How to learn the vocabulary of foreign languages
Learning vocabularyOnce you have got to grips with the fundamentals of a language (pronunciation, orthography and basic grammar), you can concentrate on learning vocabulary. This is probably the most important and time-consuming part of learning a language. Below are a few techniques to help you with this task.
Associate the familiar with the unfamiliar
Try to find word or phrases in your L1 which sound like and if possible have a similar meaning to words in your L2. Build mental images or draw pictures based on the connections. For example, the Spanish for \"ice\" is hielo (m), which sounds like yellow. To remember this word imagine yellow ice. This is an enjoyable method because many of the associations you think up will be silly, absurd or bizarre.
Genders
To remember genders try picturing a Spanish-speaking region, divide it into two and place masculine nouns on one side and feminine words on the other. In the case of ice imagine the masculine half covered in yellow ice.
If your L2 has many genders, imagine a large building with many floors, assign a different gender to each floor and place words on the appropriate floor according to their gender.
Avoiding language mix ups
Associating words from each language you learn with places where they are spoken will help you to avoid getting your languages mixed up. For example, if you're learning French and Spanish, imagine a map of Europe and place the French words in France and the Spanish words in Spain. Alternatively you could imagine a map of North America and place the Spanish words in Mexico and the French words in Quebec.
Testing and revision
To ensure the words stick in your memory, test yourself on them at regular intervals. If you learn some new words in the morning for example, check that you can still remember them later that day, the next day, a week later and a month later. If you find some words hard to recall, try thinking up different associations for them. You may need to try several different associations before you find one that works.
Learn related words & phrases
When learning the word for hand, for example, try to learn related words, such as parts of the hand; actions of the hand; other parts of the body, and things you might wear on your hands. Also try to learn words with the same root and phrases which include the word hand.
As you learn more words you will start to spot connections between words. The more words you learn the easier you will find it to guess the meanings of new words.
Learn words in context
Learning long lists of unrelated words is boring, difficult and doesn't help you much when you come across those words in a different context. If you focus on learning words in the context you're most likely to find them, you're more likely to recognise them when you encounter them or need to use them again.
When learning food words, for example, think about when you'd be most likely to use them, i.e. when cooking, eating, shopping, etc, and learn other words related to those situations. Then try constructing sentences using the new words. Good dictionaries contain examples of usage which you can use as models for your own sentences.
As your knowledge of your L2 improves, using a monolingual dictionary is a good idea. This helps you to understand words through their meaning rather than relying on translations into your L1.
Practice reading as much as possible
A great way to build up you vocabulary is to have a go at reading books, magazines, newspapers or comics written in your L2. Ideally look for reading material covering topics you find interesting. When reading, try to guess the meanings of any words you don't know and then check them in a dictionary to see if your guesses were correct. You don't have to look up every unfamiliar word as long as you can get the gist of the text.
Dual-language books, which are also known as parallel texts are a good way to get into literature in foreign languages. They usually have the original language on one page, and the translation on the opposite page. This safes you the trouble of looking up words in a dictionary.
Reading comic books, like Asterix and Tintin, is an effective and fun way to improve your reading comprehension and vocabulary. The pictures help you to follow the story when you can't understand all of the dialogue. The dialogues in the Tintin books tend to be longer and more serious than those in the Asterix books, which are full of puns and jokes.
A good way to expand your vocabulary is with the TeachMe! or Rosetta Stone language courses. The TeachMe! courses are available for most of the major and minor languages of Europe and are very reasonably priced. The Rosetta Stone courses are available for 26 languages from Arabic to Welsh. They are quite expensive but include a large amount of material, and are effective and fun to use.
Take your language to the next level
A great way to improve your reading comprehension and increase your vocabulary in French, German, Italian or Spanish is to subscribe to one of the audio magazines produced by Champs-Elysées. These publications come out once a month and consist of an hour-long programme on CD or audio cassette covering a wide range of topics, such as politics, current affairs, sports, travel, film, and literature. The accompanying magazine includes a full transcript of the programme plus vocabulary and notes. Optional study supplements are also available.
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