Do native speakers need to memorize vocabularies for GRE?

[Ce Wang]

I started studying in Canada 9 years ago since grade 10, and I never feel I have any kind of English problem after the first 2 or 3 years. However when I read GRE verbal parts I feel I am basically illiterate. I've tried memorizing vocabulary books but it was so boring that I couldn't even sit there for more than 1 hour, and almost nothing was coming into my skull...I know that GRE takers in China usually need to spend 1 or 2 month full time memorizing vocabulary books (or spending like 1-2 hours each day for a couple of years), and erase them from the brain after the test. This kind of processes would kill me...I now ended up doing OR in UofT and I'm not thinking of GRE anymore, but I'm just wondering how native speakers prepare for GRE Verbal? Do you guys also need to sit there hours and hours to memorize? Just curious...

 

[kittkatt]

I consider myself a native English speaker (my family moved from China when I was 4). I still had to study A LOT for the GRE vocab, simply because I don’t use most of those words in my everyday life. I agree that purely memorizing definitions is tedious and not the most effective way to study. I think it’s just as important to learn and understand how each word is used in practice. I used Barron’s Essential Words prep book which had fill-in-the-blank drills. Also I put all the words into Quizlet and used their games functionality to make studying more “fun”.

 

[MRoss]

Maybe not the answer you want to hear (or that anyone wants to believe) but: I suspect masters programs will put more emphasis on the GRE verbal section for non-Americans in order to be absolutely sure they would do well on job interviews. While you might have the fluency of an American, if your name on your resume says "Ce Wang" there would likely be an assumption that you aren't naturally proficient and would require a solid verbal score.

 

[bigbadwolf]

While you might have the fluency of an American ...

Agree with the rest of your post so snipped it out. The fluency required for day-to-day life in North America is a very low bar indeed, as this teacher of English demonstrates:

The words tested on the GRE verbal are not used in common parlance and I suspect even members of Trump's cabinet may not be au fait with them. It seems to be just another damn fool test used as a filter in the excessively bureaucratic educational system of the US.

The kind of people who naturally do well at this test probably come from a white upper-middle-class background, and whose first degrees are probably in areas like English, journalism, history and so on (rather than the exact sciences and engineering).

 

[Daniel Duffy]

Hungarian Phrase Book is useful.

 

[Ce Wang]

Maybe not the answer you want to hear (or that anyone wants to believe) but: I suspect masters programs will put more emphasis on the GRE verbal section for non-Americans in order to be absolutely sure they would do well on job interviews. While you might have the fluency of an American, if your name on your resume says "Ce Wang" there would likely be an assumption that you aren't naturally proficient and would require a solid verbal score.

Well I don't really mind since I'm not thinking of MFEs anymore, but what I observe how non-native speakers study for GRE or TOFEL is like:
1. Memorize a minimum sufficient amount of vocabulary.
2. Study exam cracking skills, where most of them cannot be called learning English at all.
3. Erase what being memorized from their mind after the exam.
4. Become more reluctant to learn English.
The last two are optional but not uncommon. Even if 3 is not practiced, as people pointed above, the material is not helpful for day-to-day conversations in North America. I think it is true that one's English communication skills and GRE verbal score should be positively correlated, but shouldn't be very strongly. And even for non-native speakers studying in non-English speaking countries there are many ways to actually show their proficiency (international volunteering/internships/many things else), but the problem is these ways are not American standardized and accredited.

 

[bigbadwolf]

This won't happen in England (or at least it didn't in my time). One or more members of the faculty might call you over for an amiable chat just to assess your language proficiency. But in the US, everything has to be bureaucratised and standardised. Just memorizing long lists of words without context, and without knowing how and where to employ them, is such a futile exercise ....

 

[Ce Wang]

This won't happen in England (or at least it didn't in my time). One or more members of the faculty might call you over for an amiable chat just to assess your language proficiency. But in the US, everything has to be bureaucratised and standardised. Just memorizing long lists of words without context, and without knowing how and where to employ them, is such a futile exercise ....

Looks like UK has disallowed its institutions to look TOFEL...Actually what I often hear in recent years is that most US programs just use GRE as a cut line, and don't mind too much as long as you are beyond it. It might because MFEs are exceptional since they are elite programs...

 

[bigbadwolf]

It might because MFEs are exceptional since they are elite programs...

They are cash cows for the departments and universities offering them. The MFE has become a commodity like any other. Don't fall for the "elite" hogwash.