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Getting Started With Ultimate Vocabulary ................................................................................................... 2 Whats New in 2012? .................................................................................................................................... 2 Why Improve Your Vocabulary ..................................................................................................................... 3 How to Use Ultimate Vocabulary.................................................................................................................. 3 About This Guide........................................................................................................................................... 3 How to Choose a Built-In List .................................................................................................................... 4 Passive Verses Active Vocabulary ............................................................................................................. 5 Making Your Own Word Lists.................................................................................................................... 5 Studying Your Words with Word Discover TM ............................................................................................... 6 The Importance of Word Discover ............................................................................................................ 6 Word Discover Resources ......................................................................................................................... 6 Word Discover for Language Translation.................................................................................................. 8 Deep Processing ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Listening to Words .................................................................................................................................... 9 Using Word Messenger TM ............................................................................................................................ 9 Completing Activities and Quizzes .............................................................................................................. 10 Activities .................................................................................................................................................. 10 Quizzing Yourself..................................................................................................................................... 10 Setting Words to Mastered and Tracking Your Progress ............................................................................ 11 How to Set a Word to Mastered ............................................................................................................. 11 Tracking your Progress ............................................................................................................................ 12 Printing and Sharing Your Word Lists ..................................................................................................... 13 Use Ultimate Vocabulary Every Day ....................................................................................................... 15
Better support for multiple users Ultimate Vocabulary is multi-user and better able to keep track of each users word lists, mastered words, resources, test scores and progress charts. Adding and editing user information is simple, too. Video training Because some of you learn better by watching, weve added over three hours of professional video training. Our Step-By-Step Success series of video instruction covers everything from why you should improve your vocabulary, to understanding elaboration and depth of processing, using visual imagery, and other tips for getting the most out of Ultimate Vocabulary.
Video Training
We strongly recommend that you watch the Step-By-Step Success video series before using Ultimate Vocabulary. Doing so helps you get the most out of your investment and quickly puts you on the path to your desired result. The videos are separated into six main categories including Getting Started and Boosting Word Memory. Double-click the main categories to view and choose your video learning options. All together there are over three hours of professional instruction that you can watch and listen to at your convenience.
If the answer to either of these two questions is no, you will definitely benefit from studying the word, at least a little bit. When it comes to your vocabulary, it is much better to master a few words than it is to half-learn a hundred. We recommend you watch the Passive versus Active Vocabulary video included in the Step-By-Step Success series for more information on the difference.
While adding words from the Instant Dictionary, Ultimate Vocabulary will notify you if the word you want isnt included in its database, and ask if you want to add it. If you do, simply follow the prompts to add the word along with its meaning(s), synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and more. Some of the reasons you might want to create a custom word list include: Keeping track of unfamiliar words as you encounter them; this is a great way to study because the words you learn will be personally relevant. Learning a specific vocabulary for a profession or course of study. Keeping track of common crossword words.
own resources, choose Word Discover from the Settings menu and then follow the prompts. You can also edit and delete resources from this screen. Please refer to the help manual for details on adding, editing and deleting resources.
Although you can configure Word Discover to access an almost limitless amount of information, we recommend starting with the pre-configured resources. These include: Ultimate Vocabularys Instant Local Dictionary uses the 160,000+ word built-in dictionary/database. Note this information is stored inside Ultimate Vocabulary and you dont need internet access to use this resource. Word Explorer allows you to visually explore words and their definitions. Wikipedia provides information about your words, sourced from Wikipedia.com. Wikitionary provides additional definitions from the free open dictionary. 50 Power Examples provides usage examples from high-quality texts. Google Images for adding associated images to words. http://www.mandarintools.com/worddict.html; a Chinese to English translator.
Deep Processing
For optimal results with Word Discover, it is essential that you read as much information about your chosen words as possible. We recommend taking these steps: 1) Browse your list of words by clicking on words one at a time. You can also use the up and down arrows to navigate through your list. As you do this, read the definitions provided by the Ultimate Vocabularys Local Database tab. Do this for your entire list. 2) Click on the 50 Power Examples tab and repeat the same process. As you click on each word, try to read at least 10 usage examples before moving on to the next word. Usage examples appear at a wide range of reading levels. Focus on the ones you are most comfortable with. Note that this information is sourced from the Internet and may take a few seconds to load. 3) Next, click on the Word Explorer tab. Here you can explore your words visually and notice how related words such as synonyms are connected to each other.
4) Next, read Etymology and Encyclopedia entries for each word. Note that Wikipedia is most useful for words that have an extended meaning such as Anthropology. You can skip the words that dont have entries. 5) Assign images to your words. This is vital for visual learners. Some words lend themselves to images more than others. Words that correspond to concrete or real objects such as apple are highly suited to images. Words that correspond to abstract concepts such as justice are less suited to images. However, images can even help with abstract words. For example, you could associate a picture of a judge with the word justice.
Listening to Words
Hearing audio pronunciations is helpful for learning how to pronounce words. Ultimate Vocabulary uses a special audio database for pronunciations that contains 25,000 audio pronunciations. To listen to a pronunciation, select the word, and then click the Hear Word option on the Vocabulary Words menu. If you would like the pronunciation played automatically each time you select a word, choose the Auto Play option, also located on the Vocabulary Words menu. You can also right-click on the word and choose Hear Word from the drop down box.
Explained another way, if you are reminded of a word a few times after you learn it, you will be far more likely to remember it permanently. Word Messenger dramatically increases your chance of remembering words permanently because it subtly reminds you of words in the background as you do other things. When Word Messenger reminds you of a word that you have previously studied, all you need to do is quickly read the word and the definition. This simple act will dramatically strengthen the neural connections that you previously created when you studied the word. To enable Word Messenger for your current word list, select File from the Ultimate Vocabulary main menu. Click on Word Messenger to enable. Repeat these steps to toggle Word Messenger on and off. Once enabled Word Messenger will periodically remind you of words from your current list while you work. To change the interval, choose the Word Messenger option on the Settings menu, and click on the down arrow to open a drop down box of timing options. For more information, please refer to the help manual.
Activities
Ultimate Vocabularys activities make learning vocabulary fun. All of the activities are accessible via the vertical side menu on the left side of your screen, under the Build Your Vocabulary drop down menu. There youll find old favorites and new including Flash Cards, Word Tag, Scrambler, Hangman, Drag n Drop, Definition Mix, Crosswords, and more. If you dont see the side menu, its hidden. Unhide it by choosing the Show Side Menu option on the File menu. While you play with these activities, Ultimate Vocabulary is hard at work keeping track of your scores, your timing, and the number of non-mastered words youre working with. Youll find more information on how to play each of these activities in the help manual.
Quizzing Yourself
Quizzing is another essential step in vocabulary learning. Quizzing performs two functions. First it allows you to track your progress. Second, completing quizzes helps you learn words and remember them longer. Thats because during a quiz, you are practicing the recall of your list. That helps build your confidence with the words in your list and makes you better at recalling them when you need them in everyday situations. Ultimate Vocabulary includes several quizzes. The definition and word quizzes assess your ability to match words to their definitions. The synonym and antonym quizzes assess your ability to match words to their synonyms and antonyms respectively. Theres also a quiz that tests your contextual recall ability. And of course, the spelling test is a test of your ability to correctly spell the words youre currently learning without any reminders.
We recommend starting with the word and definition quizzes as these are the easiest. These are accessible via the Quiz Yourself menu option. From there you can move on to the Advanced Quizzes.
Since you already know and are comfortable using these words, Mastered words are not included in any of the activities and quizzes. Ultimate Vocabulary also uses the number of words you have mastered to calculate the Level Aptitude curve displayed in Learning Curve.
As you complete different quizzes, Ultimate Vocabulary maintains each score, tracks the number of words that were set to Mastered at the time of the quiz, and calculates Mastery, which is an adjusted score based on the number of words mastered and the quiz results. All progress tracking features are accessible and viewable at a glance via the Track Progress option on the Ultimate Vocabulary main menu. Youll find more information about these charts and graphs in the help manual.
To print a word list, choose Print Worksheets from the side menu, and then choose Printing Factory. Click on the Mode drop down box to tell Ultimate Vocabulary what you want to print. Use the buttons above the print area to tailor your print out. Make sure your printer is properly configured and ready, and then print. Thats it!
Multi-user Support
Ultimate Vocabulary offers support for multiple users and can now keep better track of each users custom word lists, mastered words, resources, test scores, and progress charts. The Settings menu is where you go to change the current user, add and edit user information, and delete user information.