To “get by” in a language it takes a vocabulary of about 120 basic words. Anne
Merritt explains how to learn them.
When trying to learn a foreign language, most of us have the same complaint:
“I’m just not good at memorising.” Learning new vocabulary can be daunting,
especially for busy adults whose minds are already occupied with work,
family, and other responsibilities.
A comfort? Linguists say that to “get by” in a language, such as directing a
taxi or asking for a phone number, it takes a vocabulary of about 120 basic
words. It’s a manageable goal, and a firm foundation for beginners. Here are
eight tips for getting there:
Set realistic goals
Forget the long vocabulary study sheets, or reading the dictionary. Experts
say that learners are capable or retaining 10-20 words per study hour. If
you do 15 minutes of self-study per day, set a weekly vocabulary goal of
20-25 words and phrases. That’s only six weeks until the 120-word “survival
kit” is learned and memorised.
Cluster
Those one-word-a-day language learning apps may feel convenient, but
thematically, they’re all over the place, delivering a chain of unrelated
words: envelope, tired, January, receive, onion. Focus on a single theme
each week. The mind naturally clusters connected words together, so
learning, say, types of weather in one lesson, and parts of the body the
next, works in tune with your brain’s natural system for classifying
information. However...
Avoid opposites
It might seem logical to study opposites together: hot/cold, expensive/cheap.
It isn't. A learning hiccup called 'cross association' can occur, when you
learn two words so closely together you end up mixing them up. If a Spanish
student learns 'always' (
siempre) and 'never' (
nunca)
together, they might later draw on one word when they mean to use the other.
Instead, study the more common word first (eg: deep) and, once it’s
retained, learn its opposite (shallow).
Dissect new words
When encountering a new word, take a look at its structure. Many words consist
of prefixes and suffixes, and an understanding of these parts of speech is
advantageous. The French word
désagréable, for example,
contains the negating prefix
dés- and the adjective-forming
suffix –
able. Studying these affixes can help you to understand
conjugation and structure, and make educated guesses when encountering new
vocabulary.
Read, read, read
Reading helps you revisit learned vocabulary, and see those words in new
sentences and contexts. One excellent source of foreign language exposure is
through graded readers, which are designed specifically for language
learners. Another good source is advertisements or menus, which tend to use
short, colloquial text.
Visualise
One mnemonic learning trick for new vocabulary is the Keyword Method. Drawing
on a similar-sounding word in your native language, visualise a picture or
scene to go with the new vocabulary. For example, on a trip to Moscow, I
remembered the Russian formal hello, “Zdravstvujtye” (Здравствуйте) with the
mental image of a stressed vulture. These visualisations are often abstract,
ridiculous, and embarrassing to admit, but they work, especially for longer
words.
Focus on phrases
Linguist Michael Lewis encourages language learning in lexical chunks, rather
than on a word-by-word basis. A good portion of daily communication involves
predictable common phrases: “turn left,” “just a minute,” “nice to meet
you.” When studying a new language, memorise these phrases and you'll have a
ready arsenal of dialogue, without the stress of having to build and
conjugate your sentences from scratch.
Review often
In a vocabulary class, yesterday’s vocabulary is more important than today’s.
The goal is to transfer the short-term knowledge of new vocabulary into your
long-term memory. Review is essential – in the first few days or weeks after
learning new vocabulary, recycle those words and you'll entrench them in
your memory. A good language textbook or online program will be organised in
a way that reviews and applies learned vocabulary in later lessons.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationadvice/9816185/Foreign-languages-how-to-memorise-vocabulary.html