Build Your Vocabulary in Five Steps
It’s one of the most common questions asked by new Preppers, “How can I expand my vocabulary for the SAT?” And the answer is obvious: Read more!
Reading will not only help you learn new words, but also teach you how to use them correctly in context. But even though the answer seems obvious, effective execution is anything but. What should you read? How should you read? And what can you do to keep reading?
Read Your Weakness
In crafting the five passages of the SAT’s Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section, the test writers repeatedly utilize, if not the same texts, the same types of texts. (Previews of the new Digital SAT suggest they have not made huge changes in this department). Depending on the passage category, the SAT samples from a variety of sources, including literature of the 19th and 20th centuries; articles from general interest science magazines; article extracts from biological, economic, and sociological journals; and historical documents collected under the SAT’s “Great Global Conversation” (GGC) rubric. The GGC includes writings concerning historical debates over civil rights, suffrage, slavery, and the founding of the United States.
Going straight to the very sources the SAT mines for its passages before taking the test can give you a significant advantage on Test Day – even if the book you select to read does not ultimately turn up on the test form. The more experience you have engaging with “harder” texts – i.e. those where the syntax (sentence structure) and diction (vocabulary) are significantly evolved from simpler, conversational English – the less intimidating they will appear on test day, and the wider your own frame of reference will be when you approach the SAT passages.
In assembling our “Ultimate SAT Reading List”, we have identified books that the test writers 1) have explicitly recommended in the past 2) featured in past SAT forms 3) continue to feature in the new digital SAT. We have organized the list by passage topic, so you can target the types of texts which challenge you most.
2. If It Has a Spine, You’re Fine
To appreciate how a word is used – to say nothing of getting better at reading longer, denser sentences – you need to engage with substantial text. And, while the SAT often excerpts essays and articles, our general recommendation is to select a book because book-length writing often requires a level of psychological and intellectual commitment more conducive to focus than shorter texts require.
Paper or digital copy? If you are a Kindle or eReader addict, use the device with which you are familiar. But for most Preppers, having a paper copy you can underline, highlight, toss into your backpack (and never, ever worry about recharging) is the better option. Thriftbooks is one of our favorite sites for snagging used copies.
3. Don’t be a Hero
We also recommend picking just one book to start … rather than ordering a slew of titles, getting overwhelmed, and having the whole lot gather dust on your bookshelf, unread. The evidence backing the ‘one-thing-at-time’ approach to habit building is pretty strong, and is particularly useful when your goals are ambitious.
For example, in session, we only focus on the practice test we have completed that week. In the NFL, teams focus only on winning Sunday’s game. So reading one book, one chapter at time, even if your pace is a little slower as a result, builds the very habits of mind (concentration, an ability to engage with complex ideas for an extended period of time) necessary for a high score.
4. Keep a Dictionary Handy (and Look Up Even Those Words You ‘Know’)
I constantly use Apple’s built-in dictionary – it’s the first app on my home screen dock. I often use it more for precision than outright definition, i.e. to master the secondary, or tertiary definitions of common words. The SAT is far more precise in its use of language than most (normal) people. Appreciating fine distinctions between similar words — e..g between amused and elated (both are positive, but one is way happier), or peruse and skim (they are actually synonyms, not synonyms) — is central to getting the hardest questions correct on the SAT.
While it’s not technically a dictionary, Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made Easy is still one of the most effective ‘vocabulary-builders’ out there, despite the occasional dated reference. Arranging his book as a series of quirky self-help chapters (“How to Insult Your Enemies” is one example, “How to Check Your Standing as an Amateur Etymologist” is another), Lewis bombards the reader with etymologies, factoids, quizlets and the kind of impossible-to-forget trivia that helps cement a word’s meaning for good.
5. Give Yourself Time (and Structure)
It’s important to remember that improving your SAT vocabulary is not a quick process. It takes dedication and practice to build up your reading skills over time. That’s why reading widely is one of the first things we recommend to students just beginning to consider test prep.
Finding the time is one thing, but making good use of it is another. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, published a remarkable list of incremental changes anyone can make if they want to make the most of their reading time. His entire essay, How to Make Reading a Habit, is worth a read, but two recommendations seem particularly relevant to SAT students. One is to place the book you are reading atop your pillow every morning (tangentially, making your bed every morning is another – and I’m not exaggerating here – transformational habit worth adopting), as a gentle reminder to read a few pages before you go to bed later that night. Another is to find, or create, a book club. Getting together with other students who are also working to widen their vocabulary turns a solitary struggle into a social endeavor. And if none of your friends seem interested in joining up, ask us for some recommendations– we happen to know a few folks trying to achieve the same goal!
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