|
 |
From mnemonics to actual usage of vocab | ||
Tags: Vocabulary learning | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Jedidiah Newbie United States Joined 4754 days ago 5 posts - 6 votes | Message 1 of 21 15 September 2011 at 5:48pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Mnemonics is good for learning the words by themselves, but it’s a bit difficult when I
try to begin actually using/applying them in sentences. For example, let’s say that I memorized the word “kurou(苦労)” in Japanese, using the mnemonic “crow.” A mnemonic sentence I would have made would be something like: “CROW goes through HARDSHIPS looking for food.” As a result of having made this sentence, and having learned that the word CROW (kurou) means “hardships,” I should be set to go. But the problem is, when I see the word “kurou” in a sentence, it doesn’t immediately occur to me that it means “hardships.” When I see just the word CROW (e.g., on a flash card by itself), I’m fine; I immediately think “hardships.” But when I see it in a sentence (i.e., on a magazine, etc.), it escapes me. Sometimes, I don’t even realize that I had learned that word. Other times when I do recognize the word, I don’t immediately think of just the meaning “hardships,” but I must first think on the mnemonic sentence or phrase. THEN I realize, “Oh yeah, it means “hardships.” Am I not supposed to think “hardships” immediately instead of going through this 2-step process? Am I the only one doing this? Or is it supposed to be a 2-step process? If it’s supposed to be just one-step, what am I doing wrong here? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5316 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes  Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 2 of 21 15 September 2011 at 5:58pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I always wonder, when people say they've learned 10,000 words or whatever through SRS, if they didn't just fool themselves into thinking that they did because they can recall the words in the SRS or mnemonics context only.
I suppose there needs to be an extra step after remembering the mnemonics, namely to take the word and start using it right away in actual sentences. Inevitably, though, if you go through a lot of words that way, you just won't have time to do it for all of them. Then again, I'm not the best person to be talking about this, since I don't use mnemonics myself. I just use the word and if I forget it, it will come up again if it mattered and I'll eventually learn it. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4844 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 3 of 21 15 September 2011 at 6:39pm | IP Logged | ||
|
When I learn vocab with cards or lists, I almost inevitably fail to remember them on the first few occasions I encounter them in other contexts. But after running into them a few times, I guess the word moves from the "card only" folder in my brain into general knowledge. Edited by Jeffers on 15 September 2011 at 6:39pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| starrye Senior Member United States Joined 5029 days ago 172 posts - 280 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 4 of 21 15 September 2011 at 8:06pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I think that is normal and just means you need more practice with the word. It's in your passive memory, but you don't yet fully own it. You need to practice reading it, hearing it, using it, etc.... in context.
If you are specifically having a hard time recognizing it when you are reading, then I would suggest using mnemonics that associate more with the kanji. 苦（く）=pain, anguish, trouble 労（ろう）=labor, toil This one is easy if you know the kanji- 苦労= painful + labor= hardship This isn't really a mnemonic per se, but think of 苦しい + 労働, 労務, etc... picture a man (he's an unskilled blue collar worker) toiling away doing manual labor in the hot sun, going through hardships to feed his family, and make ends meet, etc... A mnemonic like this gives you hooks into a bunch of other words that use the same kanji. CROW is a bit difficult as a mnemonic because it's relating to sound only, and relating back to the English written word. So when you see the kanji written, you're missing a link with your visual memory. You should be associating these sounds back to the kanji....and with other Japanese words you already know well. Also, I think that mnemonics are best left unwritten. They should be relatively easy to recall and easy to discard. If you are making flash cards with mnemonics written on them, then I think that might be counterproductive. If a mnemonic doesn't pop into your mind effortlessly, it's not doing it's job. Edited by starrye on 15 September 2011 at 8:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| learnvietnamese Diglot Groupie Singapore yourvietnamese.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4884 days ago 98 posts - 132 votes Speaks: Vietnamese*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 5 of 21 16 September 2011 at 9:22am | IP Logged | ||
I share Jeffers' point. It appears to me that words well-memorised through SRS are already "there". When we use/see them in practice, this would help create more paths to the words, which I guess would kind of make the words "fully activated". 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Andrew Coach Diglot Newbie AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4740 days ago 17 posts - 18 votes Speaks: English, Hungarian | Message 6 of 21 03 October 2011 at 3:07am | IP Logged | ||
|
Many language learners spend countless hours trying to remember vocab, with minimal results. The reasons for
this are many. I will give 3 here: 1. They used translation....a notoriously poor method to learn languages as each language has its own area in the brain...etc. No need to place it in the new language, think in the new language, etc 2. Active memory is formed through forming many links.... so put words into sentences that are full of meaning for you - eg I used my ERASER yesterday to rub out a word from my letter to my teacher, as it was wrong The more personal it is, and the clearer the better it is, as you are forced to think about your life AND forced to think in the target language AND forced to write in the target language AND forced to think about how to use this word...etc etc 3. The more sentences you write, the more you cement it into your working memory. This might seem slow to begin with, but it's like any skill. Practice it and you will get better and better and eventually you'll be amazed at how well you retain new vocabulary. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5701 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 7 of 21 03 October 2011 at 4:34am | IP Logged | ||
|
Add sample sentences. Add memories of the times you encountered the word. Think about its meaning, and what it may mean to native speakers to say it in a certain context. 苦労 isn't just "another way to say hardships, in that other language", it's a concept of its own which can often be translated as "hardships" "effort" or "hard work".
And then read more, and listen. And talk and write, but have it corrected by people who know what they're doing. Vocabulary, like any other part of a language, isn't something you memorize once and then you know it perfectly - you're going to fine-tune it for the rest of your life. Take green and blue. In German, they're called grün and blau. Obviously cognates, and obviously referring to the same concepts. Or are they? Some time ago I read a study that showed that native English and native German speakers treated shades of turqoise differently, one group saying they were green and the other they were blue. (I can't find the paper atm.) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jean-luc Senior Member France Joined 4895 days ago 100 posts - 150 votes Speaks: French* Studies: German | Message 8 of 21 03 October 2011 at 10:13am | IP Logged | ||
Except young children or people which can afford to spend years without understanding a word, is there anyone who had learnt a language without using translation ? 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
