How-To: Tips in Building Up Vocabulary in a Foreign Language
Picture taken by me in Nara
One big part of learning a new language is the vocabulary. Even if your grammar is not so advanced, knowing enough vocabulary will help you get your point across more-so than if your grammar was quite advanced but your vocabulary was poor. Of course, it is also really time-consuming and involves a lot of brain power, so I compiled a list of tips that I use when I am studying new sets of words.
Study from a table: I find it easiest to learn new vocabulary by making a simple table with two columns: one that has the vocabulary, and the other with the translation straight across from it. You can also create a third column that uses the words in sentences as examples.
Use physical references: Print out the words on a piece of paper, use a textbook, flash cards—I discourage trying to learn new words solely by staring at a computer. Aside from the obvious distraction factor, physical references are easier to carry around or make notes on.
Use flash cards: If you are looking to bulk up your vocabulary a little bit at a time, I recommend flash cards. I used these in the beginning stages of my intermediate Japanese level because the vocabulary wasn’t so intensive and they were really helpful. I could just throw them in my bag and review them on the train or before class started. However, I don’t recommend using these when you have to study a large amount of words at one time—I ended up spending more time writing on cards than I did actually studying them. Use flash cards only when your list isn’t so extensive or if there are some words that you need constant reenforcement on.
Quiz yourself: Don’t simply read the list over and over. Make sure it is really in your head by quizzing yourself. Learning a foreign language makes it harder for others to help you because they may not be the same level as you, or even learning the same language at all. Simply use another piece of paper to block one column as you go down the list, and you can quiz yourself whenever you want.
Test yourself with the translation first: When learning a new set of vocabulary, it is easier to look at the foreign word and recall the English meaning. It is more probable that you will recognize it when you see/hear it, but it doesn’t mean that you can recall it on your own. Instead, try to memorize new vocabulary by testing yourself with the English translation first and trying to recall what it is in the foreign language. You’ll find it is harder to do it this way, but this will help them stick than the other way around.
Practice daily: Just because you can remember the words in one sitting doesn’t mean that you will be able to recall them tomorrow. Review the words daily to prevent yourself from getting rusty!
Skip around: Although lists are helpful, it’s really easy to memorize the list in its entirety without remembering each individual word. To prevent this, skip around the list and randomly quiz yourself. Not going in order also prevents studying the list from becoming monotonous.
Word play: If there were words I simply couldn’t pick up, I would force myself to make ridiculous associations with them. For example, suisenjo, which means ‘a letter of recommendation,’ is hard to remember because it’s not used to often. I help myself to remember this word by thinking “Sue sends Joe a letter of recommendation.†It’s stupid but it works!
Find a commonality: When I had to learn progressively harder words in Japanese like those that dealt with business and the environment, I tried to find a commonality between the sets of words, such as a reoccurring character. Instead of treating each word singularly, try finding a theme that will help you connect all the words.
Read out loud: I think this helps immensely when learning any language, and not just for the vocabulary but for the grammar, too. When you read out loud, you practice how it sounds with your voice and you start to get used to speech patterns, which in turn makes it easier to participate in conversations without pausing to think all the time.
Use it as you go: If you are studying abroad, then you are given an excellent opportunity to practice what you’ve learned, as soon as you’ve learned it. When I speak in Japanese, I try to take squeeze in my freshly learned vocabulary whenever I can. This helps words stick in your head as they become used more regularly. Don’t be afraid to use what you just learned because you don’t know quite how—use it anyway, and you might surprise yourself.
Break the word down: When you start to deal with big words, you should try and break the word down as much as you can. For example, in Japanese the word for fried egg is medamayaki, a lengthy word that some might find hard to remember. But if you break the word down, it is simply me (eye), dama (ball), yaki (fried) – fried eyeballs!
Do you have any suggestions or tips that you’d like to share? Leave it in the comments!
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