Watch Your Language Blog

Having trouble memorizing vocabulary?

You obviously need to learn new words in order to speak a language. Even though that may seem straightforward compared to learning how to actually put those words together in sentences, it's really not as simple as it appears. Memorizing words is difficult, even just memorizing words in the short term. But long-term memorization takes a lot of practice and repetition.

There are a few different ways to "lodge" a word in your memory, and some methods may work better for you than others. The best thing to do is to try a few until you find the one that works best for you.

You may feel silly repeating a word aloud to yourself over and over, but this can be very effective. By keeping your eye on the written word while you say it, you stimulate two senses, hearing and sight, thereby doubling the impact. Written repetition may also feel silly, especially if this was a favorite punishment of your old elementary school teacher, but it can be an effective vocabulary learning tool.

Flash cards are great, because you can put a batch in your pocket and run through them whenever you have some down time. After you have written the foreign language on one side and the English translation on the other, first go through your deck from the foreign language side. Look at the vocabulary item, say it aloud, and see if you know its meaning. Flip the card to check, and if you're right, put the card in your "learned" pile. If you're wrong, return the card to the end of your deck, and keep going through it until you've got them all. Then do the reverse, from English into the foreign language. You'll find that this is harder, but it's a better test of how well you've retained the vocabulary.

In general, it's best to learn vocabulary in thematically related groups, because you can connect the words in a scenario that will serve as a mnemonic device. And then (what else?), practice, practice, practice. Speak or write about that scenario using as many of the vocabulary items as possible. If you're working through a lesson in a course, then you probably also have grammar points to practice, which means that you can plug the new vocabulary words into different sentences using different constructions you're also learning.

You can also practice by typing a word into a search engine and seeing how it's used in different contexts. That could easily lead to a lot of other new words that you don't know, but don't feel pressured to tackle them all.

You should limit the amount of words you're trying to memorize at a time. Even if a vocabulary list includes 20 or 30 items, only work with about a dozen words at a time.

And finally, come back to "old" vocabulary. Keep a notebook or an ever-expanding deck of flashcards, and revisit material you've already covered. You're not going to remember every single vocabulary word that you come across in a language course, but this is a great way to keep as many as possible from fading.

Tags: flash cards, language learning, newsletter, tips, vocabulary
April 25, 2008