Vocab, MindMaps and Conversational Islands

[drmweaver2]

Probably nothing earth-shattering or even new to anyone in particular, but I "re-discovered" MindMaps for learning vocab this morning.
I ran across this one while developing a conversational island relating to myself and introductions. (Sorry I don't know how to make it smaller for this forum.)

Source:https://licenalninethgrade.blogspot.com/2014/02/introducing-myself.html

It can be expanded logically to cover familial terms (relationships, marital status, legal status(like adoptions), births, deaths, etc.), geography (where I've lived, worked, traveled, etc.), professions (jobs in general, jobs I've had, etc.), education-related terms, and on and on.

Do you guys make much use of this or similar tool(s)?:?:
Or, if you don't use something like this, how do you learn/remember related terms/conversational islands?

[Iversen]

I find the idea of mindmaps interesting as an illustration of the relations between semantic fields, and I am sure that you learn something while making them, but once made, I can't see how they make it easier to learn the words included in them.

I prefer learning words either by reading stuff or by going through them with wordists. It it obvious that the first method will take you through words that are relevant for a certain topic, but more those that refer to things or actions, not so much those that illustrate relationships within some kind of central vocabulary - but if that aspect is important then I would prefer reading about semantical camps in books that focus on such things and then make the corresponding mindmap in my own head OR draw the relationships in a simpler and more rigorously organized way.

For instance I have seen some very clear graphical illustrations of how different prepositions (or case endings in languages like Finnish) relate to space, and I would definitely prefer such illustrations to mindmaps containing the same words.

[drmweaver2]

I find the idea of mindmaps interesting as an illustration of the relations between semantic fields, and I am sure that you learn something while making them, but once made, I can't see how they make it easier to learn the words included in them...<snip>...For instance I have seen some very clear graphical illustrations of how different prepositions (or case endings in languages like Finnish) relate to space, and I would definitely prefer such illustrations to mindmaps containing the same words.

Well, here's an example of family relationship terms that I haven't translated into Russian yet. I'm probably also going to add a few like: marriage, divorce, separated...

Download to resize:https://bit.ly/2zSNGL2
MindMaps aren't the be all and end all by any means. I'm a visual learner and relationships between words stick in my mind if I can picture those relationships. It's totally an individual thing and a mind map made by me for me may not work for someone else - but could be modified to work for them by them.

[drmweaver2]

Addendum to previous post... Wouldn't you know it, I got an email pointer from someone that I didn't have to buy a new PC DVD to accomplish what I wanted. I could do it using 2 freebie programs: Handbrake and VLC. LEarn something new everyday!

[cjareck]

Addendum to previous post... Wouldn't you know it, I got an email pointer from someone that I didn't have to buy a new PC DVD to accomplish what I wanted. I could do it using 2 freebie programs: Handbrake and VLC. LEarn something new everyday!

You could also use Freemind for example. I am using this program for making notes to my seminars so I can guide the students through the material.
The picture of the attached mind map has a low quality, and it is difficult to read the labels. But I managed to decipher some of them You say about relations between the words to learn their meaning, but on your map, I do not see them. For example - you have "Females" and from that "Daugther" and "Mother". If you translate it, you will only know the gender of the person not who is she. Wouldn't be better to recreate some simple genealogical tree with the centre field called "ME" and blue and pink fields for males and females respectively?

[drmweaver2]

The picture of the attached mind map has a low quality, and it is difficult to read the labels. But I managed to decipher some of them You say about relations between the words to learn their meaning, but on your map, I do not see them. For example - you have "Females" and from that "Daugther" and "Mother".

FWIW, that MindMap isn't mine; it was found on the Net - the quality is what it is. The two images were meant to be illustrations, not definitive.

As far as relationship between mother and daughter, since I know the words in English, drawing a line between the two is understood for me. Similarly with grandmother and daughter. Then again, if it doesn't work for you, modify it. I do intend to modify it myself in order to add verbs like married, divorced, separated and possibly add a couple connecting lines (ex., between husband/wife and brother to another entry - uncle). I actually already have a Family MindMap - the 2nd one I posted has a few terms I didn't include on mine and is in English so that readers who don't know Cyrillic could follow along (and wouldn't comment on words left out).

[coldrainwater]

For many themes, including language study, I like best the default whiteboard style implementation offered by Microsoft OneNote (if I am to make something that resembles a mindmap). Mindmaps look impressive but tend to feel a bit inflexible in my experience. I like to shuffle/move ideas around quickly and easily, linking to many resources in a wide variety of ways. At the end of the day, OneNote seems to integrate better with my personal grey matter. As a bonus, I like having it all in my TL (which I am sure mindmaps can do too) directly integrated with the rest of the Office Suite (which I can switch to in a click or two for added functionality).

Edit: fastest navigation likely goes to your favorite text editor (notepad++ is fine for me at the moment). Even including some visual effects, I can likely do more faster with a text editor. Food for thought.