Comic Vocab: Laugh Your Way to a Better Vocabulary [AUDIOBOOK] (Audio CD)

by Thirsty Brain LLC (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
 
Listen. Laugh. Learn!

Comic Vocab is a fun, clean way to:

• Communicate intelligently
• Perform better on standardized exams
• Get excited about learning new words

Students, parents and professionals will love it!

What makes Comic Vocab different?

We all know that having a strong vocabulary is important, but learning new words is frustrating, repetitive, and just plain boring. There has to be a better way. What if your favorite joke taught you the meaning of a word? Better yet, what if you had a joke for every word you wanted to learn? You'd laugh a lot and you'd improve your vocabulary without even knowing it. That, in a nutshell, is Comic Vocab. You'll listen, you'll laugh, and you'll learn.

Why does Comic Vocab work?

Comic Vocab is a highly effective vocabulary-building tool. Its success stems from the innovative use of clean comedy. Comedy has all of the great ingredients for learning vocabulary. It keeps your attention and it's memorable. Instead of forcing a connection between a word and its definition, comedy marries the two through ridiculous imagery, funny sounding characters, and a personal connection.

What words will I learn?

We carefully selected our words using a simple equation. Take the words that appear on standardized exams and those you find in publications. Subtract the words you already know and the words you'd never use.

Here's a sample of the words you'll learn: cadge, prolix, zephyr, bedizen, hirsute, frowzy, bibulous, quaff, salubrious, argot, and many more!

For more information, please visit us at http://www.comicvocab.com.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Thirsty Brain LLC (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978903501
• ISBN-13: 978-0978903503
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #637,693 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laughed my way through the vocab!, December 14, 2006

By	boatmarina (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews

I couldn't have imagined actually enjoying learning vocab words! Some of the jokes were great, and the imagery is still stuck in my head. This is definitely the way to go if you want to remember vocabulary. Highly recommended!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever and, dare I say, didactic! Not a prodigal purchase. , December 21, 2006

By	Cheryl M. Crow (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

So, I've wanted to improve my vocabuary for a long time. I've bought the "expand your vocabulary" books, and they're all sitting in a box under my closet, providing endless enjoyment for my cat but, alas, no benefit to me (or my verbiage). Why, you might ask? Because too many of these approaches are either boring ("Word Smart" for the GRE"), involve too many words for me to remember at a time ("Tooth an Nail" for the SAT, a rather novel approach to the problem of vocabulary...literally), or are simply irrelevant, causing them to leave no permanent imprint on my brain.

Enter "Comic Vocab" - finally, a vocabulary strategy that is actually relevant enough to deliver results! I would strongly recommend this to anyone who's interested in improving his/her vocabulary. Before I prattle on further, here's a list of pros and cons to the CD:

PROS:
1) It fulfills it's promist to entertain you; I definitely laughed out loud (and scared my coworkers).
2) The strategy rests not only upon creating funny stories relating to vocab words but also upon using rhyming schemes, which make the jokes that much more memorable. For example, for the word "moxie," the comic tells a joke about a girl named "Roxy" who is "foxy." This double pronged approach makes it more likely you'll retain the meaning of the words.
3) Along the same lines, the strategy is varied. Some jokes rely on rhyming schemes, while others are said in a memorabe tone of voice (such as that of a small child or of a commercial). Because of this, i'm not only prevented from being bored but i'm more likely to remember the words.
4) As mentioned before: cool extras on website!
5) The words are grouped together in an entertaining, memorable way (my personal favorite: "quick, call the fasion police!").
6) A word on this strategy in general: I find it preferable to books because it alows you to learn words while muti-tasking! I listened to this CD a couple different ways - first while I was editing digital pictures at work, second when I was cleaning my kitchen, and third while in the shower. I could never do that while studying from a book.

CONS:
1) If you are listening to this on a CD player, it's hard to skip around if you hear a word you already know since the tracks each have 5 words that are played in sequence.
2) Comedy is subjective; understandably, I found a few of the jokes/voices grating.
3) There aren't as many words/definitions as you'd find in a big book (but i think the CD makes up for it in that you are actually going to remember these words).

In general, Thirsty Brain LLC and "Comic Vocab" succeed due to the relevancy and memorable nature of their strategy. I'm looking forward to the next CD!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do it with humor; Learn new words without pain, February 1, 2007

By	Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

I have to admit, I am not a candidate to be coaxed to learn vocabulary. As a life-long wordaholic, I used to read dictionaries for fun and I have to remind myself NOT to use certain words "just" because I happen to like them.

But suppose you are not of the word-collecting sort and you want to pick up a more extensive vocabulary. "Comic Vocab" is a pure pleasure. You learn to make stories with words, rhymes and other learning aids that help your not-word-oriented mind to retain this new knowledge. And you get to roar with laughter.

This is a great help and maybe a kind of reward to warm up a student studying for SAT's or other entrance exams who is hopeless with vocabulary but needs to enhance their word treasury. It is also great fun for older home schoolers. And it even is good for seniors who do crosswords or other puzzles to keep the mind sharp. Totally a joy, highly recommended.