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Learning Vocab without Studying Vocab | ||
Tags: Vocabulary learning | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Amun Triglot Groupie Netherlands Joined 4878 days ago 52 posts - 72 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, English, French Studies: Spanish | Message 17 of 67 17 July 2013 at 5:05pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
In my case, I use monolingual learner's dictionaries for definitions and a few example sentences (good for understanding register usage). However, I would only advise to do this when one gets to about a B1 level. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4648 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 18 of 67 17 July 2013 at 6:54pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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A word about Gold Lists: To my mind, this is the nearest thing to learning vocabulary
without learning. You come across a word. You look up or by whatever means find a definition. You write it down. Then you leave it for at least 2 weeks. When you come to "review" those words (which can actually be a long time later if you wish, or if you forgot about your list), you only write down the words you don't know. The point is that you make no effort to memorise them whatsoever. If you tried to consciously memorise them (according to Huliganov), this would be counterproductive to the philosophy behind the method, which is essentially to learn them "naturally" in your long-term memory. ... Goldlist Method 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6417 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 19 of 67 17 July 2013 at 10:49pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Hmm. I use SRS for things I either love insanely, or find awesome from a linguistic point of view (quirky expression, irregular form etc). If both factors are present, a lesser extent is enough.
I also look up words when I'm about to use them, and while reading intensively, but not much otherwise (I do love google images!!!). But I read intensively the things I find worth SRS'ing. I don't know where I am according to your criteria but I certainly feel close to iguanamon. In my opinion, making AMAZING cards is the best compromise between the SRS boredom you want to avoid and the large amount of reading that you don't have the time for. It's not that hard. Just do *some* reading and choose the most awesome bits from it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4648 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 20 of 67 17 July 2013 at 11:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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The google images idea is interesting, and one I would not have thought of myself.
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| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5082 days ago 2237 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 21 of 67 18 July 2013 at 12:35am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I forgot to include examples. Here's an example of a search for the Portuguese verb caminhar. Can you guess what it means from these images? How about the Danish word mønter? It won't work all the time but it will work a lot of the time. It will work better if you use a country specific Google. A dictionary look-up, in addition, helps me to solidify the word or concept, but often times it isn't needed. Edited by iguanamon on 18 July 2013 at 12:40am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| kujichagulia Senior Member Japan Joined 4667 days ago 1031 posts - 1571 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Portuguese | Message 22 of 67 18 July 2013 at 2:13am | IP Logged | ||||||||
OK, then I was the one who misunderstood. I assumed that you were using sentences to learn vocabulary. I shouldn't assume, because you know what happens when you assume... So I apologize. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| kujichagulia Senior Member Japan Joined 4667 days ago 1031 posts - 1571 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Portuguese | Message 23 of 67 18 July 2013 at 2:41am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Sorry for posting twice in a row, but I've been reading iguanamon's post a number of times, because it is well-written and very informative, and I have some questions.
iguanamon, I love the idea of using Google Images, because I do think that I am an audiovisual learner, but I haven't yet found a way for it to work for me. So basically you are saying that you enter a word in Google Images, look at the pictures, visualize and internalize the word and images, and that's it? It sticks in your mind? I clicked on the link that you gave for "caminhar", and yes, I got the meaning instantly. I will remember what "caminhar" means for the next few days, maybe even the next few weeks, without even trying. But what happens long-term? Will I remember "caminhar" a month from now? Three months? A year? Or will I come across it again three months from now and have no idea what it means, look it up again, and go through the same process over and over until it sticks? Please, if you think I'm being crazy or irrational, or if you think I'm wrong, or whatever, let me know! Criticize me, yell at me, slap me in the face, or whatever. I can take criticism. I'm a man! I'm 35! (Sorry, I think you would only understand that if you follow American sports. Otherwise, look at this video.) I think doing what I just said two paragraphs ago is fine and dandy if you want to learn the way a child does, or if you are in no rush to learn a language, or you want to learn a language "naturally". I do believe that repeated lookups in a dictionary or Google Images, or using pop-up dictionaries, help to effectively move a word from short-term to long-term memory. But if you want to move faster than that, as I do with Japanese, I'm thinking that you need a system to move vocabulary from short-term to long-term in an accelerated way. This is where things like paper flashcards, SRS, Iversen's wordlists, the Goldlist method, or simply reviewing your notes in a notebook every few months come into play. Of course, this thread started because of my recent boredom with Anki, and my curiosity about just sitting back and enjoying the language, because that seems to appeal to me. Just read a lot, or watch a lot of TV, and let the language come to you. Perhaps the benefit of "taking it easy" with my studies would be less stress and more sanity, but the cost would be learning things at a much slower pace. I guess that is the question for my situation. Do I... (a) ...take the more stress-free option and be more at peace, while learning at a slower rate? Or... (b) ...stick with something that might be boring in the short-term, but the payoff will come faster? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| mike245 Triglot Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 6792 days ago 303 posts - 408 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Cantonese Studies: French, German, Mandarin, Khmer | Message 24 of 67 18 July 2013 at 4:39am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Notwithstanding my previous post, I would vote for option (a). It sounds like you need a
break from focused vocabulary studying, even if just temporary. If the method feels like a drag, then the likelihood of increased efficiency will just be outweighed by the potential for burn out. You could use that extra time to work on your listening comprehension or get more comfortable with grammar or something else. However, maybe there is room for an option (c) where you scale back on vocabulary study without eliminating it completely. Perhaps stop adding new cards or only add vocabulary that you feel you will really need and use? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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