Vocabulary Problems

Learning vocabulary is a process that feels very alien for a lot of students who are starting out at learning English or any other as their second language. Even veterans sometimes tell that it is still complicated and awkward for them to learn vocabulary lists and they struggle with archaic memorization techniques will trying to plow through long and boring word lists.

As the increasingly greater number of people that have enrolled on an immersive English course London promotes can tell you, learning vocabulary works best when it is done as an organic process in which you have almost constant contact with this new information. You already know that you brain can learn vocabulary since if it didn't you wouldn't be able to read this. The problem seems to be that we usually try to get results faster than our brain can produce them and by techniques that seem unnatural and forced.

Using Flash Cards

You can also buy custom made flash cards.

A flash card is simply a small piece of paper (business card size usually) that has on one side a word in the language you are learning and the same word on your mother tongue in the other.

Flash cards are extremely easy to make and since durability is usually not a concern you can use common household items to get them done. Simply cut small rectangles of thin paper (so you can stack more together) and have them ready by whatever other tools you use for regular language learning (and keep some with you.) Whenever you come across a new word write it down and write down the meaning on the other side of the card. You can have gathering sessions where you produce a set of words you would like to learn custom tailored to your projects or perhaps books you are trying to read in your target language.

How Do I use them?

Flash cards can be used whenever you have at least 30 seconds of free time. Yes, you heard me right, I said 30 seconds. That is about the time that it can take you to take out your deck, try at least one word and put the deck back in your pocket or backpack.

So, whenever you find the time take out a deck and begin with one of the sides trying to discover the word on the other. If you guess correctly take this card and put it on a second deck (you can keep them in different pockets or tie them with rubber bands), if you didn't put it on the back of your first deck. You use your second deck to drill yourself as well, but this time instead of (for instance) doing French to English, you do English to French. As with the last one, put the ones you could find out on a third pile and the ones you couldn't on the back of your second deck. That's it, that's all you need to do. Also make sure you rotate the cards on your decks every week or every few days if you have been really working hard.

Follow these tips and you won't have to attend the best English school London has to offer or the most prestigious French institute in France to master your vocabulary. You will get tangible results if you apply this technique everyday, so make sure you give it a try!