> If English is your native language, why did you spend 1800 hours learning English vocabulary when you were in high school? Mostly SAT prep. It took my verba

> If English is your native language, why did you spend 1800 hours learning English vocabulary when you were in high school? Mostly SAT prep. It took my verbal score from 550 to 780 (out of 800). However, extra vocabulary is also one of the fastest ways to improve your writing. My writing got a lot more concise the more vocabulary I commanded. Essays that used to take 20 hours+ and maybe 6-8 pages were now 4-5 hours and 2-3 pages. And, once you do this, you find out how very few words we actually use on a daily basis. “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” -- Mark Twain