Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999
From: Jim Geary
To: cgp
Subject:Re: alright already
On Wed, 7 Apr 1999, Rebecca Soble wrote:
I invariably learn new words as I play Scrabble (an incorrect challenge usually makes them stick in my head pretty well) but I know there are lots of words that I come across playing the game or perusing the wordlists that I do not retain. I've found that I remember the ones that I write down with the definition or a sample sentence, but I am not always so diligent about doing that. What methods do you use to remember words?Flashcard every word in the target dictionary that you want to learn but do not know, or might not be able to anagram. If you want to know every word in the OSW not in the OSPD, for example, you'd end up writing out 27,861 words. Rather an odd example, but I know at least one person who has done this. :) More likely, you'll have a smaller set of words that you will aspire to master. Set attainable milestones and attain them.
How much time do you spend per day/week learning words?
7-14 hrs. That's a lot. Study as much as makes you happy.
Finally, what sets of words should I focus on (beyond the obvious 2s, 3s and 3/4 hooks)?All the 5s. The very high-probability bingos. You might want to invest in some software if you think that will assist the learning process. I personally recommend and use VideoFlashcards, which is available from www.cygcyb.com . All proceeds go to charity. This tool will allow you to parse out sets of words that you wish to master and drill you on them til you get them right.
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