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Your best vocabulary learning methods?

 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies Post Reply
58 messages over 8 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next >>
Lucie Tellier
Diglot
Newbie
France
Joined 3252 days ago

21 posts - 27 votes
Speaks: French*, English

 
 Message 1 of 58
03 June 2015 at 2:07am | IP Logged 
Hello all,
I need to learn more vocabulary really fast. I don't know how many words (bilingual) I can reasonably hit per day. I also need to practice translating both ways.

Are there any good methods (maybe unconventional) out there that could help me?
I don't want to work with an SRS as I currently have neck pain and try to avoid using the computer.
Looking for "paper" SRS, some kind of list or memory technique or other tips.
Thank you!
1 person has voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6379 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
4 sounds
Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 2 of 58
03 June 2015 at 2:22am | IP Logged 
Music (especially lyricstraining) and GLOSS.

In a related language also listening from the beginning and reading asap.

You might also be interested in this article, althogh it's focused on grammar.

If you're not going to be a translator/interpreter (including translating for your family on vacation), you don't need to practise translating.

Edited by Serpent on 03 June 2015 at 2:24am

4 persons have voted this message useful



tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
likeapolyglot.wordpr
Joined 4489 days ago

5310 posts - 9399 votes 
Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

 
 Message 3 of 58
03 June 2015 at 2:23am | IP Logged 
You can use SRS on your phone.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Spanky
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 5738 days ago

1021 posts - 1714 votes 
Studies: French

 
 Message 4 of 58
03 June 2015 at 2:32am | IP Logged 
To supplement the suggestions already provided by Serpent and tarvos, may I suggest the Mind Portal? I note that you report neck strain, so this might not be entirely appropriate for you. Or for stock brokers.*   

Mind Portal

*the proponent of this method indicates in message #53 of the attached thread that it will, for some reason, cause stock brokers to drop turds in their pants, so consider yourself warned.


Edited by Spanky on 03 June 2015 at 2:33am

1 person has voted this message useful



soclydeza85
Senior Member
United States
Joined 3689 days ago

357 posts - 502 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, French

 
 Message 5 of 58
03 June 2015 at 2:55am | IP Logged 
Just FYI, you can use SRS on your phone (if you have a smart phone). The only hard part is putting the words in on the computer (with an app synced on your phone), but it's worth it once you do it.

As for general methods, this is something that I do:

(anywhere from 20-50 cards at a time, experiment. Maybe you can do more or need less.)

-Go over the cards, one by one, don't worry about memorizing, just familiarize.

-Go over the cards again, one by one, (target language first), try to guess or remember what it means. If you don't get it, no big deal. Either way, once you show yourself the other side, both SAY and WRITE the word down (in target language) in a notebook or on a piece of paper. Sometimes I'll write it multiple times if it's a difficult word that won't stick.

-Do the same thing, but starting with your native language. Again, don't stress if you don't remember it immediately, just make sure to say and write it down. When you're done, mix up the cards and do again and again, until you can recall the words without referring to the other side.

-Do it again after some time has passed (a few hours, maybe later in the day).

Next Session (the next day or whenever you can do it again).
-Go over the previous set again, saying and writing like before.
-Repeat all of the above with a new set of words.

Review each set again after a few days, then after a few more day, and so on. Also make sure to work from target -> native as well, still writing and saying the target language word.

Tips:
-Use mnemonics and memory tricks for both meaning and gender if a noun (unless your target language doesn't use genders). You'll be able to do this real quick once you get used to it. For example, in German I would picture something quintessentially male for Der, quintessentially female for Die and involve E.T. (yes, the alien from the 80's movie) for Das: das Dach (the roof), I'd picture E.T. sitting on a roof. You may think this would just add one more thing to memorize, but it really does make things easier. Another example: la clé (the key, French, I'm sure you know that already), I knew clé ended in an accented e, so the article must use an a, la. Maybe use the sound of the word. Again, for "drohen" (to threaten, German), I'd picture an ominous drone coming my way and threatening me. You'll come up with your own methods, just experiment with it.

-Take small breaks between each review to clear your mind and let your mind absorb what it just learned.

-While reviewing, try to say each word in a sentence (doesn't matter the sentence, just get used to using the word in context).

-Don't just try to memorize the word, try to picture something in your mind.

-I personally don't use physical cards anymore, but try something like drawing a little picture, using different colors for the articles (if gendered), etc.

These are just ideas that I've found work very well for me. Try playing with them and you'll come up with your own ideas/methods that work for you. Good luck!




3 persons have voted this message useful



soclydeza85
Senior Member
United States
Joined 3689 days ago

357 posts - 502 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, French

 
 Message 6 of 58
03 June 2015 at 3:04am | IP Logged 
I should also add: if it's an abstract word that you're not sure of how to use it in a sentence, study the example sentence in the dictionary or post it up on here to get some insight from a native.
2 persons have voted this message useful



smallwhite
Pentaglot
Senior Member
Australia
Joined 5090 days ago

537 posts - 1045 votes 
Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin, French, Spanish

 
 Message 7 of 58
03 June 2015 at 3:18am | IP Logged 
Lucie Tellier wrote:
Hello all,
I need to learn more vocabulary really fast. I don't know how many words (bilingual) I can reasonably hit per day. I also need to practice translating both ways.

Are there any good methods (maybe unconventional) out there that could help me?
I don't want to work with an SRS as I currently have neck pain and try to avoid using the computer.
Looking for "paper" SRS, some kind of list or memory technique or other tips.
Thank you!


Flashcards used to be on paper. You can use paper cards with the Leitner System.

Or you can try what I did, reviewing paper wordlists based on SRS scheduling. I copied new words onto A5 paper:
der Mann ... man
die Frau ... woman

Then I wrote the date at the top of the page.
1-Jan-2015
der Mann ... man
die Frau ... woman

Then I reviewed the whole page based on an SRS schedule, each time writing down the review date at the top:
1-Jan-2015 2-Jan 4-Jan 8-Jan 16-Jan ...
der Mann ... man
die Frau ... woman

Or I reviewed whichever sheet I found most difficult, just like what we used to do before we learned about SRS.
How you revise the wordlist is up to you.

Tip 1: Try not to write too many words on each page; shorter pages will give you more flexibility. I use A5 paper.
Tip 2: You can mark a star next to a difficult word, and next time review just the starred words instead of the whole page. You can write a star next to that day's review date, to indicate that you only reviewed starred words that day:
1-Jan-2015 2-Jan 4-Jan* 8-Jan 16-Jan* ...

Edited by smallwhite on 03 June 2015 at 3:21am

4 persons have voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6379 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
4 sounds
Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 8 of 58
03 June 2015 at 4:08am | IP Logged 
I've done that too actually! But after 6-12 months I couldn't stand word lists anymore.


1 person has voted this message useful



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