Hello everyone,
and welcome to a review special. In these specials I review something that has to do with language learning, be it an app or a website or a book. Today it’s a book and it deals with… learning vocabulary. Ugh.
Learning vocabulary. That brings back memories…
“And on Thursday we’ll do a little vocabulary quizz, so make sure you to
learn the words on page 121.”
“WHAAAAT? 20 French words in 3 days is too much… oh and why are we speaking English in French class.”
I really hated it in school. And I think few people really enjoy it. Learning vocabulary – the mega chore of language learning.
But just like the Super Micro Pore space tested Sponge can clean out burnt milk just without detergent and water the book we’ll look at today can make learning new words as easy as eating… almost.

Can i download this article as pdf ?
No, the reviews don’t have a pdf.
Everything you say about this book is something I love about this blog! I see the post is pretty old by now, do you think there’s any point getting both? You have a lot of etymology on here now (and I love it because it helps me remember things and also discover things about my native English)
If you love the topic and you use it then I’d definitely get the book.
There are lots of connections in there that are not mentioned explicitly anywhere on here and it’s organized completely differently.
You can just flip through it and stop at a random page and you have a good chance of an “aha” moment.
But I would definitely say get the printed version.
I love etimology because it takes you deeper into the original message of the word and helps immediately make use of the word as it should and keep a good memory of it.
I love etymology as it helps an old tired brain make sense of a new language
This is great! The book is also available at Smashwords in .epub format. Way better for both authors and readers than Amazon: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/493142
Uh nice… I was looking for publishing options for my own book (not done yet) and this seems to be an option :)
i love etymology because it is ethnical…. <– (ethnical== relating to place] ;-) :-) well i guess it is tautology but it should win me a book…….
I love etymology cuz it’s history wrapped in a tight little word bundle. Also because if we go back far enough, all words seem like something a cave man or woman would have uttered. Lady comes from kneader of bread. Slave from the fact that our Germanic brethern enslaved the Slavs. How cool is that? Where German and English etymologies intersect is especially cool. Stoolchair: GermanFrench: lower higher class. The history of the Norman invasion is all there.
Awesome website! If you would like to learn spanish, go to https://learnspanisheasy.ga/ I like how you use a daily word and describe the etymology of the words. I would like to learn german, so it would be nice if you could continually update your site.
Good article. I already knew about the “fee”.- “fä” connection between Swedish and English. I read about it in a good book by Ola Wikander.
I ♥ etymology because it leaves so many one-line comments which I can skip and this is even I have no chance to get a book :))
But I will surely order it from that retailer around the corner
Yeah, do so… I have the print version now and I really like “drin rumblättern” (no idea how to express that in English)
“to leaf around”? :D
Hah… in French they have a good word for it – “feuilleter”. That makes “rumblättern” sound like writing your masters thesis.
I ♥ etymology because words are beautiful, and etymology is a journey through their culture and history.
This book is a brilliant idea, I love actually learning etymology which makes much more sense to me than thinking up mnemonics (but hey if that’s your thing, cool, whatever works for you). Even when learning Japanese Kanji, I’d rather look up the actual reasoning behind the radicals used instead of the whole “imagine a man on a boat”. Some of them are really beautiful. And of course, I love knowing how words relate to each other across languages, which is one of the joys of living in Europe where such different cultures with different languages have managed to coexist, of course, not in isolation, but borrowing from each other.
Same for me… knowing why something actually is the way it is helps me much more than some contrived mnemonic… like… maybe it just doesn’t look like a man on a boat to me. But as you said…no case against made up mnemonics. If I had to drink vinegar to remember one certain word, I’d probably do it too. Whatever helps.
I ♥ etymology because I think I still have time to catch up and win this awesome book :D
Etymology is what this blog is all about, explaining how combinations of words made others, which is really great btw ;)
This blog is mainly about ponies… it’s just very subliminal
that does explain a lot..
I ♥ etymology because it makes learning vocabulary easy and sticky. A must have for anyone who likes a nice ass… bridge ;)
I ♥ etymology because, you know, reasons.
Reasons are often the best reason!
Learning any language is hard. The main tedium is to learn the vocabulary and the grammar. https://vocabmonk.com helps to learn new words and enhance your vocabulary. Give a shot..!!
I ♥ etymology because it is super cool and helps to understand my language and foreign languages.
IN the beginning was the word….
Now I don’t have to wait for my husband to teach me German….thats why i love etymology!
divers = an archaic spelling of diverse
And I thought there were no adjective endings in English :D…
I love etymology because my husband whos German won’t teach me the language…so now I can learn the “easy way” without arguments about pronunciation which my english mouth just cant handle.