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How to memorize new vocabulary?

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phonology
Groupie
Peru
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 Message 1 of 6
03 November 2014 at 8:47am | IP Logged 
Hello I am a student of English

What first memorize the words or pronunciation?


Edited by phonology on 03 November 2014 at 8:54am

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Serpent
Octoglot
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 Message 2 of 6
03 November 2014 at 10:11am | IP Logged 
Make sure to learn both, at least when you're actually memorizing (as opposed to picking up the words by reading, watching movies etc).

Also, the English pronunciation may be difficult but you can make lots of progress if you work on it for some 20 hours.
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Iversen
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 Message 3 of 6
03 November 2014 at 1:22pm | IP Logged 
You need to be able to pronounce the words in your head to memorize them efficiently, so some basic pronunciation is necessary from the beginning. This includes knowledge about how to produce the sounds which are used in a given language. The problem with English is that you can't trust the orthography, so to get specific words right you either have to hear them or memorize the pronunciation you can see in your dictionary. Or accept that not all words get their proper pronunciation from the start.

Edited by Iversen on 04 November 2014 at 3:03pm

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rdearman
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 Message 4 of 6
03 November 2014 at 3:30pm | IP Logged 
You might want to try EMK's Spanish Experiment in reverse. Learning English via films with subs2srs. That would help with pronounciation and memorisation.
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psy88
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United States
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 Message 5 of 6
07 November 2014 at 4:09am | IP Logged 
Spanish pronunciation is very regular and consistent but English pronunciation is not. I applaud your effort to learn this difficult language. I an a native speaker of English but I recognize that it is not an easy language to learn as a second language. So, please do not get discouraged.
   I assume you want to be able to speak English, not just read or write it. Based on my own experiences in learning other languages,I think it is best to practice memorizing the new vocabulary by saying the words aloud. This may help you to remember the words. At the least, it will help train the muscles in your mouth to become accustomed to making the English sounds. I also found that writing the words and saying each syllable aloud at the same time as I was writing them helped me a lot.
   I hope this helps you. Good luck and welcome to this website.
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Iversen
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 Message 6 of 6
07 November 2014 at 9:12am | IP Logged 
There is no douobt that it is necessary to hear the words - just reading the pronunciation directives in a dictionary won't be enough. But to memorize a pronunciation efficiently it may still be necessary for to be able to take notes about the pronunciations you have heard. And that means that you need to have a system for notating pronunciations.

The official system here is called IPA, but it is much to complex to be used with your first foreign language. So my practical advice would be to adopt some kind of system from either one of those small language guides you can be cheaply OR (better) from a dictionary with pronunciations. And there you should focus on the main problems.

Take for instance "rough", "though", "thought and "bough". You can find internet sites where these words are pronounced and written with phonetic spelling, like for instance www.oxforddictionaries.com. OK, decide for yourself which system you will use to take quick notes. If the vowel in for instance "bough" has surprised you then you can jot "baʊ" down (as in the Oxford thing), or you can choose a simple system based on Spanish from a language guide, but the important thing is to be consistent. And to carry a notebook around with you (digital or paper) so that you can take advantage of the information you receive AND keep it.

But listening is still the fundamental thing to do. Taking notes is just a way to profit from your listening.


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