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When the words remind you nothing... | ||
Tags: Memory | Vocabulary learning | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| prz_ Tetraglot Senior Member Poland last.fm/user/prz_rul Joined 4794 days ago 890 posts - 1190 votes  Speaks: Polish*, English, Bulgarian, Croatian Studies: Slovenian, Macedonian, Persian, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Dutch, Swedish, German, Italian, Armenian, Kurdish | Message 1 of 8 13 August 2011 at 12:21am | IP Logged | |||||
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Everyone knows that while learning vocabulary it's good to link the new ones with the words from our mother tongue (and not only) to memorize them better. It's easy - German schrecklich we colligate with Shrek, Indonesian cinta with cent etc.
But my question is - what to do, when some words remind you NOTHING you've known/learned before? Do you have any working method for such situations? 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5255 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 2 of 8 13 August 2011 at 12:40am | IP Logged | |||||
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Have you tried the linkword method? Here's another example.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| amethyst32 Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5584 days ago 118 posts - 198 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, French | Message 3 of 8 14 August 2011 at 11:56am | IP Logged | |||||
That's was my problem with this method and others like it. They're meant to be fun and easy, but in my view they don't work well mainly because of this problem you describe. The way I got over it was to recognize that this is precisely the limitation of these types of methods, and that it was, on the whole, easier and faster to learn vocabulary through exposure. Edited by amethyst32 on 14 August 2011 at 11:57am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| zonius Triglot Newbie Israel Joined 4997 days ago 12 posts - 15 votes Speaks: Russian*, English, Modern Hebrew Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 4 of 8 14 August 2011 at 12:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
Try to split the target word in two, see if the halves remind you of some familiar words. Use other languages - the halves of the target word can remind you of words in different languages. Maybe see if you can associate the beginning of the target word with something (it'll trigger the memory and the end of the word will hopefully also spring to mind) Anyway, when it's very difficult to come up with a memorable association, consider learning this word by rote memorization - it might be actually easier in some cases. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5946 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 5 of 8 14 August 2011 at 5:07pm | IP Logged | |||||
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In general, with completely "foreign" words, I like to learn the root form and the affixes that make a particular form.
I wouldn't want to learn (for example) "campanology" without knowing that "-ology" was the study or art of something. Once you reduce things to roots and affixes, they get easier to remember. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| fiziwig Senior Member United States Joined 4800 days ago 297 posts - 618 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 6 of 8 14 August 2011 at 6:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I learn strange new words just by putting them into a sentence, or preferably three or four sentences, and using those sentences as practice drill for my pronunciation. I learn what it means by "feeling" the meaning in a context and I don't even try to link it to a word in my native language.
Of course everyone needs to find what works best for them. --gary 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 7 of 8 15 August 2011 at 12:50am | IP Logged | |||||
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Are there other related words in the target language that can point you towards the meaning, or maybe a short definition that can remind you of it's meaning? What about using a sentence? Sometimes hard to translate words are easier to understand when you see them in a sentence... Sometimes if I can't find a good way to define or translate something, I'll just try to come up with a mental image of the sort of situation/feeling that the word gives. Sometimes it starts as just a vague feeling that becomes clearer over time as I grow to know the word better.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| pesahson Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5663 days ago 448 posts - 840 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 8 of 8 28 August 2011 at 2:16pm | IP Logged | |||||
The limitations lie in one's imagination not the method. Some words might not seem that easy but they're exceptions. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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