Once you have the basic grammar and pronunciation of a language down pat, the next step is frequently mastering its vocabulary. This, of course, is one of the hardest and most time-consuming parts of language learning. However, it is absolutely essential when you’re looking towards overall proficiency.
Learning a vocabulary works much like memorizing stuff back when you were in school. If you have tricks up your sleeve when it comes to memorizing all those names, dates and places, you can employ them to help you learn vocabulary in much the same way. Here are a few tips to accomplish that from our own playbook.
Use Mental Imagery. For every word in the foreign language, you can associate an image that makes sense to you. Most associations you will probably come up with will border on the silly or absurd, which makes the process all the more entertaining.
Learn Related Words Together. Grouping vocabulary elements are easier because they create an instant relationship among the words. For instance, you can learn the parts of a face together with actions and adverbs that relate to the face, such as smiling, frowning and beautiful.
Study Words That Are Relevant To You First. Instead of going through vocabulary learning like going through a grocery list, try giving it context. If you work in finance, for instance, you can jumpstart your learning by focusing on words that relate to your job. If you cook often, then study words that relate to food and its preparation. The more familiar a subject is to you, the easier learning the vocabulary related to that will be.
Test Yourself. Regularly test what you have learned. At least once a week, try to take one of the language quizzes that come with your language learning software to see how much of the vocabulary study you have retained. The more you test yourself, the better the information will usually sink in.