NB: This word list has been discontinued. Stay tuned. It will return.
Give your child the unfair advantage in the Singapore-Cambridge GCE O Level English exams – by downloading this word list.
Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher (in Chapter 64 of the Tao Te Ching) once famously expounded, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
And this renowned quote has been used as inspiration for doubtful souls to take that critical first step towards their goals.
According to these motivational coaches, everything else is just trusting the process thereafter.
I wish it were that simple.
As much as I hold Mr Lao Tzu (which is actually not his real name) in high regard – he is god-level in the Taoist pantheon of deities and immortals – all of us need to understand that that single step isn’t enough for your child to bring home that trophy A1 in O Level English.
Real achievement demands more than just initial action.
Instead, I would dare to propose an alternative axiom for this purpose, that “The Journey to an A1 in O Level English begins with a thousand words.”
Your Child is in Trouble If…
According to Microsoft Copilot – my trusty research companion – we need more than 10,000 words to be considered fluent in the English language.
Yet, I have run into students whose word banks have yet to grow since they were Primary 6.
Why?
Because nobody forces them to memorise new words anymore.
There are primary schools that prescribe a set list of words that students must commit to memory at every level of their education.
There are also teachers who insist that pupils must keep a vocabulary notebook with them at all times.
These notebooks are to be filled – day in and day out – with unfamiliar words they have encountered in the course of their reading, together with their accompanying meanings.
If and when everything fails, there is the weekly spelling test where students have to puke out all the words they have eaten.
As much as all these measures seem a tad gargantuan, and have all the inklings of a violation of human rights, they are effective in ensuring that your child has the basic foundation of a budding lexicon, on which they can build upon in the days to come.
They are Not Building a List
Yet, many of these teenage students are not doing anything about their word banks.
It is almost as if their lists stopped growing when they were in Primary 6.
It is a case of stunted growth, where the last development took place when they were 12.
We can justify for them as much as we desire: they lack discipline, they should take responsibility for themselves, they have an attitude problem, or…perhaps some of them are clueless and scratching their heads about where to start.
We can’t do anything for them if they are lackadaisical or are simply indifferent to their academic endeavours.
Nagging won’t help, neither would threats.
I would probably write a post about this issue of discipline and responsibility much later, but the really sad news is: we can’t do much if they really don’t want to do anything about it.
But If Your Son or Daughter is Clueless
There is help.
There exist multiple lists out there which they can take as reference in their vocabulary-building endeavours.
While we technically take the British-led Cambridge GCE O-Level English examinations, nothing stops us from riding on the coattails of the Americans in their supreme administration of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
Due to the popularity of the SAT – approximately three million students take the test across 7,000 test centres in more than 170 countries – there is an abundance of resources – free and paid – to give students that unfair advantage in their competition against other candidates.
Download This to Arm Your Son or Daughter with the Unfair Advantage Over the Next Candidate
There are many lists out there.
There are those with 1000 words, 3000 words, 5000 words and possibly [I haven’t properly searched this up (I mean the 10,000- word version)] 10,000 words.
Since Mr Lao said that we should start with a single step, let’s help propel your kids to that coveted A1 with the launchpad of 1000 words.
No more, no less.
You can download the list, by signing up for my email list here.
Update: Unfortunately, the list has been discontinued. Stay tuned; it’ll be back.
Till the next time, stay calm and read my blog.
