Vocabulary often proves to be the key to success in the entrance Exam

Any Aptitude Test is a rigorous evaluation of the mental faculties, such as the skills of comprehension and analysis, powers of logic, deduction and capacity to arrive at a correct decision under severe time constraints. A harmonious blend of speed, accuracy and precision is required to meet this formidable challenge. An Aptitude Test is not a test of academic ability but a test of intelligence. The choice provided may be easily narrowed down to two; but to choose the correct one from the two will require a rigour of practice.

Vocabulary questions also primarily focus on aptitude and comprehension. Hence, focus on the basic concepts of English that will stand you on firm ground and make you capable of attempting more complex of elements of the language. So learn some simple words that you need in your daily life and learn their different meaning. Also note how they change their meaning when they belong to different Parts of Speech. Start using these word according to core grammar rules (such as Nouns, Pronouns, ‘Be’ Verbs, Action Verbs and Adjectives).

The knowledge of words and their connotation is tested in the form of synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitutions, analogies etc. At higher difficulty level, knowledge of contextual vocabulary is tested through questions like sentence completion, cloze test etc. To choose the correct one from the two seemingly correct options will require a real feel for words. The choice of the correct options may depend only on the meaning of the words but also on the appropriate part of speech. Remember a synonym or an antonym of a word should be of the same part of speech as the given word.

Vocabulary building techniques:

It is fact that no two words mean exactly the same thing—that means synonyms of a word mean only approximately the same thing. At the heart of this claim is that words of similar meaning allows the user to express different shades of meaning. For example a fearless person can be also called bold, courageous, intrepid, brave, audacious, valiant, valorous, mettlesome, plucky, dauntless, undaunted. All these synonyms of fearless shows the fearlessness in different ways.

It is interesting to discover that a commonly used word has so many words that can be used as an alternative for it. Most of these words have different connotations when used in a sentence. Let’s see how we use these in different context. The well known online dictionary www.thefreedictionary.com [Reference :http://www.thefreedictionary.com] shows different connotations of the word fearless. Fearless emphasizes absence of fear and resolute self-possession: "world-class [boating] races for fearless loners willing to face the distinct possibility of being run down, capsized, attacked by whales" (Jo Ann Morse Ridley). The synonyms of the word mean having or showing courage under difficult or dangerous conditions. Brave , the least specific, is frequently associated with an innate quality: "Familiarity with danger makes a brave man braver" (Herman Melville). Courageous implies consciously rising to a specific test by drawing on a reserve of inner strength: The courageous soldier helped the civilians escape from the enemy. Intrepid sometimes suggests invulnerability to fear: Intrepid pioneers settled the American West. Bold stresses readiness to meet danger or difficulty and often a tendency to seek it out: "If we shrink from the hard contests where men must win at the hazard of their lives ... then bolder and stronger peoples will pass us by" (Theodore Roosevelt). Audacious implies extreme confidence and boldness: "To demand these God-given rights is to seek back what I call audacious power" (Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.) Valiant suggests the bravery of a hero or a heroine: "a sympathetic and detailed biography that sees Hemingway as a valiant and moral man" (New York Times). Valorous applies to the deeds of heroes and heroines: "The other hostages [will] never forget her calm, confident, valorous work" (William W. Bradley). Dauntless refers to courage that resists subjection or intimidation: "So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,/There never was a knight like the young Lochinvar" (Sir Walter Scott). Undaunted suggests persistent courage and resolve: "Death and sorrow will be the companions of our journey.... We must be united, we must be undaunted, we must be inflexible" (Winston S. Churchill).

How do we build an appropriate vocabulary?

Vocab Building is not a short term work; you need to give a concerted effort to boost your vocabulary. You can employ some of these tried and tested steps.

Step 1 : Read a lot. Read a book, a magazine or a newspaper Even if you may or may not know the meaning of a particular word in it, it hardly matters. To read, to enjoy, to converse, to understand – for almost everything that deals with language, you require a good vocabulary. It will help all of us to be reasonably good (if not very good) with vocabulary.

Step 2: Repeat the words that you need to learn or want to use. You may find use of flash cards helpful. It is the quickest way to get to see the repetition of a word you want to learn. It will show you the unknown as well as known words until you get acquainted with the words.

Step 3: Refer to a thesaurus. This gives an opportunity to learn synonyms of words based on a concept.
Step 4: Use words directly related to the concept in question (cognates words). Cognates are genetically related in origin- they are etymologically related.

Step 5: Trough TV programmes surround yourself with those who speak English as their mother tongue. English Soap operas make for compelling viewing, where different colours of life unfolds. These are rich sources for drastically differing dictions.

Step 6 : Know English culture and practices. Knowing the culture and practice truly provides meat to the bare bones. Know the language as if with first-hand experience. English literature, theatre, literature, films and soap will take you to the living source of the vocabulary.

Step 7: A host of English words owe their origin to Greek, Latin or French language. So knowing those root words help predicting the meaning of these words. Learn to use root words.

Step 8: Use themes. Collect words related to a particular theme. For example, if we need words related to Government or Governance we get words such as bureaucracy; communism; fascism; politics; society, absolutism (the theory and exercise of complete and unrestricted power in government), absolutist, absolutistic, anarchism, autocracy, autarchy, despotism, dictatorship, monarchy, oligarchy, etc.

Step 9: Many English words are grouped into specially named groups based either on shared characteristics or on evolutionary relationships established by genetic analysis. For example names of study of various subjects or words for various young and adult or words for various male and female animals. Learn the scientific classification of words.

Step 10: Pick up some books on vocabulary building. Some newspapers carry word games, and cross word puzzles. Play word games with your friends and siblings

Step 11: And learn words playfully. Start assigning different words to different characters or traits of the persons you know. For example if you find a person generous the try to assign a few more words that may suit this character of his.

Add to your vocabulary every day
Aim to learn and master at least one new word every day; why not work your way through the newest additions of the Oxford English Dictionary for vocab that’s culturally on-point.

Use key letter or key-sounds to practice for your vocabulary. Think of a word, based on the first or the last syllable of the word. Insert the new words, and learn to use in sentences on regular basis. Practicing sentence completion questions more often will greatly help. Remember without a good collection of vocabulary, your performance in the Reading Comprehension will also suffer.