Customer Reviews

Word Power Made Easy

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I spent a period of time reading and learning this book. It was a wonderful experience when each time I finished reading a chapter and got the new ideas for the new words. That kind of satisfication is just overdescription especially for me when English is not my native language for naturally speaking.I would strongly recommand this book for whoever wants to make progress in his word-building and knowledge-growing. The author has his way to induce you into the world of words and surprisingly you would find many things just happen like what he said as you learned the book step by step. I still have to enhance my ability in English, and this book is just the beginning. And we Chinese often say the good beginning is already half of the success because you've got the right teacher!

The methods Norman Lewis uses to teach vocabulary are fun, refreshing, and LASTING! As a senior in high school, I found this book every bit as interesting as one might expect from a novel. To this day, I remember the chapter on the various medical practitioners. But even more amazing, when I see them in print, I can, to this day, remember whether I learned them from WORD POWER MADE EASY. The most helpful hints for me were the foreign language roots. Learning those helped me uncover the meaning of other words based on those roots. Also Lewis' little vignettes for each word are memorable. My favorite, even now, is the one describing a 'phrenologist'. Try it! You'll love it!

I was introduced to this book through a college course. Only a month or two after using this tool, people I worked with commented on the growth of my vocabulary. It was as if by magic. It didn't hurt at all. If you struggle with pronunciation, spelling, and usage, this book could be just the magic you need.

I'm skeptical of books like this. My view on expanding vocabulary is to simply read a lot and if you see a word you don't understand, then look it up. Magically, you now know what that word means. But this book surprised me, though I didn't initially realize it until much, much later, well after finishing the book and all the numerous exercises.

It's mainly because of the content of the book. Though the book centers around about a hundred words (all sectioned off by a specific category), it's through these words and their etymology that we are able to further expand our vocabulary. It teaches first how to recognize the prefix and the suffixes within these words, so that should we come across these same prefixes or suffixes later, we'll know the roots and how to identify the meaning of these words without pulling out a dictionary. This is where it surprised me. It took maybe months, but eventually I realized the power of this book when I saw a word I had never seen before while reading and was able to identify it without even stopping.

Another great part about this book is that it's never overwhelming. Each section uses ten words, and from there multiplies into many more using etymology until starting once again with ten more new words, but only after thoroughly testing you and what you've already learned. When I first began reading this book, I read a chapter a week and studied the words, the prefixes, and the suffixes related to each word and did the tests until I was satisfied that I knew them and then moved on to the next section. In doing this, I was able to expand my vocab by at least the one-hundred base words outlined in this book (later, I realized, my vocabulary grew by thousands of words).

This book also has a few review sections to go back on earlier chapters to help refresh you before moving on to more advanced words. To go along with that, it has "Brief Intermissions" that speaks of the constant changes in the English language, and how to avoid becoming a stuffy wordsmith after reading this book. These sections stress open-mindedness when speaking and writing. Finally, it has a few sections that aid in spelling problems, and how to avoid misspelling commonly misspelled words. Though these sections don't help in what the book is meant for, they are fun diversions nonetheless.

Overall, this book is a great learning experience that continues to teach well after you turn to the back cover. I'd recommend this to anyone seeking to speak intelligently and to write better. In fact, I'd recommend two, as you'll be marking up the first one in order to complete the quizzes.

This book was required reading for a college course I took in 1976. How I wish I had read it during High School, it certainly would have helped me in life and in the SAT's. It is so much easier to learn word roots the way Lewis teaches, than memorizing words, that way you will always know the words. My son is now in 6th grade and is studying Greece. In conjunction, his English teacher had the class learn the Greek roots. I found my old copy of Word Power, which really impressed upon my son how beneficial learning vocab this way is. I am delighted that the book is still in print and have purchased my son his own copy.

Though there are many books for enhancing vocabulary, this book by Norman Lewis is THE BEST. I used this book in high school over 20 years ago and recently purchased it to help tutor my 8th grade daughter. In flipping through the pages, I discovered that I actually remember nearly all of these words due to the ingenious, but simple format used by Norman Lewis. This elegant format is grouping words that have similar meanings together. For example, there are chapters on medical professionals, personality types, types of prevarication, insults, and words of praise. By learning words in semantically related groups, they store together in your memory. Studying words with similar meanings together also fosters an appreciation of the nuances of difference. It's a fantastic way to learn vocabulary that you'll retain. You can skip the earlier book, 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary by Wilfred Funk & Norman Lewis. The earlier book has a similar format, but fewer words, shorter definitions, and a less engaging layout.
In contrast to the semantic cluster format, some vocabulary books arrange words alphabetically. Unless you are studying for a test, such "selective dictionaries" are unlikely to foster long term word retention. If you are studying for a test, the "1000 Most Important Words" by Norman Schur is much better than "Words Smart by the Princeton Review." The former includes more words and better definitions. The "1000 Most Important Words" also has sentence examples defining the word and an easily read visual layout. But if you have time, study "Word Power Made Easy" first. It'll add to your long term understanding and enjoyment of words!

At first I thought he was spending too much time on scientific words and medical terminology, but it is amazing how this book flows. Explaining anthropologist, you learn about misanthropes, misogynists, gynecologists and obstetrics!! The key to enriching your vocabulary is understanding word origins and roots and Mr. Lewis does an excellent job of explaining. I guess that's why his book has been in print for 50+ years. Another thing I like about this book is the repetition which really helps to ingrain it into memory. There are matching quizzes, fill-ins, and other questions which help utilize what you have just learned.

I had to make a decision over which book I wanted to buy to improve my vocabulary, and I had to choose from far more expensive books than this one. In the end, as I was skimming through this book, I saw how amazingly wonderful and entertaining the book is. I've only read the intro and done a few exercises, and believe me, it is so helpful. Don't be misled by other books with extravagant exteriors, in this case, really don't judge a book by it's cover. Although at first sight I didn't want to buy it because it simply didn't look as "nice" as the others, I'm glad I sat down and made that choice. You won't regret it.

I first encountered this book in high school when I took a summer course on how to do better on the ACT (a course offered by my high school). Although I approached this book like I did any other back then (with no real effort), the book did stand out in my mind. I eventually bought the book many years later in an effort to better my vocabulary.

The format of the book is like a first year Spanish (or any other foreign language) textbook. A list of words are provided at the beginning of the chapter and the rest of the chapter is dedicated to using the words and testing your knowledge. Many of the chapters rely on one root word and expand on it. For example there is one chapter on fears and most of the words end in phobia. This makes learning a little easier because instead of learning each word individually, you can learn a group of words.

Some sample Chapters:
4. How to talk about liars and lying.
Words include (but are not limited to): notorious, consummate, incorrigible, congenital, egregious.

16. How to talk about a variety of personal characteristics.
words include: obsequious, supercilious, bibulous, innocuous.


However, every few chapters the author changes subjects completely and skips a specific vocab lesson in order to teach an overall lesson
Some chapters include:
3. How grammar changes
The difference between me and I at the end of a sentence, Proper verb agreement, and keeping the subject of the sentence the same.

8. How to spell a word
This chapter is dedicated to simple tricks that help you remember how to spell words. For example "I before e except after c."


Overall I really like this layout. It takes a few weeks to read through (if you take your time and do it properly). There is one reason why I gave the book a 4 out of 5. You can't just read a vocab book and expect to have great vocabulary. The key is to read. Whether it be the newspaper, a magazine, or a novel every few weeks, the best way to improve your vocabulary is to constantly challenge yourself. The novel Ulysses by James Joyce draws from over 30,000 words!! Even though the book was written over 50 years ago, almost every word in it is still part of an essential modern vocabulary.

"Word Power" was required reading my sophomore year in high school, and I'm so thankful it was! By learning the roots to thousands of words, I was more prepared for the SAT and ACT. I strongly believe that "Word Power" gave me the tools to become a National Merit Scholar and score quite high on both standardized tests. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in communicating effectively!