Verbal Advantage, Volume 8

Here's the format for every word on the tape: 1) author reads the vocabulary 2) he spells it 3) reads the definition and sometimes the origin of the word 4) reads the synonyms and sometimes antonyms (which he did not bother to spell. So if you didn't know the synonyms to being with, you can't even look them up in a dictionary) 5) often he gives some example of usage.

With exception of #5 above, there's nothing you can't get from reading the dictionary like Rain Man does. At least, when you read from a dictionary, you don't have to keep rewinding the damn thing to catch the synonyms you missed.

Each verbal advantage set comes with 2 tapes. The author spent half of the 1st tape introducing the program, telling you why you should learn vocabularies. He then spent half of the 2nd tape explaining how to read from a dictionary. Okay, so you say "I don't know why I should learn more words and I never used a dictionary before." You'll be surprised when you open Verbal Advantage level 2, and discovers the EXACT same repetition of the introduction and how to read dictionaries.

You might learn a lot of other things from these tapes... but you definitely will not learn a lot of new words.


Best cassette tape   September 4, 2001
 10 out of 13 found this review helpful

This is the fourth tape I had, but it is the only one that I like. The tape explains words and presents several usages. The other tapes were (1) very annoying because they containing too much useless, annoying dialogue and few new words or (2) not helpful because the definition and usage were poorly crafted.

If you prefer useless chatting between annoying people, try Word Smart II; you will spend very long time listening to their uninformative conversation. If you simply want to learn as much words in a short period of time, get this set of tape.


Informative but boring   July 30, 2001
 9 out of 13 found this review helpful

After the first 10 min or so, I can no longer give my full attention to what I hear. Not possible to really remember all the words while many words are not used in the real world. Nice to know but will forget soon enough.


Excellent Education Value   July 25, 2001
 7 out of 9 found this review helpful

I found the Verbal Advantage tapes extremely interesting and fascinating. The author includes the etymology (a word I learned) with many of the words. This teaches many interesting historical facts most people are unaware of. He also does much more than "read from the dictionary". He explains the correct pronunciation, correct usage, synonyms, antonyms, and etymology. Over and above the fascinating vocabulary discussions, he talks about common errors people make in day-to-day conversation. He talks about redunancy, overused words and incorrectly used words. Mr Elster has a very good, interesting voice that he uses with great enthusiasm for the subject. So if you are interested in becoming "erudite", and want your writing to be more "perspicacious", these are the best tapes you can buy!


Don't bother with this ABRIDGED edition. But DO get either the UNABRIDGED edition AND/OR the competing "WordMaster" product!   December 8, 2006
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

The original, UNABRIDGED [24-cassette (or 24-CD)] edition of Charles Harrington Elster's "Verbal Advantage" existed at least as early as 1995. It was--and still is--arguably the finest vocabulary-improvement product ever issued for mass-market consumption.

HOWEVER, starting around 1998 a drastically inferior ABRIDGED edition of "Verbal Advantage" was unfortunately (and confusingly) published by "Audio Renaissance" in various "volumes" of cassette tapes.

These "abridged" volumes are inferior on at least two counts:

(1) They contain significantly fewer words than the original (unabridged) edition, which, by the way, is still being separately marketed as the Verbal Advantage "Success Edition".

(2) Along with the (abridged!) vocabulary itself, these Audio Renaissance tapes contain some protracted (and, mercifully, "exclusive") introductory/intervening "supplementary discussions" that are, in the first place, arguably somewhat superfluous to the primary objective of vocabulary improvement; and--even more irritatingly--the identical "supplementary discussions" are REPEATED on subsequent tapes/volumes in this (abridged) "Audio Renaissance" series. Considering that much time is taken up by those superfluous discussions, there isn't that much space left on any given tape for the actual vocabulary; hence, these "Audio Renaissance" tapes are INDEED "abridged"!

Moreover, if you'll want to SKIP past those redundant "supplementary discussion" segments of the tapes directly to the segments comprising the actual "vocabulary" (and, trust me, you WILL soon want to!), then you'll have the continual hassle of repeatedly fast-forwarding (or rewinding) a given tape to get to the (abridged!) "good stuff".

Accordingly, why bother with any of these "Audio Renaissance" (abridged) Verbal Advantage tapes? Instead, you should do one (or, if you can afford it, all) of the following three things:

(1) Get the REAL THING, i.e, the "Verbal Advantage 'Success Edition'" (comprising 24 CDs or 24 cassettes). That product's ISBN number is: 1131987233. Unfortunately, the unabridged edition is VERY expensive.

(2) Get the following competing product by Denis Waitley: "WordMaster" (comprising 9 CDs). That product's ISBN number is: 1596590289. And it's downright cheap (typically less than twenty bucks).

(3) Consider the (459-page paperback) BOOK edition of "Verbal Advantage" (ISBN: 0375709320), published by Random House. Albeit the book edition is, thankfully, unabridged, I must emphasize that merely reading the text of Elster's discussion is nowhere near as gratifying or effective as experiencing his original audio edition (i.e., the aforementioned "Verbal Advantage 'Success Edition'")!

***

P.S.: Regarding other "vocabulary-improvement" products, I very much like the "Word Smart" series of CD-ROMs (compatible with both Windows and Macintosh computers). The various volumes (CD-ROMs) comprising that versatile, multimedia product amount to yet another treasure-trove of vocabulary/linguistic edification and amusement, so do yourself a favor and check it out--either directly via its publisher, or perhaps via your public library.