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. Barron’s doesn’t usually change much from edition to edition, so I suspect the new edition is pretty similar.
I’m 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 don’t 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.
Barron’s vocabulary book is similar to Princeton Review’s 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 don’t seem to be based on similar themes or structures.
While Princeton Review’s book includes a short quiz every few pages, Barron’s includes ten actual TOEFL reading question (vocabulary type, of course) at the end of each lesson. I can’t really say if the questions are accurate, but I don’t 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 Review’s book thankfully. Some of them are still too easy, though.
Here’s page 69: forbid, petition, relinquish, resilient, tempt.
Here’s page 229: maintain, mediocre, negligible, parallel, peculiar, potent
Here’s page 277: forfeit, precarious, severe, sporadic, superior, wanton
I 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.