Vocabulary Cartoons: Word Power Made Easy

This is the best mnemonic vocabulary book I've come across. Most vocabulary books expect the reader to simply memorize dozens of words from a definition, an etymology and a sentence, then use fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice to reinforce and test you. As most know, it quickly becomes overwhelming. Vocabulatoons visual representations are truly memorable and I still remember the picture for the word for fjord (tourists looking at Ford cars in a Fjord). The words are definitely geared toward high-school vocabulary and the SAT (as the book cover suggests) so I found myself already knowing about 75% of the words (e.g. gloat, legacy, phobia, vocation, ajar, aftermath). I'm hoping the sequel to this book will have more advanced words, however, it never hurts to reinforce what words you *think* you already know.

Like many of you, I have used lots of other methods in memorizing vocabularies, and only found that it is totally useless. Even though you have learned those new words one day, you forgot them the next day. It is because we do not make the best use of our brain in memorization. If you know psychology, you know that human memorize by association, that is, you link up a new fact with the old information already contained in your mind. The success of this book is to help you to form association with other English words that you have already known. For example, according the book, the word "Giddy" is associated with an easier word "City", because they have similar pronounciation. Then a picture showing a village farmer getting dizzy with all the complicated roads in the city remind you the meaning of "giddy": dizzy, frivolous. The mnemonic method are based on psychological research, and that is why it is a good source in learning new words. I have tried Princeton Review Word Smart Cassette Programme before, and found that I forgot those learned words within a few days. This book has better methods, and the cartoon makes the whole learning experience less stressful.

This book is a goldmine if you are trying to teach vocabularyto middle schoolers. I tried the first set of ten words with my students and when we were finished they asked, "When are we going to do more?" I purchased the matching blackline masters from the company and turned them into "mini-posters" which are hung around my room. Many students (even the ones I don't teach!) enter my room and ask, "When are you going to put up more? We know all of these!" Keep in mind that I had at least 50 on the wall when this was asked! But the true kicker is when a student viewed "The hamper scampered to the finish line" and said, "Wow, He's throwing out all his clothes!" A must-have for many laughs during learning!

i have personally talked with other teachers who conducted research on the vocabulary cartoon books and the claims made by the authors are completely as represented. Memory aids of both visual and rhyming association mnemonics provide an entertaining and rapid way to learn and retain new words. If there is a better way to build vocabulary I have never found it in my eighteen years of teaching english. Samantha Ann Vogt

I was one of the Florida teachers who tested Vocabulary Cartoon study aids in actual classroom tests in 1997. In double blind tests, my eighth grade students with the vocabulary cartoon books learned three times more than in the control class with traditional rote memory vocabulary books. Both classes studied the same words and were given the same study time. I highly recommend the memory aid format found in the vocabulary books to both parents and teachers. Diane Woolley Port Charlotte Middle School Port Charlotte, Florida