One great way to learn lots of vocab quickly is to associate GROUPS of words together. Rather than simply memorizing long vocab lists organized alphabetically, or other ways that have little or nothing to do with the meanings of individual words, if you learn words in clusters, then knowing ANY of the words in the cluster can help you remember any pf the other words in the cluster–or at least get you in the ballpark.
One of my favorite vocab books that capitalizes on this concept is Barron’s 601 Words You Need to Know to Pass Your Exam (Barron’s 601 Words You Need to Know to Pass Your Exam)
And with that as an introduction, I’m pleased to announce a new series of blog posts from CollegePrepExpress that will feature SAT vocabulary clustered either by synonyms or by common roots, with the help of www.wordle.com. To kick off the series, here’s a great list of words that all share the Latin root “loq” or “loc,” which means “speech.” If you see a word with “loq” or “loc” in it, chances are it has something to do with speech.
- loquacious – talkative
- colloquial – using casual speech
- eloquent – speaking elegantly
- elocution – skill in speaking clearly and articulately
- interlocutor – one who partakes in a dialog or conversation
- circumlocution – talking in circles; beating around the bush [“circum” (=”around”) + “loc” (=”speech”)]
- colloquy – a conversation
- colloquium – an academic conference or seminar (i.e., where academicians speak)
- grandiloquent – pompous or extravagant in speech so as to impress; bombastic (“grand” + “loq”)