Just the thought of the SAT gives me sweaty palms and butterflies. Adequate preparation is vital not only to achieve an exceptional score but also in easing those apprehensive feelings.
In this article I will show you a free way to improve your understanding of unfamiliar words which in turn will help you to comprehend the vocabulary questions on the SAT.
Do you remember in the movie, The Blind Side, when the private tutor is at the table with Michael Oher, the football player, and he obviously does not understand what is being taught? In an attempt to help him see his potential she very wisely poses a question.
"How big is your head, Michael?"
"Big."
"And what's in there?"
"A brain."
"A brain, it's full of knowledge like a file cabinet with maps and shortcuts for figurin' things out. You'll get there Michael Oher, 'cause I'm here to help you use those maps and reach your destination..."
As an educator she nailed it. This concept I am sharing with you is one of those maps per se.
Here it is. Words are simply prefixes, roots and suffixes put together in that order. Once you learn the word parts you can take them apart and understand just about any word. The beauty of prefixes, suffixes, and roots is that if you do not completely understand a word you can speculate its meaning based on your understanding of that particular word part. Let's look at some examples.
We'll start with the prefix ab-, which means away from. Abjure means to renounce something such as a belief, or to move away from your beliefs. Abduct is to take a person away unlawfully.
Continuing in order here is an example using the root word fort which means strength. Fortify means to strengthen. Forte is a thing that a person does particularly well, a strong point, or a particular strength.
To conclude we have suffixes. Let's look at the suffix -ous, it simply means full of, or characterized by. Humorous obviously means full of humor or characterized by humor.
Do you see the clarity and orderliness of our language? Prefixes, roots and suffixes are simply the parts that make up our words; committing to memory just a few of these will help you further understand the meaning of many different words that will be covered on the SAT. The first step is to memorize the prefixes, roots, and suffixes and secondly look at your lists of vocabulary words. You will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly words, that were previously quite challenging, are now coming alive with meaning. You may even begin to find, as I have, that uncovering or discovering the meaning of words is like an intellectual game.
This exercise does not have to cost a dime, the library or the internet is an excellent source for this free information.
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