When learning a foreign language, almost every person has a question about how to memorize foreign words quickly. Currently, there are many methods and techniques that will help expand the foreign vocabulary easily and quickly, without resorting to tedious cramming, often not useful.
Sensation interaction method
This method works most effectively when used in a duet with other ways and methods of memorizing words.
The method of interaction of sensations shows how best to memorize foreign words through sensory perception. It is not based on a simple mechanical memorization of a word or phrase, but their presentation and comparison with any sensations. This approach helps to more confidently use the learned words in colloquial speech and not to spend too much time just remembering them. At the mere mention of a person, object, action or phenomenon, the sensory associations used earlier will automatically remind the brain of the necessary word.
An example is the English word cup, translated into Russian as "cup". When using the method of interaction of sensations, one should not only memorize a word-translation pair, but also imagine the cup itself, the manipulations that can be performed with it, as well as the sensations that can be associated with it.
The method of interaction of sensations can be combined with mnemonics based on the search for consonances in the native language and the inclusion of sound associations and translation in a common, easily remembered phrase. The English word cup is very similar to the Russian "cap". Based on the consonant association and translation, it is easy to compose a phrase like: "Water is dripping from a tap into a mug: cap-cap-cap-cap". Such a combination of techniques perfectly shows how to memorize foreign words quickly and effectively. Mnemonics helps to translate the word into long-term memory, and the method of interaction of sensations helps to fix it in memory and remind the brain about it if necessary.
Card and Sticker Method
Based on the repetition of 10-20 words throughout the day. Small rectangles made of thick paper or cardboard are cut. On one side words are written in a foreign language, on the other - a Russian translation. Words are viewed in any free minute: at breakfast, lunch or dinner, in transport, at work, etc. You can view both foreign words and their translation in Russian. The main thing - when viewing, try to remember the translation of a word or its original sound and spelling in a foreign language.
Classes with cards can be made more effective if carried out in several stages:
- Acquaintance with new words. Speaking, searching for associations, initial memorization.
- Remembering new foreign words. Recovery in the memory of a translation into Russian, constant shuffling of cards until all words have been learned.
- A stage similar to the previous one, but in the reverse order - working with words in Russian.
- Consolidation of learned words. The fastest possible repetition of words using a stopwatch. The purpose of this stage is to recognize words without translation.
The original version of the card method is the use of stickers. With their help, you can study the names of surrounding objects and the actions that can be performed with them. For example, on the door you can stick the English "door", and on its handle - "push" on the side from which the door must be pushed, and "pull" on the side into which the door is pulled.
Another option for working with stickers is sticking them in places where the student most often can see them. This can be a computer seat (including a screen), a bathroom mirror, kitchen shelves, etc. On stickers any foreign words can be written. The main condition is that the stickers should often catch the eye.
Using stickers clearly shows how to memorize words in a foreign language using visual information.
Associations
This is a very interesting and easy way to learn, which is suitable even for kids. Methods of lexical or phonetic associations talk about how to memorize foreign words using Russian consonant ones. In this case, a foreign and consonant Russian word should be related in meaning. If such a semantic connection is not clearly traced, it should be invented independently.
For example, the English word palm in translation into Russian means "palm" and is consonant with Russian "palm". To remember the meaning of the word palm with the help of association, one should think that palm leaves are similar to human palms with spread fingers.
Do not think that there are exceptions to association methods. To one foreign word it is quite easy to pick up words similar in sound in Russian, the other is completely in tune with anything. However, for any foreign word, you can choose either a consonant version, or divide it into its component parts and look for a similar phrase in Russian.
Or to divide one compound word into two, simple already known to the student of the language, and, using the combination of their translations, form a single association. For example, the English word butterfly (butterfly) is easily divided into butter (butter) and fly (fly, fly). Thus, a butterfly is easily remembered using associations such as "fly on oil" or "butter flies."
The methods of associations are described in many works of professional linguists and are widely used in the practice of language schools. One of the most interesting works and effective methods was proposed by Igor Yuryevich Matyugin - the developer of a special technique that develops attention and memory. To make it easier to understand how to memorize foreign words, I.Yu. Matyugin presented to the world a book that contains 2500 English words with vivid and interesting associations.
Yartsev Method
It is best suited for those who more easily perceive information visually. This method will not tell you how to memorize foreign words hundreds of times a day, but it will definitely help to significantly expand your vocabulary, fixing it in your long-term memory.
The essence of the Yartsev method is to write down words in a certain way. An ordinary notebook sheet is divided into 3 columns. In the first, the word is written, in the second - its translation. The third column is intended for synonyms and antonyms, as well as examples of phrases and phrases in which the studied word will be present.
A pleasant point in using this technique is the lack of cramming. Written out words should be re-read from time to time, thus gradually fixing them in memory. But reading alone will not be enough. Words, in addition to lists, should also appear in articles, films, etc. Therefore, they must be activated in memory.
Grouping Methods
This technique helps to figure out how to quickly memorize foreign words. Their association in groups can occur:
- Within the meaning of.
- According to grammatical signs.
In the case of a grouping, within the meaning, words that are synonyms or antonyms come together. The purpose of this grouping is to maximize the enrichment of the vocabulary. An example is a group of words translated into any foreign language:
good, beautiful, wonderful, great, bad, unimportant, etc.
There can be many options for grouping words according to grammatical characteristics. When compiling groups, you can rely on cognates, on nouns of the same kind, on verbs with a certain ending, etc. Such a grouping helps not only replenish the vocabulary, but also improve understanding of the basics of the grammar of the language.
Mnemonic associations
Mnemonics creatively approaches the question of how to memorize foreign words and enter them into long-term memory. According to this method, each foreign word needs to come up with a consonant Russian that will be associated with a foreign original. Then the sound association and translation are combined in any phrase or story that needs to be remembered. The repetition algorithm is as follows:
- Foreign word.
- Consonant association in Russian.
- Phrase or story.
- Transfer.
In the framework of the methodology, the algorithm for each word is spoken 4 times a day for two days. The result is the exclusion from the algorithm of the stages "association" and "history, phrase" and the movement of the pair "foreign word - translation" in the part of the brain that is responsible for long-term memory.
Initially, history falls into it, but the translation lingers in quick memory for only 30 minutes. Subsequently, at one glance at the word, a sound association will pop up in memory, the phrase will be remembered with it, and then the translation will be extracted from the phrase. The algorithm will work in the opposite direction: the translation helps the brain to recall a phrase, and a sound analogy is extracted from it or history, which recalls the original foreign word. Thus, the technique of mnemonic associations shows how to effectively memorize foreign words, leaving them in memory for a long time.
An example is the English word puddle, translated into Russian meaning "puddle". The sound association for him would be Russian “falling”, and as a phrase, “Nikita fell into a puddle many times”. The word repetition algorithm will look like this:
- Puddle (source foreign word).
- Fell (sound association).
- Nikita fell into a puddle many times (a phrase or story containing a consonant association and translation).
- Puddle (translation).
Using the method of mnemonic associations to easily remember foreign words, it is not necessary to come up with consonances and examples of phrases yourself. Currently, there are a large number of information resources that offer ready-made algorithms for remembering foreign words and phrases.
Interval Repetitions
The interval repetition method also suggests learning foreign words with cards. Its main difference from the card method is the suggestion of how to memorize foreign words. The method of interval repetition assumes that the words on the cards will be viewed and spoken at regular intervals. Thanks to this repetition algorithm, the studied foreign words will be fixed in the department of long-term brain memory. But without the lack of repetition, the brain will “remove” the excess (in his opinion) information.
Interval repetition is not always useful and appropriate. For example, when studying frequently used words (days of the week, frequent actions, etc.) that are constantly heard and regularly used in speech, repeating words will become a natural process - they will often occur in conversations, while reading and watching videos.
Listening
This method will be ideal for fans to listen to music or any information. It is based on listening to foreign words that are necessarily pronounced correctly, as well as their repetition. The materials can be either special educational audio recordings or a variety of videos with detailed analysis of words, phrases and sentences.
Reading
In deciding how to memorize foreign words, books, articles and other printed materials in the target language can be of great help. Learning words while reading texts in a foreign language is appropriate when a person learning a language already knows about 2-3 thousand words. It is with the presence of such a vocabulary that understanding of simple texts comes.
The best way to memorize thanks to reading is to write out unknown words from texts. In this case, you do not need to write out all incomprehensible phrases in a row. Attention should be paid only to those without which it is impossible to understand the general meaning of the proposals. Surely they will come in handy with the further use of a foreign language. Such memorization will be much more effective, as new information is “extracted” from the context, forming more vivid and pronounced associations in the memory.
The number of words written should also be limited. To replenish the vocabulary without interruption from reading, it is enough to write them out only a few pieces from one read page.
If you wish, you can do without writing out, as the vocabulary is replenished even in the process of continuous reading. But memorizing words and fixing them in long-term memory in this case is much slower.
Watch video
Learning new words from a video also requires the learner to have a certain knowledge of the language. Otherwise, it will be quite difficult to understand which foreign word, still unknown to the student, was pronounced. Watching a video in a foreign language allows you to achieve two results at once: expand your vocabulary and improve your listening comprehension.
The simplest approach in this technique is to watch a video without distraction to write out unknown words. But the most positive result will be achieved only if you stop the movie while watching, take notes and disassemble new words and phrases for the student learning the language.