How to learn foreign words effectively?

Big vocabulary helps you understand other people better and express yourself not only clearly but also beautifully. But learning many foreign words takes time and practice. Here are some tips and resources to help in the learning process.

What words to learn?

When you already know the language at a good level but want to expand your vocabulary, gaps in your knowledge can be found in several ways:

Fiction reading. For those who want to become more eloquent. Mark unknown words right in the text;
Reading scientific articles, listening to audio lectures, public speeches on your topic. Good for students and students who need a foreign language for study and work;
Wordplays for international English exams
Watching English videos, interviews, soap operas. Especially helpful if you want to learn colloquial phrases and words.

How to say words?

First, decide where to look for a word. We recommend using dictionaries because they provide definitions and usage variations.

The best dictionaries are monolingual ones where you can find the translation of words in the target language only. However, only for people who already know the language very well.

If you are just starting to learn a foreign language, check out these dictionaries, where you will learn the meaning in Russian.

Tip before you start learning

When you've found the words you want to learn, group them. You can make lists by topic or by grammatical features. Grouping words by topic is convenient to use in the same sentence when you use them in context. That makes it easy to do.

What methods should I use?

To learn new words, there are different methods, and you will find the most convenient. But first, let's start with two important points.

First, it's always better to learn words in context. So when you know the meaning, you should think of an example to use it or take it from literature. You will have an easier time remembering a word when you understand how to use it.

Second, it is important to refresh your knowledge. Periodically repeat the words. It's good if they occur in your professional or academic literature. If not, go back to your dictionary sometimes.

There are several methods of learning words:

The repetition method. The easiest and most boring. You write out the word you are learning many, many times on paper.
The classic of word learning is creating a table where we write the word, translation, transcription, and example. This is a simple, easy to use method that helps you relate words and meanings visually. Also on such tables it is convenient to repeat. Just close some columns and check your knowledge against the list.
Mnemonic techniques. This is a method of association (sometimes quite strange). They can be hard to make up yourself, but there are ready-made mnemonic vocabularies online. Here's an example from Barius. Let's choose the word coat, which means "coat" and sounds similar to the word "cat". Think of a phrase about the cat and the coat: "A cold cat met me at the door and crawled under my coat."
Learning words on cards. Prepare small cards: Write the word on one side and the translation on the other. If you can attach a picture or example to the translation, that's more effective. As you are learning the word, turn the card over, remember the translation, put the card at the end. And so learn the words in a circle. When you have memorized the card, put it aside. After a while you will have two sets of cards: ones to learn and ones to repeat.
Activate your senses. Use pictures and listen to words in addition to reading them. Also visualize the word: think of what it means in your life, think of images.
Tickers. Useful in two situations: if you are learning words on a particular topic or repeating what you have learned. In the first situation, the surrounding conditions should match the theme. It can be home furnishings, technology, or actions if the items are associated with verbs. For example, a sticker with the verb freeze can be put on the refrigerator. Stickers are also useful when you repeat words on any topic. They remind you to refresh your knowledge and make you remember the word translation every time you look at it.

Worthy links about language learning

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2022-01-14 07:20:49