GRE is a tedious and droning task for many students, for few learning non ending lists of words becomes a nightmare. Specially for aspirants who are not very fluent in this language or are non-native speaker finds it extremely difficult to learn exhaustive vocab list and their meaning. However, if your dream is to pursue MS classes in world’s top universities or your goal is PhD with best Schools in US then tackling GRE is 1st step and great scores on this test will act as a strong tool for your entire application. There should be a balanced score on both Quantitative & Verbal section. Students with engineering background are generally able to cope up with Quant but struggle to attain perfect scores on verbal section.

There are many tricks and tips to increase your score in Verbal Section but I will cover few GRE strategies which are easy to follow & provide best return on invested time.

• First and foremost is to work very strongly on your Reading skills. And it starts with reading articles, blogs and write ups from diverse range of topics. Go ahead with platforms such as The Guardian, Scientific American, The Economist, The New York Times. Forums such as IEEE, Oxford university press, JMIR publications etc. are excellent read.
• As saying goes “Books Are our Best Friend”, it’s time to make one. Good books and novels are best source to enhance reading skills and grabbing new words. Make it a practice to read before you go to sleep and you may continue this habit even after your GRE Exam. When you come across a new word, immediately look up for the meaning and frame sentences using different words. Few good books to start with are The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Lord of the Files by William Golding, Animal Farm by George Orwell, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro and many more….
•  Another innovative way to learn is by listening. This can be initiated by watching American Television series and British movies, such activities will introduce plenty of new words to your dictionary. Few recommendations are Mad Men, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, Sherlock series, House of Cards, Boston Legal and many more...

Caution: This activity is suggested only for beginners and you must not waste time on watching unnecessary and out of context content.

• Create your own log and keep a track of all the words that you read while solving GRE type questions, reading books or watching series. Re- visit those words on regular basis to incorporate them in your long term memory.
• Internet is also flooded with numerous applications and resources to improve your word bank. You can play games like PowerVocab, A Word A Day Widget, Merriam Webster, Vocabulary.co.il etc. rather than wasting time on unnecessary games and videos.
• Visuals and Mnemonics are another phenomenal techniques to remember the meaning of new words that you learn. Aspirants use this as a tool to learn the meaning of common words that are tested on exam.
• Try to make synopsis of all the articles, blogs and other magazines that you read in your own verbiage to boost your performance on GRE reading comprehension. This will help in better grasping of real time question.

To learn words or to build strong vocabulary is not the only task to score well on GRE Exam. Focus on all round ability such as improving grammar rules, reading habits and solving authentic GRE questions. Continuously attempting full length tests gives better SWAT analysis to understand your weak and strong areas of GRE.

Team Doyen-Ed