Book Review Essential Words for the TOEFL (Barrons)

Book Review Essential Words for the TOEFL (Barrons) My grade for Essential Words for the TOEFL: B+. Note, however, that I have the 4th edition, from 2007. This book has now reached its 7th edition. I have no idea what has changed. Barrons doesnt usually change much from edition to edition, so I suspect the new edition is pretty similar.Im going to keep this review quite short, since you can read my feelings about vocabulary books over in my review of TOEFL Power Vocab from Princeton Review. Basically, though, I dont want students to focus too much on vocabulary in the speaking and writing sections, but I recognize that studying vocabulary can help them in the listening and reading sections. Especially the latter section.Barrons vocabulary book is similar to Princeton Reviews book. It is mostly just lists of words and definitions. In this case they are divided into 30 lessons of about 15 words each. The words selected for each lesson dont seem to be based on similar themes or structures.While Princeton Reviews book includes a short qui z every few pages, Barrons includes ten actual TOEFL reading question (vocabulary type, of course) at the end of each lesson. I cant really say if the questions are accurate, but I dont think that is the point. They mainly serve to help students understand the meaning and usage of each word. And, yeah, I guess they help students understand what a vocabulary question looks like and how it is put together.The words here seem a bit more difficult that in Princeton Reviews book thankfully. Some of them are still too easy, though.Heres page 69: forbid, petition, relinquish, resilient, tempt.Heres page 229: maintain, mediocre, negligible, parallel, peculiar, potentHeres page 277: forfeit, precarious, severe, sporadic, superior, wantonI guess teachers should glance at the book to see if the overall level is suitable for their students. I would probably recommend it for students scoring 90 and below.