Building a Better Vocabulary
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Building a Better Vocabulary
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Narrated by:
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Kevin Flanigan
About this listen
What is the difference between specious and spurious? What does the word bombast have to do with cushion stuffing? Would you want to be called a snollygoster?
The hallmark of a powerful vocabulary is not simply knowing many words; rather, it's knowing the exact word to use in a specific context or situation. A great vocabulary can enhance your speaking, writing, and even thinking skills. This course will boost your vocabulary, whether you want to enhance your personal lexicon, write or speak more articulately in professional settings, or advance your knowledge of the English language. For anyone who has ever grasped for the perfect word at a particular moment, this course provides a research-based and enjoyable method for improving your vocabulary.
Building a Better Vocabulary offers an intriguing look at the nuts and bolts of English, teaches you the etymology and morphology - or the history and structure - of words, and delves into the cognitive science behind committing new words to long-term memory. By the end of the 36 enjoyable lectures, you will have a practical framework for continuing to build your vocabulary by discovering new words and fully mastering the nuances of familiar ones.
If you are an avid reader, you may have previously encountered some of the words in this course. But even the most voracious reader will be surprised and delighted by these eye-opening lectures, which delve into the building blocks of the English language and reveal intriguing new nuances to words you thought you knew well. These lectures will kindle a passion for the process by which words are created and for the beauty of the words you read, speak, and hear every day.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2015 The Great Courses (P)2015 The Teaching Company, LLCWhat listeners say about Building a Better Vocabulary
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Byron Uys
- 16-12-2023
It's excellent
This was one of the first great courses I purchased years ago. I love it.
The intention is to build an appreciation for vocabulary learning and give readers the tools to continue their vocabulary learning long after finishing the course. It succeeds on both counts.
The negative reviews are idiotic. One person suggested that they already knew all the words in the course. Doubtful, there are some extremely obscure words in here. Even if it was true, however, the point is to teach about vocabulary learning. This reviewer could still have taken the skills learned and used this to expand their vocabulary in a productive way. Unless they know every word in existence, which I doubt.
There are also some reviews saying the teaching style is too simplistic. Damned if you do, damned if you don't right? If it was less simplistic, people would be complaining that it is not accessible to the average learner.
This really is one of those rare titles that I feel truly blessed to have encountered. I'm sure it's not the only work of this kind, but somehow it's the only one to have found me in my youth and it changed the course of my life.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- julian
- 30-04-2021
Brilliant!
For the first time in my life, I felt like I had a proper English lesson! Where is the sequel?
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Kelly Miles
- 06-08-2021
Not a great format
Good content but I would like to second the previous review that the words need to be spelled out for this to work as an audiobook. Trying to learn unfamiliar words in audio format and not knowing the spelling is basically pointless. You may as well just read the pdf instead of listening to the lectures, it's impossible to follow without constantly referring to the pdf.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-12-2022
Great learning tool!
Learn new words plus history of words and why they came be what they are today! Fascinating!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jesse C. Sudich
- 07-07-2020
Great teacher for a great course
Plenty of useful tools, interesting history and fun words. well worth your time. Get into it!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Chantel McCabe - author
- 23-08-2019
Loved it!
I absolutely loved every single minute of this publication. It is highly entertaining, detailed and informative. Who knew etymology could be such fun! Thank you for this terrific and enormous piece of work! (I’m doing what I can to encourage the use of “frosperation” globally. 😂)
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mia
- 07-02-2016
Great but....
For me I'm a visual learner and wish the words I was learning was spelt out. I'm frantically trying to find the correct spelling in the dictionary while listening but not having much luck. I've only listened to the first chapter so I hope I'm not as frustrated with the following chapters.
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36 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Edgar
- 02-08-2018
loved it
loved it, very engaging and extremely helpful when learning new words and ways to learn and recognise those words.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
- Tom S
- 15-04-2019
Useful and worthwhile
Kevin makes a topic -- that could be bland -- quite interesting. I like his teaching style, he gives good advice on how to retain words and most of the words in the course are new to me.
My only criticism is that it would be best to spell out the words the first time we hear them. I know the full PDF book is included but it would be more convenient to have the spelling as we listen.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- John C Webster
- 17-12-2022
Brilliant
Amazingly structured and delivered. Very thorough and detailed! Highly recommend! A huge thank you to Kevin!
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