Learning
new vocabulary may sometimes be a hard piece of work. However, there are
several ways that help to take on new vocabulary and study more efficiently in
order to save time and nerves.
Different
people might prefer different learning strategies. Some of those various
strategies will be listed here.
One that certainly is used a lot is vocabulary.com. This is a website which
contains a dictionary, a thesaurus as well as a learner’s program. You can select
words you want to learn from the dictionary and the learner’s program creates a
quiz testing these words. Depending on your progress, it asks you the words you
got wrong more often than those you got right. It will still test you on the
words you got right, making sure you do not forget them again.
Also, vocabulary.com is available as an App for Apple and Android. This App
works with virtual flash-cards. This app is especially useful because you can
use it anywhere and whenever you want to, for example when you are on the bus
or train. It is perfect for English learners who want to boost their vocabulary.
One essential aspect, however, about learning and studying vocabulary is repetition.
I’ve heard this word so many times before, but did never realize how important
it actually is. Nevertheless, since I need to learn approximately 800 words for
my next exam, repetition is the only way that makes me passing this exam. You
cannot remember 800 words and even being able to use them correctly if you have
only learned them once. You need to study them carefully and repeat them
frequently. It is necessary to really understand the word and learn everything
about it – not only its meaning, but also antonyms, synonyms and most
importantly its connotations. This may be the hardest thing about learning
words in a foreign language – to develop a sensitive feeling for the language
and for the use of words. An obvious example may be the synonyms fat woman – obese
woman. Well, are they even synonyms? They refer to the same, but imply
different meanings. In this context, fat has a negative implication, whereas
obese is neutral.
Connotation leads us to the next point – German translations of words. At some
point, German translation simply will not be sufficient enough anymore. An
English explanation of a high-quality dictionary will provide you with much
more information about a word by giving example sentence that show the context
in which a word is commonly used.
Another
useful way of studying vocabulary and one that I personally like most is creating
a glossary. By using a glossary you have a lot of advantages. First of all, you
have to write the word on your own. Once you have written a word with your own
hands, it will always sound familiar to you. Of course this is by far not
enough. A glossary should include the English explanation of a word, antonyms,
synonyms, the German translation(s), example sentences and tips (for example
connotation). A glossary is usually well-structured, therefore easy to use. It’s
absolutely advisable for studying vocabulary!
