Knowing Your Vocabulary: The True Obstacle of Learning New Languages

Learning a foreign language definitely opens a lot of doors for a person. Regardless of whether you have directed your attention to that particular kind of speech because of work or because you simply like it, there is always some sort of difficulty that comes your way. The most common one I have heard students and friends of mine complain about is how to memorize the new vocabulary. Have you been quite eager to advance your skills in the language, but then this very reason has been preventing you from it? Then you might want to consider including some or all of the tips below in your learning procedure.

1) Learn by context

As soon as you encounter a new text in your student book and you have been provided with all the unknown words from it, you can start practising reading it at home and then translating it. That way you will be able to do multiple things at once. By reading, you improve your reading skills of the particular foreign language; but by translating, you also get to see how a certain word has been used in the context at hand which in turn not only helps you "insert" that word in your memory, but it also creates a link between its definition and how you can include it in your own speech and writing in the correct way. In addition, reading will also contribute to eliminating any spelling mistakes and we all know how annoying these could be. In some languages, a simple spelling error could lead to a misinterpretation of the whole sentence and we don't really want that to happen, do we? So my advice, read every single text of your student books as many times as you can. You will surely observe the result quite soon.

2) Dictionary

What I mean by a dictionary here is not an enormous book with all the possible vocabulary that a language can consist of, but instead your own personal notebook, specially transformed into your dictionary by including all the new words you have found during class or during reading. You can even add a date for every new addition of vocabulary. It might be 20 words or a hundred, but by writing them down in your notebook you practise spelling and definition at the same time. If you are more advanced, you can even define the word in the same foreign language by noting down a synonym or a longer definition, or simply an example so again you get to know the context in which a particular word or phrase is used.

Once this is done, you can cover one side of your dictionary with something and test yourself on how many of the words you have learned. First, you can do it in a chronological order. Then you can mix them to raise the level. For every word you can't say, you look at the definition you've written on the other side and then continue with the practice. When you feel like you have mastered the vocabulary on the left sides, then cover it and repeat the same procedure with the right. You will be surprised how many references you will start making between the words and how many of them will have actually been safely tucked away in your memory for later use. It takes some time, but this way has helped me remember tough vocabulary more times than I can count so I definitely recommend it.

3) Write them

After you have tried the forementioned practice, you will notice that there are some words that might be pronounced in a certain way but spelled entirely differently; or that there are just some verb forms, for instance, that are incredibly hard for you to memorize. Here comes the writing. You can have another notebook for it or simply a sheet of paper on which you can write the word as many times as you consider necessary. This is definitely the best way to improve your spelling, in my opinion. Moreover, when you've written down a bunch of words, you can again repeat the same procedure as with the dictionary. To ask yourself for the words at hand in mixed order. That will surely do the trick for a while. However, don't forget to revise them regularly as otherwise they will eventually vanish from your mind again.

4) Record yourself

Now, this one here has been recommended to me by a student who claims that it is incredibly efficient. The way you go about it is for example, when you have written the new words in your own dictionary, you turn on your recorder and start reading both the new word and the definition out loud. Then you can listen to yourself saying the words as many times as you want. You can do it on the bus, on the train, in your car, while walking to school/ work, etc. This is one is the most effortless ways for you to revise vocabulary. It only takes for you to read them once. If you want of course, preferrably, you can still include all the already mentioned suggestions as they are definitely useful. Nevertheless, I believe this technique for revision will keep on freshening the words up in your memory and it really won't take much out of you.

5) Games

Finally, we come to the most exciting part of all. There are numerous vocabulary games that you can try out in order to remember words more easily. For instance, it can be an online game like Duolingo or Memrise. That way you will constantly find yourself challenged and will aim for better and better results. Plus, you have the option of multiple repetitions so that you feel confident enough in your upgraded knowledge.

What's more, it can be other types of games that you come up with on your own. For most of them, you need a piece of paper and a pen, so it's totally nothing unachievable. One suggestion is to take the paper and cut into pieces and then write a word or phrase on each bit. Afterwards, you can place all of them inside a cup or a bowl and draw as many words as you wish, saying their definition. To make the game even more difficult, you can make yourself give examples with each word you draw. In addition, you can even write the examples down and then show them to your teacher to check. You will also be practising spelling that way, too.

Another game you can give a go is a sort of a vocabulary race. You write down as many words as you want on a sheet of paper, then you close all the books that can help you, you set a timer of 1-3 minutes (depending on how many words you have and how hard you want it to be) and then you start. You write the definitions of as many as you can. You can write synonyms, translations, antonyms, anything that you associate with the particular word. Then after the time is up, you check your answers with another pen and you complete the missing once in another colour. The way I've done it below is that I've written all the definitions with another colour but I have circled the words that still need practising so I can focus my attention on them later one. In the end, relect a little bit and repeat the same procedure again as many times as you want. This can also be done with another person or a classmate to be more competitive and more fun.

These are just a few suggestions for learning new words and forcing them to actually stay in your memory for as long as possible. Of course, you need to give your best to include them in your speech and writing too as otherwise they are bound to disappear eventually. But with these things you have a start and a basis to work and develop on. Don't discourage yourself thinking that it's impossible to memorize all the new words you come upon. Instead, convince yourself that you're more than capable of storing them in your brain. Because you are! All we really need is the will to do it and then it becomes much easier. Just don't give up. You can never master a language if you back away from it every time you encounter an obstacle. Keep on working and your efforts will pay off.

I hope you have enjoyed my tips above and that you find them applicable to your learning process. If you are a complete beginner in a foreign language and you wonder what steps you need to take in order to enhance your skills, then you can also take a look at my recommendations here.

Anyway, have you tried any of these approaches above? Which ones? Or perhaps there are some that I have missed but you have found crucial for your language learning? Feel free to mention them below.

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