GRE Verbal Study Tips from Shiksha coaching classes in ahmedabad

Know your vocabulary

There is no way around it. To do well on the GRE you must know your vocabulary. There are plenty of word lists that can help you get started. Also, make sure to learn how to go about learning GRE vocabulary. Reading through a word list simply won’t hack it, you’ve got to have vocabulary study strategies.

Speak GRE 

The verbal section is not filled with amusing writing. What you’ll get is dry, academic type of passages. The Text Completions (the fill-in-the-blank sentences) will also contain dry writing, much of which is complex and sophisticated. To really wrap your head around such writing, you must immerse yourself in GRE-level writing. This can be as simple as doing plenty of practice questions or reading from websites. Try and use GRE-level vocabulary as much as possible. So, don’t just learn the words in word lists but use them.

Learn Pace

All of us have been there—not being able to let go of that difficult question, burning minutes agonizing between (A) and (C). To do well on the test you must get a sense of pacing, so you don’t spend most of your time on just a few questions. Keep moving forward and come back to it later. To develop a sense of pacing, do plenty of practice sets.

Become a word detective

Everywhere you look, GRE words abound. Listen to some of the words characters use on television (I heard ‘subterfuge’ and ‘disingenuous’ recently); open your local newspaper. Of course, most of us are reluctant to looking up a word we see in writing. Now that you are prepping for the GRE, you need to think of yourself as word detective. Every time you see a word you don’t know, look it up!

Think as the test writers do 

To do well on the verbal section requires more than just knowing a lot of fancy words. You must make sure not to get trapped by the answer choices. Known as ‘distractors’, wrong answer choices are sneaky. Learn what makes wrong answer choices wrong and right answer choices right. You’ve got to think like the test makers! Of course, the typical reaction to missing a question is outright disbelief—how, we exclaim, can (B) be the correct answer. It is clearly (C). Such a response can lead us to harbor resentment to the test. We think the questions are arbitrary and unfair. Rather, figure out—in an equanimous manner (that’s GRE-speak for ‘cool-headed’)—why the correct answer was right, and why your original answer was wrong.

This blog is written by Jyoti Mulchandani, for more information on GRE coaching in Ahmedabad please visit our official website: Contact Shiksha