Mariotkd Triglot Newbie PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5760 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, Russian Studies: Spanish
| Message 1 of 12 23 March 2009 at 10:47pm | IP Logged |
Since the beginning of this year I've learnt about 1500 words in Spanish, in one of those computer programs where you make repetitions every day. I took me much time, especially that I supported the method by writing flashcards which helped me to refresh the words. Anyway, it's obvious that this vocabulary is passive, I wouldn't use it in speech now nor would I be able to remember their meaning while listening to some fast speech. Any ideas how can I make them active? Is writing several essays with these words a good idea? Then I could record them and listen to many times. How do you activate your new learnt words?
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CaoMei513 Senior Member United States Joined 6787 days ago 110 posts - 113 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, Korean
| Message 2 of 12 24 March 2009 at 1:52am | IP Logged |
Use them.
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dmg Diglot Senior Member Canada dgryski.blogspot.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6953 days ago 555 posts - 605 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Dutch, Esperanto
| Message 3 of 12 24 March 2009 at 1:56am | IP Logged |
For me, I find that I need to see the word a couple times in totally difference contexts before it "sticks" and becomes active for me.
So, I might have a word in my flash card program that I can see and instantly recognize the meaning of, but until I'm reading a newspaper or listening to an interview on the radio and come across that word actually being used by somebody, it just won't somehow click for me.
So, if you're like me, I'd say at this point you need to start getting input and looking for your new words outside of your safety of your artificial learning environment and go hunt them "in the wild" :)
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.automne Diglot Groupie Norway Joined 5770 days ago 56 posts - 57 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: French
| Message 4 of 12 24 March 2009 at 2:17pm | IP Logged |
dmg wrote:
For me, I find that I need to see the word a couple times in totally difference contexts before it "sticks" and becomes active for me.
So, I might have a word in my flash card program that I can see and instantly recognize the meaning of, but until I'm reading a newspaper or listening to an interview on the radio and come across that word actually being used by somebody, it just won't somehow click for me. |
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Same here. I started out trying to memorize word lists, but I have largely abandonded this method. It's boring and not very effective.
Unprofessional opinion incoming, but here goes: Reading is great for accumulating a passive vocabulary (context really is important), while writing (or speaking if you're lucky enough to find an interlocutor) is probably best for improving your active vocabulary.
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Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6381 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese
| Message 5 of 12 24 March 2009 at 2:35pm | IP Logged |
.automne wrote:
Unprofessional opinion incoming, but here goes: Reading is great for accumulating a passive vocabulary (context really is important), while writing (or speaking if you're lucky enough to find an interlocutor) is probably best for improving your active vocabulary. |
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Sort of. I find that if I need to look up a word to write it, I simply don't use it as well - I don't have a proper feeling for it, its connotations, etc, and may well use it incorrectly. This is true both in my native English, and in other languages.
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William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6214 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French
| Message 6 of 12 24 March 2009 at 5:33pm | IP Logged |
Some people keep diaries or journals in the L2, as a way of using it, which can also be a useful code.
Sometimes I put words and phrases into Google, to see them in context and also get a rough idea of how common they are.
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Mariotkd Triglot Newbie PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5760 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, Russian Studies: Spanish
| Message 7 of 12 25 March 2009 at 10:59am | IP Logged |
Thanks for the answers. Actually I was thinking about looking for sentences using the words on google, on some official sites of course. That may help. Hunting for the words is also effective, but it takes some time to encounter all of the words you are expecting to read/hear:)
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Toufik18 Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Algeria Joined 5686 days ago 188 posts - 202 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written)*, Arabic (classical)*, French, English
| Message 8 of 12 01 April 2009 at 3:09pm | IP Logged |
My methode is to write your own sentences (3 is enough) with the inclusion of the word in different context for each sentence, that way you'll find yourself using them in your speech without thinking about them.
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