As an international student, what is the best approach to prepare for the SAT words?

For international students, the most challenge part when they prepare for the SAT is to learn the SAT words. But studying the SAT words is very time consuming and could be very boring.

Most of the students just try to remember the words meaning in their native language from a long list. This approach is not only in-efficient (the students will forget the meanings very quickly!!!) but also un-helpful (the students do not understand the word meaning EXACTLY). More over it will definitely have a major negative impact on the critical reading as the students will do two times translation (English to their native language to English).

To learn the SAT words more effectively, the students could use the online tool that StarCatcher SAT has developed (website: http://www.northstarelearning.com/satwords ). This online tool provides e-flashcards and online practices for over 5000+ SAT words. More over it could identify and isolate the students' problematic SAT words and let the students focus their effort on these words...

The students may start from the 300 high frequency SAT words, then study the most common 1000 SAT words. If they still have time, they may learn the Barron SAT words. After that they will be very well prepared for the SAT.

College board SAT essay prompts in March 2011

Prompt 1

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Reality television programs, which feature real people engaged in real activities rather than professional actors performing scripted scenes, are increasingly popular. These shows depict ordinary people competing in everything from singing and dancing to losing weight, or just living their everyday lives. Most people believe that the reality these shows portray is authentic, but they are being misled. How authentic can these shows be when producers design challenges for the participants and then editors alter filmed scenes?
Assignment: Do people benefit from forms of entertainment that show so-called reality, or are such forms of entertainment harmful? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Prompt 2

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Photographs are very much a part of our daily lives. They show us faraway places, things to buy, important people and happenings, and sometimes just the ordinary. These pictures seem like frozen moments of real life. Cameras do copy what is in front of the lens, and so, in that sense, photographs show us what is real. They are at the same time, however, creations of the artist's intentions and unconscious mind.

Adapted from Leslie Sills, In Real Life: Six Women Photographers
Assignment: Are photographs straightforward representations of real life, or are they artistic creations reflecting the photographer's point of view? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Prompt 3

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
When we are young, we learn from parents and teachers that we should wait patiently for what we want. Few people would dispute the wisdom or truth of this teaching. Our society, however, with its mad rush and hurry and its insistence on instant gratification and quick responses, encourages and rewards impatience. Experience teaches us that we should not and do not have to wait.
Assignment: Is it better for people to act quickly and expect quick responses from others rather than to wait patiently for what they want? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.