I need to memorize 3500 new words for the SAT. How should I go about this?

Homework and Study Help
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In order to prepare for the SAT, I need to memorize all the vocabulary from this website in 30 days. How do I go about doing this, and what memory techniques or system should I use? I have tried linking words to images, and memorizing example sentences/phrases with the word to memorize this, but I am having difficulty using these techniques. Thank you to anyone who is willing to point me in the right direction :slight_smile:.

(note: if this is in the wrong topic, someone please move it)

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My advice:

  • Set up some flashcard app (Anki or whatever) or even your own paper/digital notes. If you can find this set already done, or if you can use e.g. a RegEx/program to create flashcards, even better.
  • Check through the words and skip any that you already know (or seem unimportant for some reason). Concentrate on the ones you don’t already know. Recognize that you don’t need to know 100% of these. But the more the better. I’m a native English speaker and don’t know some of these… acclivity?!
  • For these, find some reason why that word has that definition (ideally etymology, or links to similar words, but can be some random ad hoc mnemonic if needed). Use those to help you memorize them.
  • Ideally cover only 20–30 genuinely new words per day, not 100+
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Thank you for the advice, Daniel! I didn’t think about etymology as a way to solidify my knowledge, so I’ll try to incorporate that into my studies. Currently I’m using Anki flashcards, and it does seem to be a good way to track what I know.

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I would-

Look for any groupings i can- mnemonicize those groupings hard- where are they? How many? What is excluded from this group? Which groups what? Group group group.

After that first pass and note PREFIXES and SUFFIXES. Learn the etymology of those, and build images for them that u relate to them. When are they used and not used? In which groups?

Now u can look at the words and scan them- ask yourself “which of these are easy and which are difficult?” And note them both ways. A word must be noted- easy or hard. Not meh. If its not easy its hard.

Only mnemonicize the hard ones

Then after- see if u even need to use mnemonics on the easy ones.

Now use any technique you like- personally i attack the sound of the word before the shape of the letters.

Good luck! You got this!

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I think you could create stories with several words. And don’t believe that remember phrases is useful because are a lot of words. That you can understand and practise but remember all that is very difficult with little time.

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Ideally how many words should be in a single story?

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Connect all words in that group. Build hierarchy!

but technically they could all be in one story if you wanted. Breaking them up into groups helps you determine either what they mean or how they sound-

example: all the “er” words go here or all the “this category” words go here.

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You have to try. There is not a number. Whathever works, works. Besides you have to understand and practise. This is only to remember.

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Our brain remeber everything base on information. in order to get all these words you have to convert it to image, sound, emotion, story. And to do it, you need join pinterest that can help you improve your imagine skill.

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How should I memorize the word recalcitrant, for example, using all of these methods?

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My preferred method is soundalike mnemonics:
In the word “recalcitrant” I see “recalculate” (do calculations again) and “citrus” (like orange/lemon)… “-ant” is a normal ending for an adjective.

So the math student should RECALCULATE because he made a mistake, but he’s sour (meaning hostile, sullen) like a CITRUS about it, and so is RECALCITRANT (refuses, is obstinate).

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I see an ant turning into calcium (bone) and i know it is happening “again” or it is returning to bone

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Why Pinterest?

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I would use calcium, calculus or similar like it’s said here. A word similar You can create an image that represent the word too. Like independence as a flag. Or illness like a bed.

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How would I approach words that are difficult to memorize via sound, like callous or fester? And if soundalike mnemonics are difficult for the word, what else should I try?

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What makes these words so much harder? If you can pinpoint it, you can probably solve it.

Like everything in life, finding mnemonics is something you become better at with practice. Brainstorming with others is always a good idea. Using another more complicated method to avoid practicing finding mnemonics is probably counterproductive.

You could use:

Callous: CALvin has calloused hands so you’d think he’s a good guitarist, but he’s actually LOUSy.

Fester: they organised a FESTival to bring people together so that resentment wouldn’t fester

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U use any association you can to bring the abstract word into a singular image. That is the basis for any of these techniques. Forget accuracy and think only about association- you will know it after you remember it- no need to build meaning into the association.

For example- fester could be a jester, or a foster parent. Or a fest like a party like octoberfest. Or somethings going faster. Or easter. Or tearing a fez hat.

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You can transform it. callous. Could be a hard man like dirty harry. Callous harry. Or play with the name. Like Calais Is a port in france. Or Call out. About fester could relate with bender the futurama robot.

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