What's your method of learning a list of new words?

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klin21698
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Re: What's your method of learning a list of new words?

Postby klin21698 » Mon Aug 08, 2022 7:15 pm

Thank you everyone for your responses. There are certainly a lot of methods to try out.

I understand the criticism of using word lists, but I would like to clarify that these are not words picked at random that I'm trying to brute memorize by word/definition. I am also not skipping over grammar, as I've already a reasonable grammar background from university. At some point, all this theoretical knowledge wasn't useful if I didn't have the vocabulary to produce any real sentences.

I started with learning from frequency lists or thematic lists (ex: emotions, hobbies, etc). Now that I'm at a more intermediate level, I'm mainly watching videos on Youtube in the target language, and I create a list of unfamiliar words from these videos so that I won't forget. Consuming content like videos or books has the advantage, as many of you have mentioned, of seeing a word/phrase in context. The content is also typically centered around a theme, and I believe the word list is easier to learn when the words are related to each other in some way.

As an aside, I would also like to point out that word lists are essentially how I learned in school. At the beginner level, I would indeed have to memorize a word list by brute force, but very soon, we would have texts with associated vocabulary/grammar exercises. At the advanced level, I remember reading from long texts like Don Quixote, and I would always make of a note of unfamiliar words to look up and review later.

As for learning the words, I have a visual memory, so looking up the word in a dictionary, and seeing the word in context a few times is usually good enough for recognizing it later on. I'm eager to try out some of your methods, especially the ones that involve active production of sentences with the word.
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Re: What's your method of learning a list of new words?

Postby TeoLanguages » Fri Aug 12, 2022 3:46 pm

klin21698 wrote:Background: I took Russian for a few years in university which mainly focused on grammar. Now I'm independently brushing that up, and I'm focusing on expanding my vocabulary.

I'm quite curious as to how other forum members go about learning more vocabulary?

This might be an oversimplification of vocabulary acquisition, but I'd describe it in two steps:
1. Finding a list of new words to learn
2. Learning this list of new words

I'm more curious about #2 above - learning a list of new words. I've read about SRS, different types of flashcards (cloze, word/translation), and various other pencil/paper methods. Obviously, different methods work for different people, but I'm curious what has worked for you?


Not sure if I'm late for that but my personal strategy is based on the principle of spaced repetition with a slight difference from the "common flashcards". I use to collect as many new or unknown words or expressions as possible during my study sessions or more in general whenever I'm in contact with the language I'm learning and then when it comes to jotting them down, I force myself to embed them in a sentence (even better if they make sense to me personally). In this way, I have the feeling I'm "personalizing" my notes and I noticed it made word retention way easier in the long term. But still, the key factor here is repetition since I revise notes in a methodical manner rather than at random intervals. It could turn out to be boring if you have MANY words or expressions to revise daily (yes, I do it DAILY) but it pays dividends (for me at least). Quick tip: I find digital notebooks way more useful and immediate as a tool to revise since they allow me to revise my notes wherever I am. Hope this is useful! :D
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Re: What's your method of learning a list of new words?

Postby Khayyam » Thu Oct 20, 2022 11:16 pm

The only time I make lists of words is to fill in gaps in my vocabulary as I read. I read a predetermined amount (usually a chapter), circle or underline all the words I'm at all uncertain about, type up a list of them along with their English translations, and print it out. I spend 10-15 minutes going over the list and concentrating as hard as I possibly can, trying to decouple the German from the English so I'm only thinking of images, feelings, smells, etc. associated with the words, not translating them into English. If I'm alone, I'll sometimes go so far as to act like I'm in drama class and perform actions, or make expressions, associated with the words.

I don't spend much time on this because my object is only to get the new words lodged in my short-term memory firmly enough that I can immediately reread the story and not hesitate when I pass them again. I usually have 100% success or close on this second pass--I don't even have to glance at the list--because I have not just any context, but a familiar, recently encountered context to jog my memory.

Once I've read the chapter a second time, I throw the list away and move on. The words are now quite firmly stuck in my long-term "passive vocabulary," as evidenced by the fact that even if a month or more goes by before I encounter them again in my reading or listening, I usually get them. I might hesitate for a second or two before the light bulb goes on, but it's rare for me to have to look the word up again.

Grain-of-salt warning: although my passive German rocks, my active German is pitifully weak, and that's no doubt due in part to the fact that I've never done any vocabulary-building exercises other than the bare minimum necessary to keep consuming more advanced and interesting material at the greatest possible pace. So, I can wholeheartedly recommend my approach from a reader-and-listener's POV, but if you want to do more than just read a lot of books and listen to a bazillion hours of podcasts in your TL, you should definitely do more than what I've been doing up until now.
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Re: What's your method of learning a list of new words?

Postby german2k01 » Sat Nov 12, 2022 9:04 am

Grain-of-salt warning: although my passive German rocks, my active German is pitifully weak, and that's no doubt due in part to the fact that I've never done any vocabulary-building exercises other than the bare minimum necessary to keep consuming more advanced and interesting material at the greatest possible pace. So, I can wholeheartedly recommend my approach from a reader-and-listener's POV, but if you want to do more than just read a lot of books and listen to a bazillion hours of podcasts in your TL, you should definitely do more than what I've been doing up until now.


If you want to transfer some of these words into your active vocabulary what strategies do you recommend for those learners who do not have instant access to native speakers for having conversations?
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Re: What's your method of learning a list of new words?

Postby Le Baron » Sat Nov 12, 2022 10:55 am

Have you left Germany?
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german2k01
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Re: What's your method of learning a list of new words?

Postby german2k01 » Sat Nov 12, 2022 11:14 am

I was expecting this answer :D

I have not left Germany, however, Germans are busy making money and have no free time :D

I am trying to apply for Bundesagentur fur Arbeit for a free voucher. I came across an online German language institute that could arrange a German teacher for a German language course and is free if I somehow can show proof of this free voucher issued by the aforesaid organization. I have an appointment on Nov 21st with them in person once I secure the voucher then I can show it to the above German language school and can start my course at B1 level. I am waiting for this voucher.

I have an idea I do not know how good it is if I read about a specific topic in detail then create a PowerPoint presentation and give it to the imaginary audience in my room.

I am not sure how effective it is as compared to having actual one-to-one conversations with native speakers.
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Re: What's your method of learning a list of new words?

Postby louisianne » Thu Dec 29, 2022 11:25 am

I make a list of words by topic, then I write a sentence using each of them, and finally I look for a YouTube video where they employ this vocabulary. The objective it's to learn the new words in context, so that it's easier to remember them.
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Re: What's your method of learning a list of new words?

Postby Ug_Caveman » Sat Dec 31, 2022 3:16 am

When I first see a list, I read through it out loud - both the Dutch and English words; I then scriptorium the list and finish by reading through it aloud again. The next day I'll review the previous lessons vocab list.

After a week I do an active English->Dutch oral translation exercise of the list.

I then sleep with the course book under my pillow so information passes through the brain membranes via osmosis. If I'm in a hurry I place the book in the microwave and try to absorb the vocab via electromagnetic radiation. Am also pioneering a new method where we irradiate the vocab list with neutrons to make it nuclearly unstable and so it will spontaneously emit new words.
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issemiyaki
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Re: What's your method of learning a list of new words?

Postby issemiyaki » Tue Jan 03, 2023 4:59 am

I understand the desire to learn lists of words. It’s reassuring to know you know that list of 5,000 words. And that is an accomplishment.

But allow me to make an argument that might persuade you otherwise.

You currently are at the B1 level, from what I see. I am familiar with the standard curriculum of Russian, and B2 is probably the most difficult hurdle to overcome. C1 and C2 have their challenges, but B2 is a mammoth undertaking.

If you want, I can share that curriculum with you; that way you can see exactly what is required of a B2 level student. The checklist, if you will, was created by the United Nations in partnership with the Russian Ministry of Education.

Now, about the approach. If you trust the process, you will learn more words than you ever dreamed. I’m not sure if you’re studying with a teacher, but I would advise you to consider that, at least for the B2 level. And I’m talking about a trained teacher that can help you navigate through the language. You will hear many say: “Oh, Russian doesn’t make sense. It has so many exceptions.” Actually, it’s an extremely logical language and a trained teacher will help you cut through the confusion quickly.

A teacher is also key because they will continuously expose you to the culture.

Culture is not some mere add-on. Strategically, it’s your best friend. It will expose you to the most relevant words, and from THERE is where you build your vocabulary. For example, your instructor might have a lesson on, I don’t know … the famous holiday Масленица – it last about a week, and after that it kicks of the fasting period. “Пост” (There’s another vocab word.) Interestingly enough, that word is also linked to popular food dishes sold in Russia called “Борщ постый” – it’s one of the few borshts you can eat during the fast. Through the lesson you build vocabulary (in the literal sense). You see how one word can be used to create other words to talk about this holiday. And before you know it, you’re using all sorts of grammatical formulas to express complex and nuanced ideas, all while working on your aspects, cases, etc. It’s like killing 20 birds with one stone.

But working through culture ensures you learn to express yourself in a way that is understood by that culture.

You should also be reading documents and writing essays and giving presentations in Russian, USING your new vocabulary. That’s a great way to struggle through putting some of those low-frequency terms to use.

With Zoom, you can prepare a presentation and have a native speaker review it on iTalki. Making the power-point slides, choosing the vocab to put on the slides, the expressions, etc., it’s exhausting work. Trust me, when you’re ready to give your presentation, you will remember those words. Many of which you can carry over to talk about the next subject. You learn about that, build even more vocab, put it to use in more presentation, essays, conversations, and move on to the next topic … and wash and rinse.

Again, I don’t want to you to think I’m against building vocabulary. I’m against building vocab outside of context. Learning it through the culture will create a more meaningful bond WITH the words.

And culture doesn’t always mean talking about folk songs and holiday traditions. The term that should be used is SOCIETY. Study the society, the people, (a/k/a “the culture”), and the rest will come. And you end up with a list of way more than 5,000 words stored in your head.

In short, there is so much to keep you busy at the B2 level, in Russian, particularly, that memorizing words will be the least of your concerns. And before you know it, you'll be asking yourself: "how on earth did I learn all these words." It's wild!

Again, just food for thought. Take what you like, leave the rest.
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Re: What's your method of learning a list of new words?

Postby Iversen » Tue Jan 03, 2023 11:00 pm

For me a decent vocabulary is the key that opens the access to a culture through its own language, and luckily vocabulary learning is a thing that can be systematized - with world lists or anki or whatever you prefer, followed by text studies, film watching or other activities (including some active ones, like thinking in the language or communicating with speakers). And bilingual texts is a great way to speed up the understanding. Learning culture through the words you have learnt will soon create a quite meaningful bond - you just need enough words to make the connection in the first place.
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