30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary

I was assigned this book as a college freshman. The more I used it, the more I loved it. Now, I'm using it to teach vocabulary.
Chapters are have brain-friendly titles. Definitions are worded clearly and simply.
Visually, though, it needs updating. This book was first published before computerized typesetting and desperately needs visual modernization. If you're a confident reader, it's no big deal, but as a reluctant student of English, you might find the text-dense pages a bit mucky.

My brother-in-law recommended this book--he used it before he took his GRE tests, and found it really helpful. I also found it to be a helpful vocabulary book.

Each `day' introduces 10-20 words based on a specific theme or idea-sometimes, it is a group of words with similar roots (monologue, monogamy, etc.), sometimes it has words with opposite meanings, words are grouped by parts of speech.

The chapters/days then spend a few pages reviewing those new words through various methods--the author's theory is that by forcing you to write down and select the words within a number of contexts, you will learn the words faster.

Reviewers are correct that some words are used less often than they were in 1942, and one individual did not like the old practice of referring to generically to a doctor as "he" (by the way, all generic occupations/identifications were referred to as "he," including negative connotations such as thief, prisoner, and used-car salesperson).

This book is not a miracle--cure--don't toss out your high school GED just yet. Although you will learn a few scores of new words know how one goes about incorporating more, there is a long way to go. Just think of this book as a good start.

Despite advertising hype - 30 Days To -, no ONE book will double your vocabulary, but reading several vocabulary-building books can double your vocabulary. Different vocabulary-building books have different words and different explanations. If you don't learn a word from one book, you can learn it from another book.

Any vocabulary-building book will have many words, a fourth to half the book, that you already understand. You can always skip or skim the easy-to-you words.

Varied, incomplete word selection is another reason for using several books. Some books just take words used on past-standardized tests, neglecting other words. Other books, limit their words to words based on word roots, neglecting others. Often authors have thrown in personal favorite words, even if others rarely use the words. If you see a word in two or three books, it's generally a need-to-know word.

The main weakness of 30 Days To A More Powerful Vocabulary, and no book is perfect, is the word selection. As one other reviwer noted: some of the definitions are dated. But the price is right and if you read several vocabulary-building books, you will not have a problem identifying the few dated words.

Other Books: Cartoon/Mnemonic vocabulary books have their fans who like the mnemonic memory aids, which are useful before tests. But with only one word and one cartoon per page, these books may only have a few hundred words and are expensive on a per word learned basis. Audio vocabulary books such as Elite Word Power, let you hearing each word pronounced correctly, helpful for improving speaking vocabulary.

Ahh...the pleasure of words, how could a man deny himself this Empyrean delight! Asceticism, at least in the realm of vocabulary, is a mortal sin that a true logophile should not hesitate to denounce.

The organization of the book is worth heaping praises upon. Chapters, each of which should be finished in a day, are ordered thematically (eg Power Verbs and Foreign Words), that I personally found myself actually reading the book at whichever interesting chapter depending upon my particular inclination for that day. However, my advice should be taken with caution as the authors seemingly intended the book to be read in a particular order of progress. Well, tastes and aptitude may vary.

The book begins with an initial assessment of vocabulary and general language skills already possessed. Subsequent chapters are also supplemented with exercises (which are accompanied by helpful hints themselves), and the book ends with a final assessment of success.

At times the authors seem to be sermonizing on the values of the "American" language (as the authors call it), at times to be touting the importance of national linguistic pride, at times busily engaged in an exercise in Oprahesque you-can-do-it ad nauseam. As some reviewer(s) noted, the book has not been expurgated of the prejudices particularly prevalent at the time it was first written.

Despite the flaws which all books are guilty of in some degree or another, Dr Wilfred Funk and Norman Lewis have shown the path towards a greater experience of this esoteric enteprise. A path that is delightfully fun, rewarding and entertaining; it is definitely worth every penny!

On the back cover there is the promise that the book will "make words your slaves". Well, not quite but with perseverance, you are destined to achieve at least 50% of the intended result. You need 30 days of persistent study and more days for reinforcement. A bonus is that by the end of the book you would probably be inspired to acquire a lifetime habit of increasing your vocabulary.

Those who find this book useful should also consider the brilliant "Word Power Made Easy" by Norman Lewis, one of the co-authors of this book.