:

1. Create Your Flashcards: This should be your primary emphasis. Build a comprehensive set of flashcards using my GRE words to cover the entire range of vocabulary.
2. Long Reads, The Atlantic, New Yorker: Supplement your flashcard creation with regular reading from sources like ‘Long Reads’, The Atlantic and the New Yorker. This enriches your vocabulary in context and exposes you to GRE-level language.
3. GRE Sample Questions: Consider incorporating GRE sample questions, including those from official guides, PowerPrep Plus, and PowerPrep free mocks.

You can integrate these GRE sample questions into your routine a bit later. Focus on flashcards and reading activities in the initial month, then dive into solving GRE questions once you’ve built a solid vocabulary foundation.

As you progress to solving GRE questions, the advantage of combining reading activities with these questions becomes evident. Your previously created flashcards continuously receive reinforcement as you encounter those words during your practice. This reinforcement is a key element in solidifying your vocabulary.

It’s worth noting that the students I’ve advised, especially those who have achieved impressive scores on the verbal section, have successfully employed these three techniques. By integrating flashcard creation, extensive reading, and GRE question practice, they have consistently excelled in their GRE preparations.

Naturally, there are individuals who might lack the motivation or time to commit to this level of dedicated effort. It’s true that following this regimen demands one hour of daily commitment over a span of two to three months to significantly strengthen your vocabulary. However, those who invest the effort typically excel in the actual exam, particularly in the vocabulary section.

Should you have any questions or require further clarification regarding the content covered in this video, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m more than willing to provide additional guidance and assistance.