Find out how to learn new vocabulary effectively in foreign languages to quickly master new words for good.
Learning new vocabulary can be a nightmare for learners of a new language. Taking note of every new word and trying to learn many words at once can end in failure. So how can you do this in the best possible way to quickly and effectively learn new vocabulary? Check out our methods.
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Choose the most common words
Thinking about how to learn new vocabulary effectively one can fall into the black hole of learning. Often people learning a new language make this mistake and try to learn every word they stumble upon. This approach will only cause chaos in your head. Choose the words that you want to learn wisely, especially in the beginning of your learning. For example it’s a good idea to know different body parts and the basic illnesses, but leave the complicated diseases to the doctors. The best idea would be to start with the 100 most common words in a given language – you can find such lists online.
Do not overestimate your abilities
Ambitions can kill your goals and we want to avoid that. That’s why you shouldn’t go overboard with the amount of new words that you learn. Learn up to 20 new words every few days and do repetitions on the other days.
Take note of new vocabulary
Once you decide that it’s worth to learn a certain word at this point in your learning experience – write it down in your notebook. It’s not enough to just write the meaning, also give the gender in case of nouns or other forms of the word. It’s a good idea to write a sentence with the new word – that will help to remember it better.
Learn new vocabulary by topic
It will be the best to learn new words by topic and in groups. For example if you find out what a certain color is called , figure out the rest as well. The same with other vocabulary – days of the week, body parts. It will make it easier to connect the words and you won’t get them confused.
Can’t remember a new word? Draw it!
Having trouble remembering new words? That’s completely understandable when learning new vocabulary, there’s always a lot of it in the beginning. You can make the process easier by adding drawings to the words. For example when learning colors draw a meadow with grass, a tree, an apple on the tree, above it a sky and a sun, color them and label with colors. With this drawing you can learn the names of the colors: green, brown, red, blue and yellow. When learning body parts just draw a human body and label the parts. You don’t like drawings? You can simply draw mind maps and divide the vocabulary into categories.
Add repetitions to your calendar
New vocabulary has to be repeated, otherwise it can easily be forgotten. It’s best to plan you repetitions in a calendar, that way you won’t forget them either. When you feel that you know a word pretty well, you can repeat them less often and make room for new words.
Make flashcards
You don’t have a notebook and drawing is not for you? We understand. Try flashcards instead, Self-made flashcards are the best, because you are already learn something when you’re making them, later you can use them to learn actively and in repetitions.
Now do you know how to learn new vocabulary effectively? Which of our methods do you like the most? Which ones will you use in your learning? Maybe you have already been using some of them? Share your experiences with us on social media.
This post is also available in: Polish
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