(Part 2) Best vocabulary & word lists according to redditors

Let's expand your vocabulary beyond N words and "Lewpac".

https://www.amazon.com/Words-Year-Page-Day-Calendar/dp/152350336X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=word+of+the+day+calendar+2019&qid=1549648345&sr=8-1

Thanks, I just bought the book!

What does your problem in a professional environment seem to be? Understanding specialized vocabulary? Understanding when it's spoken quickly? Similarly, if you're having trouble speaking, does it seem to be just "finding the words" or trying to figure out grammar in your head, or what?

If it's specialized vocabulary, maybe take a look at Parola Per Parola.

I'm a professional in-person and online GRE (among other things) tutor. It's best to use a recent book, especially since they are typically close in price to older editions. Depending on where you're starting your prep at (take a practice test first), and what score you're aiming for, usually 2-3 months is a great amount of time to prep.

I recommend and use this book with my students - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1259862410

And these flashcards -
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1618656198

Oddly enough, you can buy password strength on amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Dice-Word-List-Joel-Dueck/dp/1986078817/

Great advice with everything besides the part concerning the SAT. I wouldn't take a prep course. If you are not motivated, it will not help. If you are motivated, then you wouldn't need it and it would be a wasted expense. Instead, most commonly recommended are this book for introductory material as well as practice tests and this one for vocabulary. They are very cheap! (You could probably even borrow them for free from the library)

I'm not a good example since I was somewhat obsessed, but through many (many!) practice and vocabulary books like those I improved my score by over 600 points relative to my PSAT results without spending more than $50 out of pocket.

Klipp und Klar is the book that I used to prepare myself.

Looking for general advice on how to memorize vocab. I know Mandarin so character memorization isn't really a problem. I'm going through Minna No Nihongo right now (around Chapter 25) and realized that while I'm understanding the new grammar, I'm always using vocab from the first ten chapters of the series. I'd say I'm just around the N5 level.

I was also thinking of getting either https://www.amazon.com/Kirari-JLPT-N5-vocabulary-Goi/dp/4893588346/ or https://shop.whiterabbitjapan.com/products/1000-essential-vocabulary-for-the-jlpt-n5 because I just can't seem to get myself to memorize the vocab from Minna No Nihongo.

Can't vouch for them, but you might check out these kind of books -

https://www.amazon.com/Rave-New-World-Vocabulary-Novel/dp/1411404408

(I tried a similar one with a student years ago - )

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http://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Websters-Vocabulary-Builder-Mary-Cornog/dp/0877799105

Your story is pretty similar to mine so I'll try to share some insights. I have ADHD too and isolated myself and retreated into video games when I was 13 to escape some family issues. (I'm 20 now.) I started to realize the importance of being social when I started college two years ago and have been working on recovery ever since.


First of all good on you for realizing that socializing and making connections is so important. Some folks never realize this and stay shut in for life. Wanting to get better is the first step to improving, so you're already on the right track. Give yourself a pat on the back.


Now I can't diagnose you with social anxiety or anything, only a professional can do that, but in the end, it's not all that important. Being diagnosed and having your problem given a name doesn't change the problem at all. Furthermore, not having a diagnosis doesn't make your issues less valid. They are valid, and they cause real hurt, and you deserve to get better. So I wouldn't worry too much about whether it's ADHD or social anxiety or depression as much as I would focus on working it.


I totally relate to feeling like your peers have greater social intelligence than you. And I used to be the same way with giving one or two word answers. It does get easier with practice, but you have to be patient and keep trying. I find it helpful to remember that whoever you're talking to you can't read your thoughts. They don't know what you see in your head, and they don't know what you're thinking. This is important because when you give tiny answers you're giving them just a tiny amount of information. You might know extra details or have more in depth thoughts that relate to your answer and give it more context and make it more understandable, but if you don't go ahead and mention them, the person you're talking to will never know. So what I'm saying is to start trying to give more detailed answers to questions. You might think, "Oh, they don't care to listen to me." If they didn't care, why would they ask? Another important thing is to ask questions in return after answering. "How's your courseload this semester?" "It's a little light, how's yours?" If you look up tips for making conversations, asking questions is going to be the first thing you read. It's probably the single most important thing you can learn.


I got a bit sidetracked there but going back to how you feel like others have higher social intelligence, and you describe your social ability as being so poor, it's pretty clear that you're having trouble with self-esteem, which is normally linked to depression iirc. Looking down when you walk is an indicator of that too. It might not seem like useful advice now, but dwelling on not being good at conversations is only going to make them harder. If you keep drilling it into your head that your inept at conversing with people then social interactions will continue to be difficult and anxiety provoking, because you'll continue to dread not doing well enough. It's kind of a cycle, telling yourself that you're bad at talking to people will make you more anxious when you do talk to people, inhibit your conversational ability, and thus give you more "evidence" of your lack of skill and reinforce your feelings. You're basically digging your own grave when you do that. Now I know you can't just go "hey! I'm the BEST at talking to people!" and fix it just like that, but it's incredibly useful to reflect on when you do well and feel good about that rather than dwell on doing poorly, even if your good moments seem incredibly tiny. Progress is progress. It takes a long time and I still feel self conscious about myself and my ability, but it does get better.


Anyway, I'd stop playing video games if you haven't yet. It might be hard but you'll come to realize that there's much better things to do with your time. Also, having trouble making eye contact and I'm not sure what you mean by struggling with body language but difficulty making eye contact and reading body language can be a sign of autism. Take that with a grain of salt though, I'm not a professional. A tip for eye contact I've heard countless times is to look at someone between their eyes, right above the nose. It's apparently indistinguishable from regular eye contact, but I don't have any experience doing it. Even with that tip in mind, you should practice holding it more than usual. It might feel weird and uncomfortable but if you're struggling to hold it chances are what duration feel weird are actually pretty normal for everyone else. Just remember to practice. If you're finding it hard to read body language, there's plenty of resources on that you can study from. I've heard good things about this book. There's way too much to say about body language and eye contact than I can type here.


As for other books, How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is one the everyone recommends. I've read it and it's great, but just reading it won't help. You really gotta go out there and practice it, (true even if you don't read anything) and be willing to pay attention to what works and what doesn't, refine your approach as necessary, and make new discoveries for yourself. When you do that, you'll start to really understand what the book is saying, well after you read it the first time. Books are useful, but they can't plant the right state of mind into your head, that's something you need to figure out for yourself. It takes lots of time and attention, but that's what you need to do. And that's what everyone else has done, book or not, while you, to be frank, were busy playing video games. It will be worth it.


That's all I can think to say right now. Again, good job asking for help, and I wish for you nothing but the best. Good luck!

If you have a Kindle (or device which supports Kindle...) I can recommend this set of HSK flash cards.

The sets are dirt cheap, and divided into the HSK vocab levels. I've found that they really compliment my Chinese vocabulary.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Periodic-Elements-Esperanto-Languages-ebook/dp/B00CA58NUC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367699786&sr=8-1&keywords=periodic+table+esperanto

Few bits of advice.

1. Start reading. Every good writer is well read.
   
2. Speaking of reading.. Here are some books I'd recommend for learning writing skills.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Eats-Shoots-Leaves-Tolerance-Punctuation/dp/1592402038
   
   This is a great book explaining everything you need to know about punctuation in a fun way.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Vocabulary-Cartoons-Learn-Minute-Forget-ebook/dp/B00FBL1GL0
   
   This book is how I learned a bunch of vocabulary words. You'll never forget them with the help of the fun cartoons that help you recall the words.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Brysons-Dictionary-Writers-Editors-Bryson/dp/0767922700
   
   Bryson is a great author and this book can be helpful to you as well.
   
   
3. Start Journaling daily. This is a great skill to learn because it helps focus your thoughts after a long day and it will help you organize ideas quickly in your mind as you write them down.
   
   4.Finally, practice writing. I don't know what field you are studying but I would recommend learning about academic writing. Find journals (through your college library) that are about your field of study and try reading an article or two and take notes on them. The goal is to try and connect a topic from your classes with an article or some other writing (you can find articles online from reputable sources other than journals) . Then you can try writing about your own perspective on the topic in a research style paper. This way you will learn more about what you are studying and see how other professionals write about it. Also, look for books about your field as they will be great resources for your writing.
   
   
4. If you would like more information about academic writing and how I personally organize notes and go about researching topics to write my own papers just comment or pm and we can talk more.

I think any of the comments above are helpful. I absolutely swear by Word Nerds (https://www.amazon.com/Word-Nerds-Teaching-Students-Vocabulary/dp/1571109544). If you're going to continue teaching the vocabulary lesson, it might be worth investing in reading this.

link

Don't waste your time with that crap, unless that is effective for you. For me, whenever I read I gloss over words I don't know or can't pronounce. If you do this at all then reading won't increase your vocabulary.



For me, what worked was creating a mental picture of the definition based on the pronunciation of the word. The more personalized and outrageous the better. That last part on being personalized and crazy is key.


For example, truculent means "eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant." To me it sounds like "truck-you-lent" so I picture a guy driving a semi truck which costs like 400K who owns the truck, but works for a shipping company. He lends his truck out, but the guy doesn't give it back and so the big burly truck driver is pissed and eager to fight and argue.


I practice recalling the key phrase "truck-you-lent" and associated picture incorporating the definition. After three times I just know the definition without really being able to articulate it well. Its just in there, but it takes struggling and recalling it ~3 times over a 2 week period.


I have a database of GRE words with descriptions of pictures that I have been working on in hopes of writing a book based on the above idea someday. PM if you want me to send it to you.


Also, check out these books for ideas and even words. They tend to be simple SAT words but you need to know them as well for the GRE.

GRE Vocab Capacity: Over 900 Powerful Memory Tricks and Mnemonics to Widen your Lexicon

Vocabulary Cartoons II, SAT Word Power

Vocabulary Cartoons: Sat Word Power

Vocabulary Cartoons II: SAT Word Power

Picture These SAT Words!

Picture These SAT Words in a Flash

Vocabulary Cartoons: Word Power Made Easy

Vocabulary Cartoons: SAT Word Power

How to Build a Better Vocabulary

Verbal Advantage: 10 Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary

X, a fabulous child's story might be a good read. Its a short story that works with gender norms. And I think we can all agree that expectations based on gender have a huge affect on inequality.

Getting any of the standard Kaplan,Princeton, etc, is a good start. They should all have a top 150-250 word list. I would also learn root words, I was recommended this book, http://www.amazon.com/Root-Awakenings-Vocabulary-Development-Classical/dp/0875635814.