Rating: 
Summary: Excellent idea, BUT
Review: I also bought this to help prepare for the GRE. It is broken so that you can learn five new words a day for 46 weeks (plus an idiom a day). I agree with a previous reviewer in that some of the definitions of the idioms, while they may be text-book, are not concurrent with today's usage. I still found myself referring to the dictionary when trying to understand a new word (hence the 4 stars--I thought some of the definitions were too brief to be fully understood). However it's a great series of exercises which can be done at whatever rate you wish (I usually do one or two "weeks" in one day). There are also weekly reviews and "book so far" reviews, if that makes any sense.
Rating: 
Summary: A great way to quickly learn some new words
Review: I also bought this to help prepare for the GRE. It is broken so that you can learn five new words a day for 46 weeks (plus an idiom a day). I agree with a previous reviewer in that some of the definitions of the idioms, while they may be text-book, are not concurrent with today's usage. I still found myself referring to the dictionary when trying to understand a new word (hence the 4 stars--I thought some of the definitions were too brief to be fully understood). However it's a great series of exercises which can be done at whatever rate you wish (I usually do one or two "weeks" in one day). There are also weekly reviews and "book so far" reviews, if that makes any sense.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: I have been using this vocabulary development book in teaching students from 8th grade Honors English up through high school levels. I really like the concept and the way the exercises are developed. I was pleased to see the changes from the 2nd edition to the 3rd and now I am anxiously waiting to see the 4th edition. However, I find that some of the idiomatic phrases have fallen into such disuse as to not be of much practical help. I also question the connotations implied in the context of some of the vocabulary words being used in the vignette. I still think it is the best book available for vocabulary development and I use it continuously throughout the school year.
Rating:
Summary: It Works!
Review: I tried wordlists and many different techniques to master vocabulary words, yet for whatever reason, I found this book most helpful in enabling me to remember the words. The short passages that you read with the words in context in each section repeat words that you have already mastered, or should have, and I think this method works particularly well. Moreover, the words that you study in this book are extremely useful for the GRE, SAT, or just strengthening your vocabulary in general.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: I use this book while tutoring adults who are learning English as a second language. Each day, 5 new words are presented, activities incorporating the new words can be finished in less than a half hour and a review for the words learned for the week is also available. The words used are challenging but common. During my time helping the students i also get a good vocabulary review!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: I would say this is one of the best books in the market. You learn 5 words a day with context taken from newspapers and books.There are exercises at the end of each day and at the end of each week.Like this they make up 1100 words.15 minutes a day is what we need to spend on this book. This is all we all need. Another good book is The Wizard Of OZ Vocabulary Builder.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: I would say this is one of the best books in the market. You learn 5 words a day with context taken from newspapers and books.There are exercises at the end of each day and at the end of each week.Like this they make up 1100 words.15 minutes a day is what we need to spend on this book. This is all we all need. Another good book is The Wizard Of OZ Vocabulary Builder.
Rating:
Summary: 1100 words you need to know
Review: it is very helpful to my son. He copies the stories every morning. He got excellent scores at sat test.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Vocabulary Builder
Review: Read Read Read! Think books are for geeks only? If you think you have no reason to read, think harder. You like staring at the sun? Maybe there're audio books out there that share your interest in that pastime. You like staring at ants building dirt mounds--damn right there's books out there on that too! "I like to read, but my limited vocab inhibits me from reading anything with substance, so I just watch TV." I hear ya buddy, that's why I picked up the book " Barron's 1100 Words You Need To Know." Besides the fact that reading and writing skills are absolutely necessary in my college career, both of which depends directly on my vocab, I hated the fact that every damn thing with substance that I read, I had to look every other word up in the dictionary. So I said," hmmk, only 15 minutes of my day and I drastically improve my vocabulary huh?" UH UH, just another one of those magic pills that supposedly make you lose weight, increase sex drive, decrease age, and boost your IQ(!). If you don't want to build your vocab naturally (by doing a whole lot of reading), be prepared to grease up and work hard. "Work??!?Oh My God did you just say work?!!?" Well sir, building your vocab depends on one of the two things: How much you actually use the word, or how ingrained it is in your past knowledge. And since you probably won't be using the majority of those tasty words that allow you to read comfortably anything with substance in your daily life, e.g., while ordering fast food, your best bet is to find ways to ingrain those damned words. What do I mean by ingrain? I mean you have to connect the words to anything that you know that has a relation to it! Simple? Not. The best way to to connect words with what your past knowledge is to fit it into context--read sentences using the words! This won't be hard, since the book's "panorama of words" has sentences for each word in the book. This is lacking, however. If you can somehow draw the multiple meanings words often have from the 2 sentences and a definition composed of just two or three words, then this is the book for ya. If you also shun learning synonyms, you've got your book right here. However, if you truly want to make drastic improvements to your vocab, you best look up the multiple meanings of words from a dictionary, find the synonyms and compare the nuances, and make at least 2 sentences for each word. Then again, you might be Mr./Ms. Super Tenacious( In "1100 words," it says tenacious means "touch, stubborn." Guess you would never think it also meant "Capable of absorbing and retaining a large store of info and of recalling details accurately" eh? both meanings are rich, but you only get one from our book here). If you are, then i'm sure you can retain words easily just doing the mediocre exercises in this book. If your like everyone else, however, you'll probably end up making flash cards to facilitate learning. Now, if you follow the steps I listed to compensate for the books shortfalls, your probably talking about 4x the amount of time recommended on the front cover to learn these words sufficiently." But everything worthwhile takes time to accomplish." Ya, but we can also be EFFICIENT! That hour to compensate for our book "Barron's 1100 words You Need To Know" can be cut in half. Now, you have 30 EXTRA minutes to stare at the sun!( plz ppl don't stare at the sun; I've tried it b4 and I totally got sun burns=]. Or! You can just get a book that provides full definitions for words AND SYNONYMS AND SENTENCES WITH THE WORDS! I've gotten called "Word Power Made Easy," by Norman Lewish, and already it's superior to "1100 words something something." "Word Power Made Easy" focuses on the etymology (history) of words, which is a gr8 way to expand your overall knowledge AND your VOCAB and your ability to discern the meanings of WORDS YOU DON'T KNOW. Sound to good to be true? Learning the etymology of word groups can help you make vast improvements to your vocab, but it has its limits, like everything else(Besides me. Hehe, just pulling your yankee doodle/ette). If you also want to eschew everything I mentioned above, you should also look at a book called "Verbal Advantage: 10 Steps to an Impressive Vocabulary" by Charles Harrinton Elster. "Verbal Advantage" lists the Synonyms, the nuances, and a clear definition of all the words! You must check it out on this site. But listen, take it from this nascent omniscient reader, the best way to increase your vocab DRASTICALLY is to read something that you really enjoy and has plenty of tasty words. What did it for me was Joyce Carol Oates's "Marya: a Life." Even though when I read it, I really didn't learn the vocab, I've picked up another one of her books called "What I live For," and ever since then, my vocab has been bling blinging. When I go to the english tutoring center at my college, the tutors are like "You have a mature vocabulary." I usually just coolly reply "I'd graduated from Princeton" or something very unclose to that. But really, there is indisputable evidence that you learn quickest when you enjoy learning. And take it from me, most words Ms. Oates uses in her book that I look up, I retain with the slightest of effort. So i've laid down the options you must take, the last being the wisest to take. And remember, audio books are expensive!"Marya: A life" by Joyce Carol Oates
Rating:
Summary: It Works!
Review: This vocabulary book is fantastic! You work on 10 words for each of 5 days, and then a weekly quiz. The text stimulates and preps your mind to soak up the definition of each word by first showing you its use in a paragraph, then testing you with fill-in-the blank sentences. Finally,you learn the definitions via a matching quiz. But, after the paragraph and blank sentences, you almost know the definitions already! Also, each day a language idiom is presented as a further boost to a highly functional vocabulary. This is a great vocabulary book. I highly reccommend it.
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