Wordmaster: Improve Your Word Power Audio CD – Unabridged, January 4, 2006

English is my second language. I was looking for an advanced course for a long time, particularly the audio course, to transfer the idle commuting time and low-absorbing job tasks into my own university in motion.This one is perfect - the best one I found so far. The words are spelled, which is a tremendous help for a visually-oriented person like me. Some other courses (i.e."Verbal Success") don't spell words. The only downside is the awkward and outdated format. It takes approximately one evening to convert the CDs into MP3s, rename the tracks so they are played in a proper sequence, and copy on one's Ipod. The whole course takes total 142MB space at 32kbps bitrate, which produces acceptable voice quality. There is a free CD to MP3 converter available for download online.Even, though I was already familiar with many words presented in this course, it helps to acquire proper accent by listening. It's money well spent. I used to pay the professional accent teacher $50 per hour.I hope the authors will issue the next volumes with more vocabulary. I very much look forward to it.

This product has been great. I have been listening to it for over a year, and I have enhanced my vocabulary in doing so. It's great for the drive home, going on a trip, at the gym, or just listening to it at your home. My 7 year old daughter likes to listen to it as well. It's funny to hear her use some of the terms like when she is hungry she wants something salubrious to eat or when we are in the store and she is telling her 4 year old brother to stop being rapacious. On a more serious note it's been greatly used in my professional area. I highly recommend this to anyone looking to increase their verbal finesse.

i purchased this product to improve my vocabulary as English is my second language. Even though I am an attorney practicing throughout different courts in the United States, ANYONE can improve their lexicon regardless of job, status, career, etc.I have listened to the Word Master for about 3 months so far and I have the following comments:Pros- Excellent quality of sound- The background music is dulcet to the ears- The words are complex and challenging (most of them at least)- Every so often there will be a hiatus to allow the speakers to provide some historical information on certain terms which I find interesting and intellectually stimulating- Relatively affordable priceConsThe background music is monotonous and will get boring after a whileI wish it came with a PDF file listing all of the wordsSome definitions (I have found at least 3) provided by the speakers are not totally correct or at least not totally consistent with the ones provided in well regarded dictionariesBe warned that it does take time and effort before you can become eloquent and can master these words. Do not expect overnight results. Depending on your consistency and effort, you are probably looking at about 12 months before you can master Word Master.I commend you on your desire to enhance your vocabulary and wish you the very best.

I bought this language CD with the high expectations it would be superior to the books I also ordered on this subject. While the insructional method is good, the idea of background music (that I am sure would help most people learn faster and more relaxed) proved a major problem for me as I have a reversed hearing loss and all I could hear was the music, not the voices speaking the words, etc. Even when I turned the volume up, the voices remained in the background and concentration was most difficult for me.I almost put the fist CD back in the box before the first lesson began, the introduction is too long and the weird mobile shapes and squiggles in bright psychedeulic colors caused a lot of eye strain (again, it may be a personal factor with me due to my eyes beginning to develop cataracts)I am finding using the two books I purhased, plus making a note of words I hear or read that I am not familiar and then looking them up and using them in sentences works better for me.

Great buy. I was looking for audio books to improve my vocabulary and found this (wordmaster) to be excellent for my needs. If you know the importance of investing in yourself, then look at this purchase as buying a book. When you read a book, you take away some gems out of it and usually don't remember the rest of the information. So if your hesitant on buying wordmaster because it might include basic words, wouldn't it be worth it if you learned atleast fifty percent of the words. My next audio book purchase will be "verbal advantage", which is a lot expensive than wordmaster. But I'm serious about my speaking skills, so I'll invest the time and money.

The instructors (female and male) employ clear and mellifluous diction for pronunciations, definitions and the giving of witty examples. This, combined with magnificent music is conducive to absorbing the vocabulary being taught. There are thoughtfully placed respites in the course of this 9 CD presentation where Dennis Waitley adds his motivating messages . Knowing some of the words beforehand actually serves as a motivating factor for the learning of the new ones. What I feel would be a useful addition to this CD set is a hardcopy index of the vocabulary that relates each word to a specific disk and lesson number in order to facilitate word review.

I'm not gonna repeat the good points about this CD but about the 'level' of English; it's top English. Some reviewers called it basic !?! Did they listen to it at all ?!?!The WORD MASTER level is just below VERBAL ADVANTAGE in my view. While I consider VERBAL ADVANTAGE swanky, WORD MASTER is already on a high level in the spoken English.Decide for yourself. Some vocabulary examples from WORD MASTER;FLAGRANT; JOSTILE; CULPABLE; FLUCIDATE; AFFINITY; ASPIRE; PICAYUNE; SCATHING; DRIVEL; IMPETUS; LATENT; VISTA; WANE; ATONE; APOGEE; ARDENT; CAPRICE; EFFECTUAL; VAGRANT; ABASE; ENIGMA; OVERT; PLUNDER; ORDEAL; HOVEL; HENCHMAN; INCUMBENT; MANIFEST; SUPTUOUS; REPROVE; FURTIVE; VERTIGO

Excellent item, good price

If you would like to improve your vocabulary, this is an excellent tool. The audio format is clear, concise and very convenient. Well organized and definitely worth the money.

500語の英英の解説と例文が2つほど、スペルも2回繰り返される。単調ではあるが、ナレーターの声が心地よく、バックサウンドにバロック音楽が流れる。格調高く英語に接することができるので重宝している。収録語は難易度にバラツキがあると思う。ジックリ取り組むにはいい教材かと思う。

発音、スペル、意味、例文という順番で単語をひとつずつ説明していくという形式。数個の単語を学習した後は復習クイズが出され、覚えているか確認できるようになっている。よくできた形式で真面目に取り組めば確実に力はついていくと思われる。欠点としては、同じ形式がひたすら繰り返され、量が多いためにちょっと飽きるということ。何しろ10時間もある。集中して聴き続けるのはなかなか辛い。ナレーターの発音は非常に聞き取りやすくスピードもゆっくり目。単語の難易度に関しては、最難関の大学受験でもここまでの難しいものはまず問われない。SAT対策の単語集などよりも難易度の高い単語が多いという印象。