need help to improve Verbal section

[lalmani]

Hi,

I'm a working professional and looking for a very good score.

As suggested by many posts, i did full 3 hr first test from mba.com before starting any preparation. I scored Q-44, V-19. Verbal score is well below than expectation.

While giving test i realize sometime i'm not even able to understand the questions. It mostly happened in RC questions. I was not able comprehend RC completely and correctly. May be due to poor vocab. It was annoying me but i kept going to complete my exam. I also did bad in SC as well. I did CR questions well.

Please suggest me how to improve in RC and SC section. Also suggest me someway to improve my vocabulary.

Any help will be appreciated.

regards,
-Lalmani

[StaceyKoprince]

It sounds like you might have two separate issues: improving English language skills in general, and improving your ability to answer GMAT-type questions.

There isn't a particular "GMAT vocabulary list" that people need to study because the test does not test vocabulary. GMAT vocabulary does not include specialized terms unless those specialized terms are defined in the question. The vocab you are expected to know is the same vocab you'd be expected to know in order to do well in business school. If you do have a problem with vocab (likely as a result of speaking English as a second language, I'm guessing?), then you will have to concentrate part of your efforts on English language lessons, not just GMAT. (Your quant score is good, though, so I'm guessing that your language skills are a bit better than you think - part of quant also has to do with language!)

Depending upon the length of time you have to study, you may be able to study on your own by reading every day (newspapers, business magazine articles, books) with a dictionary available so that you can look up any unfamiliar words. If you don't have much time (less than about 4-6 months), then you may also have to take an English-language class that targets reading and vocabulary skills or buy a book that teaches you vocabulary. (But you should also still read every single day.)

On the GMAT side of things, if part of your problem has to do with language skills, then it is going to be a bit hard for you to make significant progress on the GMAT until you have improved somewhat on the language skills. You should get started but if you feel that your language skills are a significant factor, then you may need to wait a while before you keep studying the GMAT.

You will need to identify specific resources that can help you to get better at the specific areas that are giving you trouble. You need something for SC to teach you grammar and technique, and you also need something for both CR and RC to teach you technique. There are lots of resources (books, classes, etc) available from test prep companies, so you'll need to do a bit of research. Investigate the various books and other resources available and decide what you think would be the best material for you. Just remember that you will need:
(1) something that teaches you how to get better at SC, CR, and RC (this will come from some test prep company)
(2) official practice questions that allow you to test yourself on what you are learning (this will come from the Official Guide materials published by the people who make the real test)

[lalmani]

Thanks Stacey.

You are right, being English as a secondary language, i'm not having much grip on it. In my first prep exam i was overly worried and probably exhausted too [because of the length of exam] and did many mistakes.

Last week i took help of MGMAT RC and this book helped me a lot... I was doing exactly same mistakes as mentioned by book. I was trying to understand each passage completely and then answer the question rather painting a simple points from the passage.

I've around 4 months for my GMAT... so i've started with brushing up basics both Quants and Verbal [ofcourse RC first :) ]... Plan is to first feel comfortable with basic then practice and practice...

Please provide your valuable suggestion considering i've 4 months to prepare.

regards,
-Lalmani

[StaceyKoprince]

Read English-language newspapers / magazines every day (15-30 min). New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, The Economist. Have a dictionary available while you read.

Do you also have our SC book? Or some book that teaches you the grammar you need to know for the GMAT? (Make sure it's a GMAT-specific book. You need to concentrate on the things that are tested by the GMAT.) If you don't, get a book that will teach you SC.

These articles linked in this post can help you to learn more about how to study:

http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/articles-on-how-to-study-figure-out-weaknesses-etc-t9230.html

It's better to do a little bit (1-2 hours) every day than to study for 5 or 6 hours all on the same day. You can follow the course syllabus found on this page:

http://www.manhattangmat.com/freegmatlearningforum.cfm

In the "Highlights" section, download the Official Manhattan GMAT Course Syllabus [pdf]. This is the full syllabus for our regular course; if you're studying on your own, you can still use this syllabus as a general guideline, even if you don't have access to all of the resources listed in the syllabus. Just do what you have.

The syllabus even lists when to take the practice tests. After you take a test, read the "Evaluating your practice tests" article (one of the articles at the first link, above) and use the information to help you evaluate your own test. Use your results to help you develop a study plan for the next few weeks until you take another practice test.

And, of course, use the forums! There are a lot of problems and explanations already posted here. You can also use us for help on strategy questions, as you're doing right now!