30:30 Vocabulary Challenge - October 2024

[WingSuet]

I'd like to try this challenge too, even if I missed the last one. Does anyone have the link to the spreadsheet?

[coldrainwater]

Does anyone have the link to the spreadsheet?

Yes, the link to the spreadsheet template is in the first post on July 2023 Challenge.

[Querneus]

Just gonna leave this here:

Teachers and course designers greatly underestimate learners’ capacity for the initial learning of foreign vocabulary. Thorndike (1908) found that his adult learners could average about 34 German–English word pairs per hour (1,030 words in 30 hours). The least efficient of his learners averaged nine per hour (380 words in 42 hours) and the most efficient 58 per hour (1,046 words in 18 hours). After 42 days more than 60% of the words were still retained. Webb (1962) gained even more spectacular results in a continuous six-hour learning session. Like Thorndike, Webb found a wide variation of achievement among learners. Some learners mastered only 33 lists of six English–Russian pairs (198 words) in six hours, an average of 33 word pairs per hour. Other learners mastered 111 lists (666 words) in under four hours, an average of about 166 words per hour. Both Thorndike and Webb found no decrease in learning capacity as the learning pro- gressed. Webb found that after five hours of continuous learning, learning and recall were not less than in the first hour of learning. In fact, there was an increase in learning capacity as the experiment progressed. Thorndike (1908), and also Anderson and Jordan (1928), comparing tests covering several weeks, noticed that the fast learners still retained a greater percentage of words than the slower learners. That is, fast learners are not fast forgetters. De Groot (2006) similarly found that words learned quickly were not forgotten quickly. Speed of learning is largely affected by factors like concreteness or imageability of the word, pronunceability and cognates or loanwords status. These factors make some words easier to learn and also help them stay longer in memory. What is clear from these and similar studies is that there is a very wide range of skill in deliberate learning. It is not clear whether training reduces this range and to what degree it involves factors like the size of working memory.

Source: Nation, Paul. 2013. Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. 2nd edition. page 439

[rdearman]

October is nearly here. Anybody interested in this challenge?

I will update the title!

[bombobuffoon]

October is nearly here. Anybody interested in this challenge?

Yes.

[Tumlare]

I want to try it, too.

[Lianne]

I always neglect my French over summer break, and I haven't really gotten back into it. So it's the perfect time for a challenge to jump start things! I'll join this for French.

I'll probably pick vocabulary from my Mastering French Vocabulary book. I don't have any particular study method in mind, so we'll see!

[bombobuffoon]

I am creating an Anki deck for storage and pulling words from two books I am reading. I will also use podcasts and newspapers for words. I will be utilizing some memory techniques for learning.