The book is amazing. It works like magic without even boring you. The way the words are associated with various ideas and exercises at the end of each session really improve the retention. I can't stress enough that this the best book out there if you want to learn new words. I definitely recommend it.

"A new word is not just another pattern of syllables with which to clutter you mind --A new word is a new idea to help you think, to help you understand the thoughts of others, to help you express your own thoughts, to help you live a richer intellectual life." pg. 141

I immensely enjoyed this book. It is a interesting read on its own, as well as a reference guide and a grammatical aid. It will sit next to my dictionary for a long time and will be used frequently. It is a perfect tool for someone looking to expand their lexicon, whether they be in their teens, twenties, thirties or older. It's perfect for logophiles and those who are striving to increase their literary education. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in words or their etymology.

Norman Lewis knows how to teach vocabulary in a way that helps new words stick. In Word Power Made Easy, he does this in several ways:

1. New words are divided into thematic chapters that make it easy to draw connections between the words.

Some chapters are straightforward and closely connected, like "How to Talk About Doctors" or "How to Talk About Science and Scientists." Others are based on a part of speech, like verbs, as in "How to Talk About Actions" and "How to Talk About What Goes On." And some are just plain fun, like "How to Talk About Liars and Lying," "How to Insult Your Enemies," and "How to Flatter Your Friends."

2. He uses etymology as the scaffold to help build a knowledge of many related words simultaneously.

After introducing the basic words for each section, he discusses the word's roots and teaches many words with the same origin. It makes it easy to remember the new words' relationships to each other. My two favorite etymologies were both words derived from the Greek root phanein, to show. The first, the word sycophant, also derives from Greek sykon, a fig, and literally means a "fig-shower." As the book explains, "When a fellow wants to get a good mark, he may polish up an apple and place it on a teacher's desk; his classmates call such a lad an apple-shiner. Less complimentary localities use the term bootlicker." Now when I think of sycophant, I picture a Greek schoolboy with a fig, and the word has stuck. The second, the word diaphanous, uses phanein, to show, with dia-, which means through. Thus, something that is diaphanous shows through, or is practically transparent.

3. All words are reviewed multiple times in exercises throughout the book that use a variety of ways to measure recall and understanding.

You can't get by with merely memorizing a definition for many of the exercises. You really have to comprehend the word and its relation to its synonyms and antonyms.

I just completed this book as part of homeschool high school English for my two oldest daughters. I will use it again with all my six children, as I rate it first among all vocabulary-building books we have ever used.

best book on building vocabulary

Oh man, it took ages to complete(I was not consistent) but now I'm here. The book is amazing and Norman Lewis I think would be a great person to talk to. The book gives you a new perspective on the English language and its origins, diving deep into etymology this book doesn't pour words into your brain and scold you to learn them but tries to teach a different method through etymology, combining similar words, just like how children learn a language.

I immensely enjoyed this book. It is an interesting read on it's own as well as a guide (a very good one) of building and how to build a very strong vocabulary. A very good experience!!!

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to start building his/her vocabulary and is looking for a guide. This book is very fascinating!!! Just knowing the root of the word helps you understand the meaning of various words from that root. This book gives a new direction of looking at words as -
"A new word is not just another pattern of syllables with which to clutter you mind --A new word is a new idea to help you think, to help you understand the thoughts of others, to help you express your own thoughts, to help you live a richer intellectual life."

5/5 STARS! I LOVE WORDS...Nerd status activated. I am fascinated by etymology & how all words really do somehow connect & this is a fun & immersive way to learn a cool vocabulary. I definitely recommend to anyone studying for SATS!
Loved doing the tests after each chapter & seeing how much I retained.

It took me more than 2 years to complete this book. I did the typical thing of leaving it and coming back to this book. While reading this book I came across many a words which I have encountered before but could not remember the meaning but the approach to those words in this book made them unforgettable even with the new words. The book always surprises you with description of real life experiences that you behold as you make progress.

花了将近三个月，终于啃下来了这本英文单词学习书。若非对英文有所兴趣，我定也坚持不下来。这过程中也许学了几百个单词，但学完之后忘了大半，但比起单词来说，本书给我更大的收获是提供了阅读英文原文书的动力，这也是我读此书的目的所在。本书对英文词根在各个领域学科范围做了介绍，通过众多练习例句让读者加深英文中来自古希腊与拉丁语的词根印象，并学会如何做同根词的词汇演绎。

阅读本书的乐趣不仅在学习到新单词，更在于作者时不时的冒泡与读者打趣分享他对词汇的理解。如作者所言，单词是概念的符号，没有相应的词汇便形成不了对应的概念，没有相应的概念，便无法形成对应的知识，从而无缘智慧。所以语词是迈向智慧的前提。阅读过程中我已将背单词养成习惯，通过欧陆词典进行反复练习，接着再配上各类短文长文、影视剧集材料，将整个输入过程尽量做到完整。

this book is very useful to us...most favorable or day to day words are using in this book

I took this book as a challenge to sit with it and work with it during the course of it and I really felt that this book has many things to offers because it really teaches you how to paint with words rather than just a readymade painting.
This book demands perseverance but the results it offers are beneficial.
A great book.

This book by Norman Lewis is the first step for a scholar to start the journey of building a good vocabulary. New words are explained with easy steps and the exercises in the end of each chapter help the reader to test himself before moving further.

This was the first book I picked with the sole intention of learning some new words for the sake of it. :)