Essential Preparatory Guidelines for Best Results in GRE Verbal Section

The GRE exam has changed a lot over time. It is no more what it used to be a few years ago. The recent version is a radical departure from the earlier versions and also a bit difficult. Students really need to prepare effectively to show their mettle for the test.

One of the most insurmountable obstacles that students come face to face with come while preparing for the verbal section of the GRE is the vocabulary. The other obstacle is reading; students are put off by the content of the passages and have to struggle to actually survive them. While taking your GRE training in Dubai, it is essentially advisable that you make special efforts to identify an experienced training institute that provides innovative and effective training. If you have been mugging up all the word lists from various popular publications and online resources, the time has come when you need to give up rote learning the vocabulary and start handling it with more creativity and passion. Remember, a strong vocabulary is an asset and preparing for the GRE with the right spirit might just endow you with a lifelong skill.

To cover the verbal section without getting daunted by it, check the guidelines below.

Get hold of the Best Preparatory Material

You’ll find hundreds of publications boasting of offering the best study material.Caution. Some of this stuff is completely off the mark and can misguide you. The best thing to do is to follow the books and study materials that you can arrange from a GRE coaching centre of repute as these are systematically prepared and improvised from time to time in order to deliver quality and relevant instruction. In case, you aren’t associated with any GRE coaching centre, check the reviews before you decide to purchase a certain book. It is equally beneficial to ask your friends and take their idea about a book that you want to buy. Questioning on the internet book review forums will also guide you well.

But Books aren’t enough
So, you bought the best books in the market that your friends and tutor recommended? That’s good but do you know that reading books is not enough when you’re preparing for the GRE verbal section?

Yes, that’s true, simply reading books won’t enhance your vocabulary nor will it make you proficient in reading the long and esoteric passages that you’ll find on the test. Of course, your study material – the best ones in the market will offer you several reading passages for practice and mock tests, but  you will still  need to read some more.

Most importantly, reading for fun will improve your reading stamina. And if you don’t enjoy the process, handling the passages on the test will become a thing that frightens! Start reading beyond the course books; go beyond the material available to you. Also, go beyond your comfort zone! Stop reading murder mysteries, and those comic books on the table. Read something heavier from the areas of sciences and the social sciences. Now, this doesn’t mean you’ll start reading a crude research paper from a typical academic journal. Of course, this will bore you and you will not get yourself to read beyond a couple of sentences.Read something like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker, or the Economist and the likes. Pick up the longer articles and write ups in these newspapers and magazines and read them with pleasure. Take interest in what you read and build up reading speed. Regular practice will not only improve your reading speed and stamina but will also enrich your vocabulary.

Learn Words the Right Way – Going beyond the Flash Cards and Word Lists

Learning a vocabulary words is not like learning biology or engineering terminologies that you’ll learn every word by heart and it will stay on your mind forever! Understand the words that you’re learning. It is good to have those word flash cards and to go through the word lists but this won’t suffice your test needs. Along with using these learning tools you need to be a bit conventional in approach by learning the words in their contexts instead of simply learning them; learn the words, as if they are individuals, complete entities and not for their definitions alone. For instance, Curmudgeon (n.) is a one of the frequently appearing word on the GRE test. Now when you are learning what Curmudgeon means, your learning should not be restricted to its dictionary meaning alone. Curmudgeon means -- An irascible, cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas. Well, when you have understood the word and learned it well, remember that in usage the word may not essentially be restricted to an old man with stubborn ideas. It can be used for any surly or grouchy person who keeps sulking or grumbling all the time.

So, it is the versatile connotations of a word that you should seek to learn and know so that when it appears on the test you can twist and turn its meaning accordingly and understand the concept behind it.

Keep these preparatory tips in mind while preparing for the GRE and you are sure to do justice to the test and to your plans post the GRE!