Vocabulary is a big part of learning a language; in fact, it is one of the most important features – especially if you want to be an effective communicator when using that language in real life situations. And, unless you have a memory which holds on to information like it’s been placed in cement, retaining new vocabulary can also be one of the most painful aspects of language learning. So it’s definitely a good idea to have a book that focuses on vocabulary and tries to make the process as easy as possible. Painless Vocabulary can be categorized as one of those books, and one you should consider when hunting for a vocabulary friendly textbook.
Each chapter in Painless Vocabulary opens up with a text or story. The text is quite short in the beginning, but increases in length with each subsequent chapter. Within this text, fifteen words are highlighted in red to indicate where the vocabulary is concentrated. This is an excellent strategy because the student will focus on reiterating vocabulary they may have learned in the past while adding new words to their mental dictionary. Something else that’s great about these texts is that they actually focus on topics that are important in the 21st century; the themes range from steroids, to bullying, to youth vs. age. These topics are presented easily and in a non-intimidating way which allows for the student to develop an interest in what they’re reading while they learn new vocabulary as well.
After finishing the text, the reader is presented with the highlighted new words in easy-to-digest sets of five. After each set, an ensuing exercise is used to drive home the new vocabulary; these exercises can range from matching up the synonyms for each word to filling in sentence blanks with new vocab, and the workbook method is employed meaning you can fill in the blanks directly in the textbook. Answers for the exercises are featured at the end of the chapter along with a short and sweet vocabulary lesson titled “The Last Word.”
When looking at the end of the book, you have a nice index which lists all the words used in the lessons and shows which pages they can be found on. A great added bonus is the list of 270 extra words at the very end of the textbook; unfortunately, there are no definitions going along with the words which means that it’s up to the student to look them up elsewhere – but seeing as this is extra vocabulary, perhaps the author assumed only the most intrepid of students would be interested in the list.
"A great added bonus is the list of 270 extra words at the very end of the textbook; unfortunately, there are no definitions going along with the words which means that it’s up to the student to look them up elsewhere."
All in all, Painless Vocabulary can definitely be classified as a painless way to pick up new vocabulary. This book works both for teachers who are wanting to make learning vocab easy for their students, and for students who want to improve their vocabulary skills on their own. As a fun text to use, Painless Vocabulary makes learning and teaching vocabulary a breeze!
