Norman Lewis (1)Reseñas

Worthy book to improve the vocabulary

This has been my companion through long hours of writing growing up, and often substituted for a dictionary during long hours of reading. My mom trusted it in her high school and college years. It's a trusted book and has handled years of use well. Even now that it's convenient to use computers for everything reference oriented, I still occasionally keep away from screens and fall back on my old text companions like this book.

I must say this was, to me, an extremely useful book. Much more than anticipated. I thought I was a quick reader before, but thanks to the excercises in this book, I managed to increase my speed by another 20% on average.
Yes, it is lengthy, but it really takes you step by step, giving good guidance and excercises. And even though it was originally written in 1944 (I read the 1958 completly revised 3rd edition), it is far from antiquated. In fact, apart from the obviously dated selection of articles for the reading excercises, the whole was fairly modern.

e.g. p 348 At the beginning of the section about reading critically, the author states that every writer wants to convince the reader of his philosophy, attitude, POV. Even in fiction, a writer is a "special pleader." He continues:
"And, of course, it is almost impossible to pick up a magazine or newspaper today without being bombarded by special pleading. As you turn the pages, almost every writer is saying to you, directly or by implication, "This si what I think; or, This is how I feel; or, This is how I interpret a situation; or, These are the conclusions I draw from the (selected) facts; This is how I solve a problem; or, This is how to do the job; or, This is how I react to what has happened; or, This is how you should react; or, this is the furniture, clothing, perfume, cereal, book, soap, cigarette, automobile, or liquor you should buy, the transportation you should use, the play or motion picture you should see, the vacation you should take, or the charity you should contribute to"; and so on and on, in endless, infinite variety."
And this was written way before the social media age.
Yes, the author uses lengthy sentences at times (and here it serves its purpose), but it is worth the effort.

I also appreciated the author´s thoughts about why to read (both for furthering education, as well as entertainment), and in the chapter about skipping and skimming (which in my opinion is sacrilige), he made an appealing case, and argued that these techniques should be used sparsely, if at all.

So, all in all, yes, these almost 400 pages take a while to get through (ironically), it is worth the effort, in my opinion.

English is not my first language, and I was always a bit stumped by the subtle difference between similar words. Learning there is such a thing as a thesaurus (as opposed to a dictionary) came later in my English comprehension years, and I was thrilled to bits with this. My Roget’s is a well-worn copy that have provided me numerous word options which I then cross-referenced back to a dictionary seeking the subtle meanings and hence the perfect word to express my thoughts. I have a Webster also but always found the Roget’s to provide just what I need. This is the version that I’d recommend for a thesaurus.

30 Days...is pretty interesting. Some of the vocabulary has changed definitions over the years (for instance, chauvinistic no longer means obsessive love of your country. And I don't think schizophrenia has ever meant multiple personality disorder (now dissociative identity disorder); that's one of those Hollywood things). But it's pretty engaging for a book on vocabulary.½

Not my favorite kind of book, but I've gone through it a couple of times, generally keeping it by my chair to read some each night. The vocabulary isn't particularly hard - it's better suited to a teenager. It does help.

good

It's a simple message. Read more. Read widely. Be alert. Set a goal. I only read the suggestions. It was nothing new. If you want to be good at it, you just have to practice. That means reading a lot in many different areas.

Some of the words this book teaches have had changes in meaning since it was first published, some others are just dated in general. Regardless, I would say that at least 95% of the material is very useful. I used this book in high school and many of the words I learned from it are still part of my daily vocabulary.

"In just 30 days you will learn --
How to make words your slaves
How to add words to your vocabulary while you are at the movies, listening to the radio, or reading
How to find the words to sell your ideas
How to use words to impress others without being a show-off
How to find the right words to say exactly what you mean
How to avoid the embarrassment of misusing or mispronouncing words
How to become a lively conversationalist
How to increase your language power quickly with some simple ""roots""
How to check on your progress daily with 30 challenging tests
Plus -- Complete index to New Words and Pronunciation Key"

I took a vocabulary class in middle school, and we used this book for most of the class. I learned so many new words because of this book!

Katie

This is a wonderful book. I love it.

Language

Are you at a loss for words?
Ask yourself these questions:
Do you always use the proper word?
Do you know how to pronounce it?
Do you know how to avoid illiterate expressions?
Do you speak easily and withour embarrassment?
Word power means success, yests have proven again and again that people who do not possess large vocabularies are the ones who fail in today's competitive world. Modern life demands verbal knowledge, the person who can say what he means comes out on top in business, in school and in his personal affairs.
Word Power Made Easy will help you to achieve a fluent, powerful and effective vocabulary in three weeks. Utilizing the latest methods of research, it is simple, easy and entertaining to use.