How to quickly learn words. Scientific approach

It must be admitted that for self-development and career growth in modern world without knowledge foreign language can't get by. Of course, to master it, you need to memorize a lot of unfamiliar words, be it English, French, German, Chinese, Hindi, Swahili, Hausa or Quechua. Let's try to figure out how to work on vocabulary correctly and productively. What the virtual space guru advisesGoogle? Tatyana Nikolaevna Mazina will help us figure this out.

Relations with foreign languages, of course, have developed differently for everyone. There are bilinguals whose brains are arranged in such a magical way that remembering words is not a big deal for them. There are those who from childhood had the opportunity to communicate in a language environment. Some of us have had the opportunity to learn from talented teachers.

Someone was very unlucky from school, when there was no motivation, the lessons seemed boring and sometimes turned into torture, and the ball thrown to you, the flight of which was accompanied by a question that took you by surprise, developed a strong sense of dislike for all foreign languages ​​without exception. Each of us has our own story of joy and disappointment, victories and defeats in learning English, German, French. Leaving aside the pain and bitterness of the previous negative experience, as people who, at a conscious age, decided to take up mastering the language thoroughly, let's dwell on some useful tricks.

Cards

A fairly standard way of learning any foreign words, it is also relevant for hieroglyphics. On the front side, you need to write the word itself, and on the reverse side, transcription and translation. Work with cards must be done regularly, otherwise positive results will have to wait a very long time. Important! Cards must be made by yourself. Perhaps if you buy them in a store, they will be more beautiful and with funny pictures. However, the process of memorization is beneficially affected by one's own hard work on their creation.

Stickers

Attach tags or stickers to objects around you. Although with this approach only visual memory will be involved and the range of objects is limited, this method will allow you to learn the right words.

Pictures

It is known that pictures with signed words help to learn new vocabulary. When words are related to a particular subject, we do not have to resort to translation into our native language. So we have a certain image. And what's more, there are no difficulties with the necessary materials. Today we have at our disposal a lot of dictionaries with pictures on various topics.

Writing

We must not forget that when mastering a language, learning to write is just as important as speaking, reading and listening. What to do in this case? If you want to write correctly - write, prescribe and rewrite. The best alternative to lines of words has not yet been invented.

To somewhat simplify memorization helps to build synonymous rows or learning antonyms. A good help can be an exercise in word formation, when we add all kinds of prefixes and postfixes to a word.

mnemonics

Pretty simple and effective way to remember. A word is attached to a visual image. They say that the more non-standard your association is, the better the new lexical unit will be remembered. Without such a method, it is very difficult to cope with hieroglyphics. For those who study Japanese language, the "Way of the tailless bird" helps with this. And be sure to repeat! Otherwise, the association will not be fixed in memory.

Context and only context!

There is another approach. Do not memorize words on your own, but learn them in context. It is important to work with the memorized word by making several sentences with it. It is necessary to say the constructed phrases aloud several times. This will help not only to better remember the meaning of the word, but also to feel the language situation in which its use will be most appropriate. In addition, such a simple technique helps to improve conversational skills and grammar.

Proverbs, tongue twisters, poems and songs

Don't forget about these useful things, as Tongue Twisters and proverbs. This is a very good way to learn new words.

Try saying it fluently a few times: "You cuss, I cuss, we all cuss, for asparagus!" or "Seven slick slimey snakes slowly sliding southward". As long as you hone the pronunciation of tongue twisters, while conscientiously working on speed, the words will be remembered by themselves. Just don't forget to translate them.

For the same purpose, you can use poems. Let's remember a wonderful poem in English "The house that Jack built". With so many repetitions, willy-nilly, new words will be remembered.

This can also be attributed songs. Especially the easy ones. At the preschool and primary education this way of remembering is used quite often. Why not use it now? Then learning the language will be much less of a burden. And you will be able to understand that the learning process can also be fun.

Games

You can not write off the benefits of games. It helps an adult no less than a child. word game, "broken phone", "gallows"(Hangman), crossword puzzles are pretty good ways. Active play works best when you are in a group.

We do not ignore technological progress!

To memorize new words, there are a great many applications! In a free moment or while traveling in transport, you can quickly repeat the words on the cards and take a short test to understand which of the new words you have already mastered and which ones you still need to work on. Such applications include Anki. It will always remind you that it's time to work on the words a little. There are versions for both Android and iOS. And, importantly, the cards in Anki you can create yourself, so it can be used to learn different languages, as well as add pictures for clarity.

The application is also based on spaced repetitions Memrise. The words in it are still voiced. Some of them even have videos. They exist for Android and iOS.

There are special applications for memorization phrasal verbs, and there are always plenty of difficulties with them. For example, for Android it is English Idioms and Phrases , and for iOS it is English Idioms Illustrated .

Do not forget about the emotional mood.

If you fill the word alive emotion, by the way, it does not have to be positive, the memorization process will be more efficient. A lexical item will quickly move to your active vocabulary from a passive one. The main condition is that the feeling you experience should be vivid.

These simple tricks will help streamline the work and memorize new vocabulary with the least time loss. So says the all-knowing Google. And this could be the end of our story. But no. That's not all. Since we adhere to a scientific approach to any issue and are not ready to take everything on faith, we will ask about the methods of remembering our expert, trainer-methodologist for the development of figurative memory of the training campaign LOV Tatyana Nikolaevna Mazina.

Expert opinion

Memorizing new words is enough global problem. We learn the language for 8 years, and in the end we speak and read with a dictionary. Several critical remarks can be made immediately regarding the advice presented. Of course, it is impossible to learn words outside the text. Knowledge of a foreign language is not only knowledge of words, but the ability to explain one's thoughts with the help of well-built speech forms. Therefore, it is necessary to learn foreign words only in context. The word must be "alive". Highly useful way – use pictures. With their help, we immediately form an image. Although, of course, not all words can be matched with these pictures. Visual images are also good for remembering spelling, but without pronunciation it will be ineffective. The words must be heard.

Need to remember clear rule: when learning a foreign language, it is necessary to read texts only aloud, pronouncing words and sentences.

As for associations in our textbooks, this technique is suggested frequently, but usually incorrectly. Associations must be unusual. It's right. However, there are certain laws that will allow you to assign an association to a word. It must be related to the meaning of the word.

Tongue twisters, songs, poems are always good, as are the games. Helps memorize words and solve crossword puzzles. There is nothing wrong with that. Any work above the norm will be useful. But the inscriptions on objects from this list can be safely excluded. special meaning this is not. AT best case words are remembered only visually. Also, they are usually never spoken.

We will focus on three fundamentally important points that you should pay attention to when mastering the language.

1) A foreign language in your home should be heard as often as possible. You need to regularly read, listen to music, watch movies with subtitles. Use your native language as little as possible.

2) It is important to read at least 1 page of text a day aloud. You can do without translation, but there should be no more than 1/3 of unfamiliar words in it. On the initial stage do not take too complex texts. If you take language learning seriously, the page should be read twice. When a person comes across unfamiliar words during the first reading, he will be able to turn to the dictionary and read the transcription. Often there are situations when we visually memorize a word, but we cannot pronounce it correctly. The second time the process will go more smoothly, without errors.

3) And most important note. You should never memorize a foreign word, and then its Russian translation. You need to do just the opposite. First read the Russian word. Then present its clear image, its specific meaning. Only after that you can read a foreign word and apply some special methods for memorizing it.

And be sure repetition. There are rational systems for repeating and entering information into long-term memory. It is important to know that the biggest drop in information occurs in the first 12 and 24 hours. Therefore, you need to repeat the words in the following mode. Learned - immediately repeated. Fixed all bugs. Then repeated after 20 minutes, 8 hours and after 24 hours. So the new vocabulary will remain in long-term memory.

It is important to learn words only from texts. The word must be active. Why does everything always have to be said out loud? Our susceptibility is immediately enhanced. Memory begins to work immediately through 3 channels: I see, I hear, I speak. So we learn to perceive the language by ear and speak at the same time. Cooking speech apparatus so that it can be used with ease. Gradually, we begin to better understand the psychology, rules and logic of constructing phrases, get used to how words are arranged in the form of a sentence, in what order.

Well, most of the Google tips turned out to be helpful. But note that it is still additional ways memorization, which should fall on a fairly clear methodology. Having taken up the development of a foreign language, you need to competently implement systematic work. Our expert told us how to build the right base. Everything else is additional funds. When we learn a foreign language, memorization of new words occurs constantly: while reading, listening, writing letters and essays.

Learn new words with fun! Be sure to try different techniques memories, find your own and combine them. Then progress will not be long in coming. And remember the main recommendation of our expert: “Speech in the target language should be heard daily!”

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

It would seem that a simple math problem from the fourth grade: if you learn 30-35 English words a day every day, How many English words can you learn in a month and a year?

Of course, you easily calculated: you can learn about a thousand English words in a month and, accordingly, 12,000 words in a year. Interesting, but what does experience and practice say?

As vocabulary is reduced , so are the number of feelings you can express, the number of events you can describe, the number of the things you can identify! Not only understanding is limited, but also experience. Man grows by language. Whenever he limits language he retrogresses!

As vocabulary shrinks, so does the number of feelings you can express, the number of events you can describe, the number of things you can name. Not only understanding is limited, but also experience. Man grows through language. Whenever he restricts language, he goes into decline.

~ Sheri S. Tepper

As practice shows, you can learn something, but keep it in active stock and will not be used regularly in speech. Words without practice and associative links are quickly forgotten, which the creators are silent about.

True, you always have a chance memorize a large number of English words- it all depends on the characteristics of memory and techniques for memorizing English words, which we will talk about today.

How to learn a lot of English words quickly

Learn English words- not such a difficult task as it might seem at first glance. Signing the names of unfamiliar words is one of effective methods for memorization.

Want to learn a lot of English words in a short time? The German scientist Ebinghaus found that with mechanical memorization, that is, when a person does not understand the meaning of the material and does not use mnemonics, after an hour only 44% of the information remains in memory, and after a week - less than 25%. Fortunately, with conscious memorization, information is forgotten much more slowly.

First of all, it is necessary to determine how it is easier for you to absorb new information: by ear, by sight or by writing down?

This will not take much time, but will greatly facilitate training and selection. efficient technician for you later. One of the tests that will help you determine how easy it is for you to remember new information is presented on this site. By answering 30 questions, you can know exactly what type you are.

In short, we recall that visuals easily memorize new words by seeing or reading, audials - by ear, and kinesthetics need to be in motion, for example, write down information on paper.

In the modern world, most people are dominated by a visual type of perception of new information. Remember how long annoying commercials seen on TV, or posters and banners that are full of city streets, are stored in our memory.

You also need to know that there are no 100% visuals or audials. But some channel is still dominant, and it is this channel that should be used if your goal is learn a lot of english words fast.

Visual method of memorizing English words

Characteristics and scheme of perception of information by visuals.

If you've read Martin Eden by Jack London, you probably remember that the protagonist taught a huge number of academic words, posting leaflets with new words at home.

visual method for memorizing English words is pasting all the objects that surround you with stickers with new words. How does the visual method work? You constantly come across an abundance of English words, read, memorize and, of course, use English words.

Purchase from the store or make your own cards with new words, translation, transcription, and even an example of use. It is convenient to take such cards with you if you have a long commute to work or constantly disappear in lines. They can be classically made on paper or downloaded to your phone.

On a note:

On the Internet you can find download apps for mobile phones which use a visual way to expand vocabulary. The most popular are Words, Easy Ten and Duolingo: Learn Languages ​​for Free.

Bright pictures with captions, memory simulators, verification tests that use these mobile applications will help you learn a lot of English words in a short time. And most importantly, they are always at hand!

If your level is not beginner (Pre-Intermediate and above), you can watch movies, shows and videos with and without subtitles, writing out not only new words, but also useful colloquial phrases.

English audio tutorials and podcasts

Characteristics and scheme of perception of information by auditory people.

If you belong to a rare category of people (about 10%) who love and remember with their ears, then this method is for you.

The main conditions for vocabulary expansion- constantly listen English speech, whether at home in the kitchen or in a car in a traffic jam. New words and expressions can be written down and repeated periodically.

With this method, you will not be afraid to listen to speech, and your listening skills will improve.

TPR method for expanding vocabulary

Characteristics and scheme of perception of information by kinesthetics.

The third type of perception of information, which includes kinesthetics, prefers movement to static learning. If you are a kinesthetic learner, don't forget to write down new words on paper. It is better if you have a diary dictionary that you can refer to from time to time.

Often used in teaching children TPR (Total Physical Response) method. But believe me, if you are a kinesthetic learner, this method is also for you: with its help, you can easily learn English words and phrases.

The essence of the method is to memorize new words, phrases and lexical constructions using gestures, command execution, pantomime and games. For example, on the word ball (ball) you need to perform an action associated with this subject, for example, a ball game.

Simple and effective ways to memorize English words

Mnemonics and memorization of English words

A good example of how mnemonics works.

One of the most effective ways to memorize English, and indeed foreign words, is mnemonics. The method of mnemonics (or mnemonics) is based on creating images in your mind. You take the information you need to remember and turn it into an image through association.

First you need to understand that the brain does not remember the images themselves that arise in the head, but links between multiple images. This is very important to remember, because right at the time of memorization, you need to focus on this.

Mnemonics actively develops memory and thinking. The main task is to create images that are connected in the imagination different ways. The images must be colored, large and detailed.

Learning English words with the help of mnemonics is incredibly easy! We select the most consonant word (or several words) from the native language to the foreign word.

How mnemonics works when memorizing English words, let's look at an example:

puddle ["pʌdl] puddle

Approximate pronunciation (phonetic association) - "bad"

Mnemonic model: "I kept falling and falling into a puddle" .

Examples of using mnemonics in teaching English:

If you are using mnemonics to expand vocabulary, it is important to remember that you need not only to link words together and express in the form of a sentence, but also to present specific situation in which it happens or is said.

For example, do not just say: "A nervous person is walking along a narrow alley," but imagine nervous person, you can your friend, who is walking, looking around and shuddering at every sound, along a narrow dark alley. In this case, you will definitely not forget this foreign word.

On a note:

An association or a bunch of words that has arisen is necessary only for 2-3 repetitions from memory in order to remember a foreign word and its translation. Then it disappears behind uselessness, so you don’t have to worry that any nonsense will be stored in your memory.

Undoubtedly, in order to quickly and efficiently memorize foreign words, you need to practice, find your own approach, learn how to create your own associations, and even quickly. The process of creating associations will be slow at first, but be patient and keep practicing. As a rule, the speed and quality of association creation improves after the first thousands of memorized words.

It remains to be added that with the help of this technique it is possible to memorize words of any foreign language .

Mind halls for expanding vocabulary in English

Many people use flashcards to remember new words, but these flashcards are not always at hand, especially at the right time.

There is a great way to memorize new words and expressions - this is the power of your mind. It is called Method of loci (locus method).

You can also see names such as “mind halls”, “memory palaces”, “method of loci”, “spatial mnemonics”, “method of Cicero”.

When Sherlock Holmes, the world-famous detective, wanted to remember something important, he closed his eyes and plunged into the halls of the mind ( ‘mind palace’). Like Sherlock Holmes, you can also use this Method of loci to memorize new words and expressions. How it looks visually you can see in the video.

Video “The Hound of the Baskervilles” - “mind palaces” by Sherlock Holmes.

How does the locus method work?

We're building an imaginary place imaginary place) in our mind and put things and people there that will help us remember new words. You can store images both on the shelves and randomly. The main thing is that you yourself know where everything is and can quickly remember. The best activators are either completely ridiculous or very logical. It's even better to mix and match.

Remember simple rules, which in no case should be violated in the process of creating a connection:

• Represent images large(even if the items to remember different sizes, make them one: be it a ship, a coconut or a bee. Small images should not be presented. Connections between such images will be recorded very poorly.
• The images must be voluminous. For example, holographic images or images created on 3D graphics programs. Such images can be rotated and viewed from different angles.
• Images must be submitted colored. If these are the leaves of trees, then they must be green, the tree itself - brown, etc.
• The images presented must be detailed. If you imagine the image of a “phone”, you need to mentally consider it and clearly see what parts the phone you represent consists of. If this cellular telephone, then you can select the following images in it: antenna, display, buttons, cover, strap, Leather Case, battery.

Then we apply the main mental operation in mnemonics - this is "connection of images". Let's look at how this is applied in the practice of learning English words.

Let's say we need to memorize the words associated with the word run, as well as its forms, so we will make up the following story in our minds: the imaginary setting of the city - the imaginary place is a city .

This is just a small example of how to memorize english words, connected with run, and its forms. Of course, you can add other phrases with this word, of which there are actually many, and as my imaginary city grows, I can use more and more words, and thereby expand my vocabulary.

More details about memorization technique "memory palace" you can learn more from the video:

Any imaginary place can be, even a room in your house, and you try to come up with a situation that will be close to you, and the words will be remembered much easier.

In this manner easy to learn words on different topics, such as “food”, “kitchen”, “clothing”, etc. Arrange the items however you like, and then it will be easier for you to remember the name of the item by its location in your "memory" palace.

And of course, develop deduction, attention to detail and creativity. Develop associative thinking.

Another tip applies to all "memory palaces", regardless of the purpose of their "construction". If you want to remember something for a long time (and not in the "passed - forgot" mode), you will have to periodically "walk" around the "palace".

Audiolingual Method in English

Automation of skills occurs in the process of training by repeated repetition of speech samples.

Audiolingual method- this is one of the methods of teaching a language, in which it is necessary to repeatedly listen and pronounce words, phrases and sentences, which leads to their automation.

This method has its pros and cons, but will suit mainly auditory speakers, since there is no visual support. The main focus here is on oral speech.

When using the audiolingual method, no explanations are given, since all the proposed material is simply practiced and memorized in the form of set expressions so that students can use them without hesitation in the future.

Training in this case is based on the development of some static models that students cannot change at all or almost at all. In this respect, this teaching method is the direct opposite of the communicative method.

let's consider positive and negative sides audiolingual method.

Positive sides

Negative sides

When developing this method, attention was focused not only on the content of the material offered to the student, but also on the very process of memorizing this material by the student. The very system of presenting new information and repeated repetitions lead to the inevitable memorization of the past. In the process of repetition, not only the memorization of the material takes place, but also the pronunciation is worked out, as well as the removal of the language barrier. Memorizing set expressions leads to the fact that, if necessary, they come to mind automatically, as when communicating in their native language.

The main disadvantage of the audiolingual method (not unreasonably) is that it does not pay due attention to the independent study of grammar. Pupils, especially at the initial stage of learning, are deprived of the opportunity to understand why the phrase is built this way and not otherwise, or why the word is used in one form and not in another. As they learn, students have to independently, on the basis of the material covered, build for themselves certain grammatical constructions. This undoubtedly contributes to a more solid assimilation of such constructions, but only if the student is able to construct them. And this is not always possible, since there are exceptions to the rules that can confuse a person who is not familiar with the basics of the grammar of the language being studied.

Tips on how to improve your English vocabulary?

By knowing many words, you will be able to express yourself in many different ways.

To replenish vocabulary, first of all, you need to systematically and regularly, preferably every day. There are many ways and they all work.

Choose the one that suits you best, and you can easily improve your English vocabulary. Let's take a closer look at each of them.

Expand your English vocabulary with lists

Words surround us. Just looking up words in a dictionary may not be as interesting or exciting. Pay attention to English words around you - during, series and programs on English language, reading the news - everywhere, anytime.

Important!

Regardless of whether you do it or not, we recommend that you write down what part of speech this or that word is (verb, noun, adjective), as well as derivatives of this word. For example, "fish" - fishing, fishy, ​​fisherman, etc. It will also be helpful if you add sentences with examples of these words.

You can also use the notepad on your mobile phone. As soon as you hear an unfamiliar word, write it down. Make sure you have enough free space around it to make appropriate notes.

When you have free time, write down its meaning or translation, and possibly the context in which it can be used.

Learn English words by practice

As you make word lists, it is very easy to forget the words that were at the very beginning. All words are required use in your speech. The more we use them, the better we remember them.

Reread your lists, for example, at the end of each week. How well do you remember old words?

If any words are hard to remember, but they are very common, it is likely that you will meet them in the future. Therefore, add them again to new lists and over time you will remember them.

Games will help memorize English words

Scrabble is an effective way to learn English words and have fun with family and friends.

Who said learning new words is not fun?! Games like Scrabble or Vocabador offer great ways to learn new words .

Games are a great way to learn, not only because they're fun, but also because they give you context for new words. Believe me, you will very quickly remember the word that your friend was laughing at.

We also want to draw your attention free game Free Rice. This game gives you a word, and you need to find the right definition for it. If you answer incorrectly, the next word will become easier. If it's correct, it's harder.

By playing this game, you not only improve your vocabulary but also help the world in the fight against hunger. How? Try to play it!

Increase English vocabulary with context

As mentioned earlier, it's better (and easier) memorize new words in context. One way is to write a sentence with this word. You will not only memorize this word, but you can easily use it in a conversation.

Another way - memorize words in groups. If you want to remember a word humongous (very large), it will be easier for you to remember it from a chain of words: getting bigger and bigger-large, huge, humongous. It also makes it possible to memorize more words at a time.

For example, large, humongous, gargantuan. What do you think the word means gargantuan?

Dictionaries and social networks for memorizing words

Of course, you can look up an unfamiliar word in the dictionary! Especially since modern online dictionaries offer many additional options.

Many online dictionaries have interesting articles, games, and also a word of the day section.

And if you feel confident that you can read literature in the original language, check out the article.

Sites for learning English words

Below you will find best sites to increase and practice vocabulary which can be of maximum benefit to you.

Business English Site

BusinessEnglishSite - site for learning business vocabulary

This is one of the best and most popular sites to study. Here you can replenish the vocabulary useful phrases, expressions and even business jargon.

All words are divided into topics, for example, "Accounting", "Project Management", "IT" etc.

For each topic there are exercises to consolidate, which train not only vocabulary, but also grammar.

Blair English

With Blair English you can learn English words from scratch

All exercises and lessons on this site have been specially designed to increase and enrich your English vocabulary .

Here you will find over 190 free interactive exercises on various themes, such as the IT-technology, Business, Communication and many others.

Also on the site there is a database of exercises to improve listening and pronunciation skills.

Lingualeo

Lingualeo - word practice resource

A very famous interactive resource that is interesting not only for children. It helps make language learning fun and visual, and also contains unlimited number of words for different levels.

To feed the lion cub and get a new portion of words, registration is required.

british council

British Council - The most British way to learn words

The British Council website has not left us without the practice of truly British phrases, idioms and expressions. You can also learn a few new words a day there.

Words filtered out by topic and level, which makes navigation extremely convenient, and the process of cramming English words - an exciting experience.

For teachers, there are lesson plans for various levels with handouts.

Test Your Vocabulary

On this site, you can not with 100% probability, but at least approximately understand what kind of vocabulary you have and what you need to improve.

The test interface in English is simple. The site is designed for users who study English or even are native speakers.

By ticking the words you know the translation of and answering a few questions about yourself, you will very likely know how many english words is in your active supply.

Instead of a conclusion

As you can see, there are plenty of methods and resources to enrich your vocabulary in various fields. The most important thing is to constantly work on it, and here everything depends on you. Daily work then it will be paid in full when you communicate with English speakers without any problems.

In contact with

Luca Lampariello

Italian polyglot. Knows 11 languages, among them - German, Russian, Polish, Northern Chinese. Lampariello became famous person in the language learning community. Currently lives in Rome.

Association search is the process by which new information is linked to existing knowledge.

One piece of information can have thousands of associations with memories, emotions, experiences and individual facts. This process occurs naturally in the brain, but we can take it under conscious control.

To do this, let's return to the above-mentioned words: "gene", "cell", "synapse", "skeleton" ... If we memorize them separately, we will soon forget everything. But if we learn these words in the context of a sentence, it will be much easier for us to put them together in our mind. Think about it for 10 seconds and try to connect these four words.

You might end up with something similar: "Genes influence the development of elements as diverse as the skeleton, brain synapses, and even individual cells." All four words are now united by a common context - like pieces in a puzzle.

Approach these exercises progressively. First, try to combine groups of words that are united by a certain topic like physics or politics. Then try to build more complex associations between unrelated words. With practice, you will get better and better.

3. Repetition

More than a hundred years ago, the German physicist Ebbinghaus came to the conclusion that we forget information according to a certain pattern, which he called the "forgetting curve". We perfectly remember everything that we have recently learned. But this same information disappears from memory in a matter of days.

Ebbinghaus discovered a mechanism to combat this phenomenon.

If new information is repeated at precise intervals, it will become increasingly difficult to forget it. After a few spaced repetitions, it will be fixed in long-term memory and, most likely, will remain in the head forever.

You need to regularly review old information while working with new information.

4. Recording

The ancient Romans said: "Words fly away, the written remains." That is, in order to remember information, you need to fix it in a permanent format. As you learn new words, write them down or type on the keyboard so you can save them and come back to them later.

When you come across a new useful word or phrase while talking, watching a movie, or reading a book, write it down on your smartphone or laptop. Thus, you will be able to repeat recorded at any opportunity.

5. Application

Use what you learn in meaningful conversations. This is the essence of the last of the basic methods of effective word learning.

University of Montreal researchers Victor Boucher and Alexis Lafleur found Honor Whiteman. Repeating words aloud to another person increases memory recall. that using words in conversation is more effective in terms of memorization than saying them out loud to yourself.

In other words, the more you communicate with other people, the better your linguistic memory works and the faster your level of language proficiency grows. Therefore, always use the learned material in real conversations. This method will greatly improve your skills and give you experience in using new and long-learned words.

Suppose you have read an article on a topic that interests you. You can choose unfamiliar words from it and apply them later in a short conversation with a language partner. You can mark and learn key words, and then retell the content of the article with their help. See how well you learn the material after the conversation.

The human brain is designed in such a way that it is much easier for him to remember something familiar or associated with something already familiar. Otherwise, any foreign word will be perceived as a kind of "abracadabra", which, of course, can be remembered, but this is much more difficult to do. To facilitate the process of memorizing foreign words, we use some tricks to make the words of a foreign language more familiar and "make friends" with them.

Find similarity

In every language there are a number of words that resemble the words of their native language. The closer the languages ​​are, the higher the percentage of such words will naturally be, which will facilitate the assimilation of foreign vocabulary. Similar words can be divided into several groups.

native language words. So, for languages ​​that are based on the so-called Indo-European proto-language (and this is English, and German, and French, and other languages ​​\u200b\u200bof Eastern and Western Europe) it is quite easy to find words that sound similar and have a common or very close meaning. As a rule, this is the name of family members (cf. Russian “brother” and English “brother” are words identical in meaning; Russian “uncle” and English “daddy” (daddy) are words different in meaning, but denoting close male relatives) . Also, these words include natural phenomena(Russian "snow" - English "snow"), human actions (Russian "beat" - English "beat"), other words that have ancient primordial roots.

Words borrowed from Russian. Of course, in German and French, such words are most common. But, remembering these words, you need to be careful, because. the meanings of a Russian and a foreign word can either partially coincide (English "character" is translated into Russian not only as "character", but also as "character"), or not coincide at all (English "original" - Russian "original"). Although in the latter case the logic of borrowing similar words, it is easy to find associations that allow you to remember correct value foreign term.

Actually international words. As a rule, these are scientific terms, as well as the designations of instruments, professions, etc., which were borrowed from or Greek by both Russian and, for example, other European languages. The words "philosophy", "television" are understandable without translation.

come up with associations

If a foreign word does not resemble Russian in any way, memory can be "deceived" in order to learn it faster and better. To do this, you need to find your own, bright and witty associations that will be inextricably linked for you with this word and help you quickly restore it to memory if necessary.

This method, for example, is actively used by A. Dragunkin, known for his method of quickly learning a foreign language. So, to memorize the English "he" (he) and "she" (she), Dragunkin uses such a cheerful association: "He is Frail, and she is chic."

Just memorize

And, finally, there is no getting away from simple mechanical learning of foreign words. To speed up this process, words must be repeated as often as possible at the stage of their initial assimilation.

The following technique helps many: there are several words with transcription on the card. A person carries a card with him throughout the day, periodically looking into it and pronouncing new words for himself. As a rule, after 20-30 repetitions, the words are firmly entered into the passive vocabulary. But in order to introduce new lexical units into the active dictionary, it is necessary to use them as often as possible in speech.

We learn a lot of words. Beginners work on Gunnemark's Minilex, while those who continue work on various lists of irregular verbs, special vocabulary, etc.

We are faced with the task of mastering a sufficiently large amount of words in 7 days, and an even more important task is to find the most effective way to memorize words for each of the participants.

Step 1.

First you need to figure out exactly how you best perceive information. There is a small but very important checklist for this. If you are an auditory person, then the “read the notebook” method will work much worse for you than the “listen to the list of words to the text” method. And you can not even think about it and long and hard, until the bitter end and feeling your own worthlessness, look into this stupid notebook and not understand why nothing is remembered!

All you need to do is figure out what works for you personally. The checklist will come to your mail if you send your email to the cat (see the cat on the side :))

Step 2. Ways to memorize words

Traditional Methods

1. Yartsev method (visuals)

In fact, of course, this method appeared long before Vitaly Viktorovich, but it was thanks to V.V. Yartsev that he appeared in my life, and this is a very cool method for lazy people like me (visuals), so in this article I start from him and call him that :)

We take a notebook. We write out in 2 (3) columns the word - translation. We give a number of synonyms \ antonyms \ examples.

From time to time we read lists, we just read, we don’t crammed anything.

I don't know how it works, but I didn't learn German from this teacher, I just read a notebook from time to time. He did not arrange dictations, he never checked us against the lists. And I still, after many years, remember a bunch of words.

Those. it turns out that you don’t strain yourself, don’t try to pour 100 words into yourself in 30 minutes, you just systematically refresh the material from time to time. But you should immediately warn that these words should be found in textbooks, articles, i.e. you must, in addition to reading the notebook, somehow activate them.

2. Card method

The second popular way. We take and cut a bunch of cards or buy square blocks of note paper. On one side we write the word, on the other - the translation. For advanced users, we indicate examples. We drive the cards in a circle, putting aside those that we know well. From time to time we repeat the past, in order to refresh.

Of the minuses - if there are a lot of words and little time, you will spend a lot of time creating the cards themselves.

For fun, you can sort them into piles of 10 pieces. different places apartments, from time to time to stumble upon them and repeat.

Audials to this method must necessarily add speaking aloud.

Cards are great for children, this can be turned into an interesting game.

3. Method of prescribing

A classic of the genre :) You take a word and write it down many, many times. Works great for Chinese characters(I’ll tell you about how to learn hieroglyphs more effectively below). Minus - melancholy green. But the method has been tested for centuries.

4. Half page method

This is one of my favorite ways. You bend the sheet in half, write the word on one side, and the translation on the other side. You can check yourself quickly. For me, as a visual, it works well, because. I easily remember in which part of the sheet a given word was written.

Minus - you get used to a certain word order. (but that's part of the plus :)

5. Method "Interior Designer"

If you learn some specific vocabulary that surrounds you, you can make original “labels” everywhere - stick stickers with the names of objects. Also, you can stick on the monitor the most nasty words that do not want to be remembered. Plus, this method is fun :) Minus - the brain can start to ignore all these pieces of paper, and then they will hang somewhere for a long time.

Optimization methods

6. Method of grouping by grammatical features

If you have a large list of words, the worst thing you can do with it is learn it randomly.

It can and should be processed and grouped.

For example, first you write out verbs, and you write them out not in a row, but group them according to the type of endings, or you write out nouns male, then female.

Thus, since most of the words we do not apply to exceptions (you group exceptions separately), you begin to see the logic of the language and memorize words in conjunction with similar ones.

7. Meaningful grouping method

You write out and memorize the word and its synonym / antonym at once. This is true for both beginners and advanced.

So you learned the word “good”, find out right away how it will be “bad”. And if you still remember “excellent, so-so, disgusting”, then you will greatly enrich your vocabulary.

8. Method for learning the same root words (for fans)

We take words and group them around the root. Those. conditional "deed \ do \ done" and learn several single-root parts of speech at once.

Be sure to watch the lecture by Professor Argüelles on the topic of word families, he just tells you how much and what you need to know for complete happiness.

9. Etymological method: my favorite (another lazy way)

Works for those who have learned several languages ​​:)

When you study several languages ​​within the same language branch, you start to see similar roots. It actually comes with experience and there is no need again learn a lot of words. At a certain stage, you just already know enough :) And if I understand that this word does not categorically tell me anything, I climb into the etymological dictionary and get to the bottom of where it came from. While I do this, I remember it. (Well, it is remembered simply from the fact that it was not recognized and attracted attention)

The bonus of learning different languages ​​is that each next one learns faster, unless, of course, you take something completely unfamiliar.

10. Chains of words

You take a list of words that you need to learn, and make up a story (even if it’s crazy) from them.

That. you learn not 30 words, but 5 sentences of 6 words each. If you approach this matter creatively, you can have a useful and exciting time :)

Methods for non-lovers of old-fashioned methods :)

11. Spaced Repetition (spaced repetitions): memory retention technique, which consists in repeating the memorized educational material at fixed, ever-increasing intervals.

Those. in fact, you install an application on your phone, and there the program will automatically show you the words in the specified order and with the desired frequency. You can use like ready lists words, and create your own.

Pros: capitally crashes into memory

Cons: takes a lot of time. If you have already memorized the word, it will still pop up from time to time in some programs.

My personal attitude: played, but not imbued. But it's a useful thing. I definitely recommend it to fans of games on the phone, so you will at least spend your time with benefit :)

The most popular program for this method - Anki

I personally liked Memrise more than Anki, simply because it's more fun and it has a super rating! You can also choose pre-made lists of words or create your own. If the word is categorically not remembered, you can use special funny pictures that users create using mnemonics, or you can upload your own.

Be sure to try both programs, choose the one you like more and try Spaced Repetition. In fact, a good thing and helps a lot of people.

And here you can create your own lists and generate different ways word checks (tests, choose correct option, spell, etc., etc.) Good way test yourself in a playful way for fans of different tests.

"Magic" Methods

Magic methods are very fond of luring various marketers and language gurus. Usually the essence of the methods lies in the "secret techniques of the special services", which, well, objectively, are described in a pile of literature. And they ask for unhealthy sums of money.

Mnemonics is one of the most popular methods.

14. Mnemonics

The essence of the method is to come up with funny and absurd associations to a word that you can’t remember in any way.

You take the floor and come up with some kind of associative image, which should be very bright. But in this image there should be a “key” to the memorized word.

An example (stolen from the Internet :)) " grief ":
"woe to the wounded tiger, (vultures) are circling over him"

Subjectively: you need to train and get used to it before it starts to work out. But those who use it achieve great success. A good example is our 16-year-old Alenka, who is going to take HSK6 next month ( highest level Chinese). She uses it. She tells how she works on the language, and you can look at her notes)

Alena recommends reading the book "Einstein Walks on the Moon" by Joshua Foer.

The Memrise app has the ability to create your own "Mems" and use the associations of others. I highly recommend this option to those who cannot remember difficult words :)

15 - tactics " stressed syllable”(you can read more about it (English), the essence of the method is that you come up with an association specifically for the stressed syllable in the word)

For auditory

Rule number 1 for you - always say out loud what you are learning. If you use cards, speak up. If you are reading a list, read it out loud. Listen to the words, for you this is the most fast way remember them! Naturally, you will have to write them down, but things will go faster than if you just read them and wrote silently.

16. Listening to words

You can put audio recordings of word lists and repeat after the announcer. Usually in good textbooks A well-read list of words is given for the lesson. This is your #1 tool.

Also, you can listen to high-quality podcasts, in which there is a detailed analysis of the dialogues. Our podcast recommendations for different languages you can find in the section

Important Tricks (for everyone!)

19. Learn words in context

Don't just learn the list. Here is Minilex, and it starts with the word "without". Immediately after “without” comes “safe”, and then “worry” and “ticket”. If you look at the list of the most frequent words in Chinese, the particle 的 will generally come first, which is a syntactic function word and has no meaning of its own!

Always learn words in context, choose examples and phrases. Work with a dictionary!

20. Memorize Dialogues

Memorizing small dialogues and texts with useful vocabulary by heart - one of surest ways the fact that you remember at the right time and correctly use the word in the context you need.

Yes, it will take more effort and time, but in the long run you will have a set of ready-made structures in your head that you will be happy to use.

21. Ask someone to check on you.

Take your husband / mother / child / friend and ask them to drive you along the list. Of course, you will not be graded, but an element of control and discipline will appear.

22. Learn what is really needed.

In one of my textbooks, the word "hoe" appeared in the vocabulary before the words "short and long" appeared. Do not learn hoes and any unnecessary garbage until such time as you learn really relevant and essential vocabulary.

How to determine relevance? There are many tutorials and lists from the 1000 Most Common Words series. First we learn frequency, then - hoes, not before. If you have not yet learned to count and do not know pronouns, it is too early for you to learn colors, no matter how much you want to. First important, then interesting, then complex and necessary for some reason.

(Future translators, this does not apply to you, you need everything. It was somehow useful for me to know the term “drawer drawer” in Chinese, although who would have thought:) If you are a translator, you must know a lot of different vocabulary.

23. Get creative!

If everything infuriates you, words do not fit into your head and you want to quickly close these lists, experiment. Drawings help someone, someone walks around the apartment and recites aloud, someone communicates with his cat. If you see something that interests you, do not be lazy to look into the dictionary. Be interested in what interests you. Don't dwell on methods that don't work. In general, be as creative as possible!

And everything will definitely work :)