There are two sides of the coin when it comes to using stories to improve your vocabulary.

If you’re a seasoned Vocabbett listener, you’re probably familiar with the first: I write stories and weave “big” words into them.

Like immersion for learning a foreign language, this immerses you in the world of SAT words, painlessly and passively boosting your vocabulary.

But there’s another side: starting with the “big” word, and hearing its story.

The study of etymology is magical when it comes to boosting your vocabulary. And I swear, once you tap into this skill, words start to talk to you. They can’t wait to tell you what they mean!

You can only imagine how helpful that might be on, say, the SAT!

I dive into the subject in greater detail, and share a few fun examples, on episode 35 of the Vocabbett podcast. Tune in below or on your favorite player!

In this podcast:

The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language by Mark Forsyth (affiliate link, which means I may earn a small commission from Amazon at no additional cost to you)