The vocabulary-based approach to language learning focuses, as the name implies, on vocabulary acquisition. Your goal is to memorize words and learn their associations, so that you may be able to use them during interactions.
Many software programs for language training use this specific approach, largely, because of the ease by which it can be applied in an unsupervised setting. It’s also very effective, as evidenced by the success of many language programs that employ it as their primary teaching strategy.
The most common method in vocabulary-based learning is associating words in the language with pictures. Repeated over time, you end up being able to identify the names for objects on sight, making it easier to use them during conversations.
Some experts claim that this approach is the way we actually learned language as children. As such, it is touted as the natural process of language learning – the same way you would have learned Spanish or Chinese if you grew up in such a household.
One of the reasons people enjoy vocabulary-based learning is the fact that it normally yields very fast results. During the early stages, you can expect acquisition to be rapid, although it does eventually slow down the more of the language you absorb.
The biggest downside is that your focus sits entirely on memorizing new words. As such, it’s very common to find vocabulary-based learners speaking like Tarzan (“Me, Tarzan, you, Jane”). If you want to quickly build up a stock of vocabulary in a target language, though, we can’t imagine a better way to accomplish it.