audiobooks

This is the fourth tape I had, but it is the only one that I like. The tape explains words and presents several usages. The other tapes were (1) very annoying because they containing too much useless, annoying dialogue and few new words or (2) not helpful because the definition and usage were poorly crafted.

If you prefer useless chatting between annoying people, try Word Smart II; you will spend very long time listening to their uninformative conversation. If you simply want to learn as much words in a short period of time, get this set of tape.

After the first 10 min or so, I can no longer give my full attention to what I hear. Not possible to really remember all the words while many words are not used in the real world. Nice to know but will forget soon enough.

I found the Verbal Advantage tapes extremely interesting and fascinating. The author includes the etymology (a word I learned) with many of the words. This teaches many interesting historical facts most people are unaware of. He also does much more than "read from the dictionary". He explains the correct pronunciation, correct usage, synonyms, antonyms, and etymology. Over and above the fascinating vocabulary discussions, he talks about common errors people make in day-to-day conversation. He talks about redunancy, overused words and incorrectly used words. Mr Elster has a very good, interesting voice that he uses with great enthusiasm for the subject. So if you are interested in becoming "erudite", and want your writing to be more "perspicacious", these are the best tapes you can buy!