So I am sitting the SAT next month. I took a practice test and did a little above average. (1300s for the Math and Critical reading combined.) I have learned a lot of kanji though nonconventional means so I was wondering how I could apprach learning a large sum of vocabulary. Anki is a no-brainer.

What advice can you give me on memorizing vocabulary in one's native language? I've never studied English vocabulary -- I found that I could just guess the questions based on context. Now I wish I studied it a bit more.

I thought I would ask the RTK community since you guys are quite helpful -- and a lot wiser.

Thanks!

~牛juice

I never studied for the SAT or ACT, so... I don't know. I just used context, like you, and then my basic test taking skills: if there are too many A's or C's then let me mark a few B's!

For a bit of help on the maths. http://www.khanacademy.org/

They now have things called "SAT vocabulary novels," which are books written specifically to help readers learn SAT vocabulary. Makes you wonder when someone will write a "JLPT novel."

http://www.sparknotes.com/satfiction/

Why not just try putting them into Anki? That's what I'm doing.

Honestly...I found that what helped me the most on standardized tests (SATs, AP, Acadec) was taking practice tests (this is especially helpful for math). Specifically for vocab, I wish I had known about Anki back then, but seeing the words in a few natural sounding example sentences would probably help them stick. Or...this sounds like it might be a lot of work...but you know how you learned vocab in elementary school? Write the definition, write it in a sentence, etc.? That seemed to work pretty well. If you really feel like putting a lot of effort into it you could record yourself saying the sentences/words/definitions and listen to it during your spare time. Good luck. It sounds like your score is already pretty good, but putting in the effort to study will definitely improve it.

In junior high I usually used flash cards to learn vocab (word on one side, definition on the other) so...

sheetz and mezbup, Thank yo for the awesome resources. (Especially since they are online!) I was looking for something like this.

quincy and zachandhobbes,
Anki is a must for memorising anything. Thanks for the advice.


caitlind, Thank you for your solid advice. I have a tutor that goes over the practice tests with me. I should also use Anki with those tests. As for reviewing words, I use the sentence method. I have a sentence of the front and the word, definition and maybe a tip on the back. (Like for the word Nexus, I wrote down "Starcraft" as a hint )

Thank you everyone!
よく勉強になりました。

Grockit is awesome, pretty addicting too. http://www.grockit.com

To elaborate, here's a good card format.

Question: [word]
Answer: [definition]
[example sentence]
[synonyms that you know]

Granted this might be a little late for a reply but...

In the 1300s you are around 80th percentile. Not bad! As far as vocabulary goes, you can find lists everywhere on the internet, but as an SAT veteran, my best piece of advice for you is Greek and Latin roots. Prefixes, suffixes, and core root words. It won't get you ALL of them, but it'll net you a fast majority of words. Even the ones you've never seen before will make some sense to you.

It's like knowing the kanji but not the word you see them in. They can often give you a hint of what the word means.

Pulchritude. There's one for you. Ugliest word in the English language for 'beauty'.

Good Luck!