Improve Your Vocabulary Easily in any Language

Take the following example. Many people have problems remembering the difference between “borrow” and “lend”. Make a simple association – if you lend money to someone, it is the “end” of your money, as you’ll never see it again. Thus “lend” leads to “end”. If you have created a strong and unique association special for you, there is a very good chance that you will never forget this new word or phrase.

Make Word Lists

Many people have used this technique successfully to increase vocabulary retention and learn new words and phrases.

Compile lists of new words as follows:

1. Divide a page into two columns and write the foreign language word on one side with a corresponding word in your mother tongue on the other column
2. Start a new sheet for each topic area e.g. One sheet for vocabulary related to sports, another for economy etc.
3. Use color (highlight pens) in your lists: e.g. All verbs in red, nouns in blue, adjectives in green etc., so that when you think of the word later you will remember its colour and this will help you use it correctly. Don’t make a mile long list, but a fairly short one. Then go to the next activity.

Word List Activity

Cover up one column on your list and work your way down testing yourself, first from the foreign language to the definition or the equivalent in your mother tongue and then reverse the process. You can have fun by working with a friend to test each other.

Take words from your list and write 3 different sentences in the target language using each word to illustrate its meaning. Make them humorous or even outright silly if possible. Then read them aloud to get the feel.

Remember a very important rule:

You’ll remember words better from the context you use them in!

If you have a memory association for that particular word, the better are your chances for remembering it through that memory.

Watch Movies or Listen to Songs and Meet People

Rent a movie in the language you want to learn and listen to songs in that language. Get magazines and newspapers in that language. Go and find Internet pages and blogs in that language. Even if can’t understand everything, exposure to that language motivates and aids learning. Use Google translator or Yahoo Babel Fish translator to help you. Then meet people who speak that language and try to use your new skills.

Image via Wikipedia

After using these techniques, you will start noticing improvement in your vocabulary retention in a matter of weeks. I learnt one of the most challenging languages, Finnish and a very delightful language, Italian in a few months using the above methods.