Better Wordpower

Book excerpt: Better Wordpower is a vocabulary building book for anyone who wants to improve their command of English. The first part of the book introduces you to various different ways of increasing your confidence and understanding of the language, with a 'tool kit' of information, including advice onhow to build one's vocabulary through reading, a guide to using language reference books, ideas on how to develop strategies for tackling unknown words, and how to use context to extrapolate the meaning of unfamiliar words. Written in a discursive and readable style, you can either dip intorelevant sections or you can read right through it. The second part is a look-up reference section for occasions when you need help with a specific problem, including confusable words, spelling rules, combining forms eg prefixes and suffixes (e.g. -cide, -phobia), foreign words and phrases, finding the right words (noun lists, many with helpfulillustrations, cover topics such as countries, peoples, architectural terms, and parts of the body), and a lexicon of hard words which provides help with words which most people find difficult. A detailed list of contents at the front of the book helps you to locate information quickly and easily.