Practice speaking and memorize vocabulary: College English Test Band 4 Vocabulary (with CD-ROM)

Author: Hu Min
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: I have been teaching English for nearly twenty years, and the most frequently asked question by my students is, "Teacher Hu, how should I memorize vocabulary?" A skyscraper starts from the ground. To learn English well, vocabulary is the foundation, but it has always been a perpetual pain in the hearts of many English enthusiasts. Memorize vocabulary for the junior high exam, then for the senior high exam; memorize for the CET-4, then for the CET-6; memorize for TOEFL and IELTS, GRE, and so on. This endless cycle of memorization—how can it be summed up in a single word? "Hardship." Why is memorizing vocabulary an insurmountable hurdle for Chinese students learning English? The series of books dedicated to readers can be considered an innovation in English vocabulary learning, with the following features:
1. Innovative Concept: Every entry in this series appears in the form of small dialogues from daily life. Since spoken dialogues are also a form of context, readers can memorize vocabulary through dialogue scenarios, using context to aid association and recall. Memorizing vocabulary is not just a mechanical process of simple pronunciation and rote memorization. Readers can use the accompanying audio cassettes to improve their listening and speaking skills while memorizing words, breaking free from the traditional methods of memorization.
2. Triple Benefits: "Opening the ears, activating the tongue, and strengthening vocabulary" are the three goals of Practice Speaking and Memorize Vocabulary. "Opening the ears" refers to improving listening skills by dictating the dialogues from the accompanying audio cassettes while memorizing words. "Activating the tongue" means imitating the pronunciation and intonation of the dialogues in the audio, so that with each word memorized, readers also remember everyday spoken scenarios, thereby improving their speaking skills subconsciously. Memorizing vocabulary is also completed unintentionally through dictation and imitation of dialogues. At the same time, with the help of scenarios, not only will the words be firmly remembered, but readers will also become proficient in their usage in specific contexts.
3. Gradual Progression: This is a tiered vocabulary series. The junior high vocabulary includes 1,323 entries, the senior high vocabulary includes 1,998 entries, the CET-4 vocabulary includes 2,473 entries, and the CET-6 vocabulary includes 2,368 entries. Readers can ascend the ladder according to their learning stage, ultimately mastering over 8,000 basic English vocabulary words. Since this is a tiered vocabulary series, why does it stop at the CET-6 level? This is also based on linguistic background. Vocabulary above the CET-6 level, such as IELTS and GRE words, mostly belong to written English and rarely appear in daily spoken language. These written English words will be addressed in a separate series.
4. Authentic Creation: All dialogues in this series are originally created by language experts from English-speaking countries. The reason for choosing authors from English-speaking countries is that they not only use authentic English but also reflect the characteristics of English culture in their dialogues. Additionally, the foreign authors of the series have all studied Chinese or other foreign languages and have personal experience in learning foreign languages. This allows them to truly approach the creation from the perspective of learners, ensuring that the language in the series is lively and genuine.