Hi edirik--
Great questions! And difficult to answer - but let's see what we can do to maybe help a bit. Hopefully others will offer some of their tips, too.
First of all: EssaySnark recommends reading more - especially stuff like the New York Times. (Washington Post and LA Times are other good online newspapers and all of their content is free; you only get a certain amount for free each month on the Times.) Try to get through a couple articles a day if you can - this should help. You might also want to subscribe to the word-a-day emails from dictionary.com
On your second example with the tentacles -- that's not a "parallel" example. The reason that the verbs are in different forms is that the first one - rootlike tentacles spawned - is something that happened in the past (10,000 yrs ago); and the next one - extending - is what they have since and are currently doing - present. You probably figured that out already, right?
Maybe you can use the words around the unknown terms to give a hint as to their meaning? If you knew "rootlike" then it might give a hint about the "tentacles" (which are like arms, such as an octopus has). "Interwoven" can be broken into the two terms: "inter" meaning connected (like "intersecting"); and "woven" as in "to weave" (cloth, etc.).
But again, you probably already knew that technique. We might not be adding anything here!!!
We do think that you should be able to answer these without fully being certain of every single word, but many of the SC problems are HARD even when you *do* know every word - EssaySnark is frequently challenged by them, and we're a native speaker!!! So don't feel like a loser if you have trouble - these are not easy for anyone!!
It sounds like your approach is good. Many of the SC problems are grammatically incorrect and knowing the rules of grammar will help - though not every time. It's great that you still keep working so hard with it! And definitely it's going to help you that you're speaking only English at work.
Don't lose faith! Many people struggle with this. The more you practice, the better you will become.
Hopefully some *real* GMAT experts will also chime in here!!!
EssaySnark
Great questions! And difficult to answer - but let's see what we can do to maybe help a bit. Hopefully others will offer some of their tips, too.
First of all: EssaySnark recommends reading more - especially stuff like the New York Times. (Washington Post and LA Times are other good online newspapers and all of their content is free; you only get a certain amount for free each month on the Times.) Try to get through a couple articles a day if you can - this should help. You might also want to subscribe to the word-a-day emails from dictionary.com
On your second example with the tentacles -- that's not a "parallel" example. The reason that the verbs are in different forms is that the first one - rootlike tentacles spawned - is something that happened in the past (10,000 yrs ago); and the next one - extending - is what they have since and are currently doing - present. You probably figured that out already, right?
Maybe you can use the words around the unknown terms to give a hint as to their meaning? If you knew "rootlike" then it might give a hint about the "tentacles" (which are like arms, such as an octopus has). "Interwoven" can be broken into the two terms: "inter" meaning connected (like "intersecting"); and "woven" as in "to weave" (cloth, etc.).
But again, you probably already knew that technique. We might not be adding anything here!!!
We do think that you should be able to answer these without fully being certain of every single word, but many of the SC problems are HARD even when you *do* know every word - EssaySnark is frequently challenged by them, and we're a native speaker!!! So don't feel like a loser if you have trouble - these are not easy for anyone!!
It sounds like your approach is good. Many of the SC problems are grammatically incorrect and knowing the rules of grammar will help - though not every time. It's great that you still keep working so hard with it! And definitely it's going to help you that you're speaking only English at work.
Don't lose faith! Many people struggle with this. The more you practice, the better you will become.
Hopefully some *real* GMAT experts will also chime in here!!!
EssaySnark
EssaySnark has MBA application guides for HBS, Stanford, Booth, Wharton, NYU and pretty much any other school you can name - including a fully revised and expanded 2015 Columbia essay guide!
https://essaysnark.com/bookstore/
* * * * * * *
The Indians' Guide to Getting In maps out everything you need to evaluate your own profile and select your schools. https://essaysnark.com/ssguide/quicksnar ... ans-guide/
* * * * * * *
MILITARY CANDIDATES! We've got some pro bono offers just for you: https://essaysnark.com/military-mba/
* * * * * * *
Follow EssaySnark on Twitter!
https://essaysnark.com/bookstore/
* * * * * * *
The Indians' Guide to Getting In maps out everything you need to evaluate your own profile and select your schools. https://essaysnark.com/ssguide/quicksnar ... ans-guide/
* * * * * * *
MILITARY CANDIDATES! We've got some pro bono offers just for you: https://essaysnark.com/military-mba/
* * * * * * *
Follow EssaySnark on Twitter!
