A language learners’ forum

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I would mix and match methods, and I have probably used all of them at one time or another, although I tend towards vocabulary notebooks and the use of word frequency lists, where available.
At the moment I am reading a book in Greek. I make a note of the page number and write down the words I don't know, looking up the English translation, writing them down and then re-reading the page. I don't do that with every unknown word, just the ones I need to get the gist. I have a basic grasp of Modern Greek vocabulary so I don't have to write down too many words, as this would otherwise be too tedious. The method I am using works if you are some way into the language already. It would not work so well for beginners.

Extensive use of good bilingual dictionaries to start with is also a good way to learn vocabulary. When I am in full attack mode in learning languages I generally have a pocket dictionary in a pocket. When you are some way into the language it is time to consider getting a monolingual learner's dictionary.

I agree with the guy saying just read and read and read. I actually like SRS but if you don't want to use SRS then just read a lot, listen radio, read webpages, and talk to speakers of the language as much as possible. I try to balance SRS with reading but I learned a ton of German back before SRS caught on just using a dictionary and reading lots. If I were to start a new language with an alphabet (I'm thinking of Spanish), I think I would just read tons and then start using SRS when I felt my vocabulary plateauing. I think you can get a vocabulary of maybe 10,000 in about 4-5 years just reading lots. For a language with an alphabet and spaces between the words (I don't think it would work so well with Japanese or Chinese - I think you absolutely must do a lot of rote study in addition to reading, speaking, listening - but for European languages, you can skip a lot of rote learning and just read).

I think the biggest benefit to learning in context is that it's more interesting. However, rote learning can be fun too I think. I actually enjoy studying my flashcards. Maybe I'm crazy.

Rote learning can work outside of context and in fact you must use your memory to learn a language. A lot of work with Memrise, for example, has given me enough of a basis in modern Greek vocabulary to tackle a book for the first time that is not a graded reader - so not a book designed for the foreign learner.
If you can learn it in context, fine. I don't think it is a case of one or the other.

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The rewards are already built into the learning process: first when you recognize that the mumbling you hear actually consists of words (even when you don't understand them yet), then when you recognize at least some of the words from your vocabulary studies, and finally when you understand enough of the words to grasp the meaning of the while utterance. And later on simply being understood when you try to speak should also be seen as a reward.

Well, there is one element missing in this description, namely the idea that you should learn you words by listening. But in my opinion this possibility is overrated. In a very weak language you simply haven't got the time to learn enough words on the fly since every attempt to think abut a certain word will cause that you lose several seconds. OK, if a certain word occurs often enough you will eventually learn to recognize it, but the most common words are precisely those that are syntactically most complex and most likely not to have a clear meaning. The message is that when you listen you shouldn't try at all costs to understand the things you hear. First listen for the word boundaries and maybe the most frequent words (which tend to be grammar words), but be happy just to recognize them - don't mull over the meaning of each word you have identified. If later on the meaning of single words or whole phrases pops up in your head take it as a gift from heaven. Once you have become a expert speaker you will also just rely on automatic and semiautomatic processes most of the time, and you will irritate everyone around you if you try to slow down the speech by inserting ahems, euhs and other empty time slot fillers.

The exception is of course if somebody really tries hard to explain something to you - then you should of course listen, but mostly people just babble on and on without inserting pauses for decoding and afterthought.

I once coined the expression "listening like a bloodhound" for this approach to listening. The idea is that a bloodhound will follow a trail with its nose close to the ground and - if it is a good bloodhound - without chasing hares and humans and other dogs along the way.

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I think a good way to learn vocabulary effectively is to use them precisely when you have meaningful conversations.

I've read somewhere that scientists have discovered that repeating words out loud to another person is much more effective in terms of memorization than if you say them aloud to yourself.

It shows that the more you engage actively with other human beings, the more your fluency and linguistic memory can develop. So I think it's really important to always make efforts to reuse the words you have learned with a real living, breathing person. This will definitely benefit your learning in many different ways, and it will give you more experience with new vocabulary that will strengthen your language knowledge in the long term.

For example, imagine you read an article about a topic that is interesting to you. After searching and choosing some unknown words, you can start a simple and quick conversation with your language partner a few days later. You should try to convey the content of the article to him, and try to do it by using a few new words that you have chosen and reviewed. You will be really surprised by the quick progress you made to remember them after this brief conversation.

If you want, I wrote an article about this subject https://blogfrench.com/learn-vocabulary-fast/ recently. I hope I could help you a bit with your question.

Good luck for your vocabulary learning!