Remember taking those French, Italian, Latin or Spanish classes? Or perhaps your language of choice is a different one. It doesn't matter which language, most classes begin with vocabulary. Here’s some tips to help.
- Start with the basics – and that is word association. But you need to use several different ways to associate your vocabulary words in order to remember them. If you can make the association with the vocabulary word stick, and with as many ways as possible, you’ll be able to pass those quizzes easier. So use all your senses to associate all those words – because sound has the best way to remember the word – if you can remember its sound, you’ll be better at recognizing it whether reading the word or speaking it. The fun part? Make those associations as crazy as you can because you will remember them better.
- Now comes the next phase – write, write and write again. Take a piece of paper and list up to 20 words on the left side. Either fold the paper up to the word or simply draw a line down the page and begin to enter the translations for each word. Once you have the translations down, cover the words and test yourself, using only the translations. Take a break and then do it again. Or, as instructions on your shampoo advise, rinse and repeat. Taking a break allows your brain to process what you have been shoving into it. When you repeat the “test” soon you can slip through all the words and definitions in one run.
- Space out the repetitions to allow the learning curve to reset itself so you can eventually remember all your words. Remember hearing about the learning curve? Well, according to researchers it’s all true! Except that now they call it the “forgetting curve.” Go figure. Reviewing your words up to six days in a row will allow you to retain them better. The trick is to do it every day. And remember, if you have more than twenty words to learn, add them into the mix as well.
- Writing and reading in the language you are learning is also an additional way to keep those words in your active memory. Want a fun way to do that? Sign up for the free version of lang-8.com. This website is really neat. You input what you have written and upload it. A native speaker of that language will correct you and you can see your mistakes. Then you do the same for others. Take a few moments to check them out!