Regardless of your level, figuring out which words to learn in a new language can be tough. You might find that some of the words you’re studying turn out to be weird, archaic terms that no native speaker would ever use. Or, you might feel stuck having already learned all of the vocabulary found in your language book or vocab sheet. You want to quickly improve your foreign language skills, but feel stuck. So, what do you do? Try this language learning tip.
I’m not sure where I read about this strategy first, but it’s helped me a lot in my Spanish studies – More than any other method, at least. Here’s my updated version of what to do:
First,
Find a list or website that has the top 100 vocabulary words for your language.
Then,
Using flashcards or a tool like Quizlet, start adding each of the words you don’t recognize or know by heart. Make sure to occasionally mix in words you DO recognize, but have trouble using in conversation or writings. For example, an English learner who wants to incorporate the word “throughout” in their conversations more often would add that word to their list, even though they already know the definition. These “top 100 word” lists often rely on a good amount of conversational words, so they’re very helpful to study.
Once you have a twenty-something word list, spend a week or so doing the following routine. You can easily stop after simply memorizing these new words, but following through on the rest of the practice tips here will help you really cement them in your vocabulary for use in language production (speaking and writing).
Side note: If you’ve read any of our other blog posts, you’ll know I’m a fan of splitting methods like this up into “levels”. So, that’s what we’ll do here. And, we’ve already written a general overview explaining the order in which you should study a language, which I’ll be referencing.
Level 1 (Days 1-2)
Time to start this language learning tip strategy. Memorize your new vocabulary. Flashcards, or flashcard tools, are the scientifically-proven fastest way of learning vocabulary, so this is the method you should be going for if you’re wanting to learn relatively quickly. Also, make sure to listen in on the correct pronunciation of each word with an online source – It’s always awful to realize that you’ve been pronouncing a word wrong after studying it for a week.
Level 2 (Days 3-4)
Learn the conjugations and grammar oddities of your new words. Spend extra time memorizing these – Remember, they’re words that are very commonly used in your new language, so putting in the work to have them fully memorized will pay off significantly in your comprehension and speaking skills.
Level 3 (Days 5-6)
Now that you have the words and their grammar rules memorized, begin reading and writing sentences containing the word. Try reading example sentences for five to ten minutes, before writing five of your own sentences using the word. Then, spend a few more minutes checking that you got the grammar correct. Doing this with each of your words will take a couple hours in total, but it’ll be worth it.
Level 4 (Day 7)
With vocabulary memorized, grammar rules practiced, and sentences written, you’ll be pretty much completely comfortable with your list of 20 or so words. Now, all that’s left is to practice using them in conversation. If you’ve got a native speaker or another learner to practice with, that’s perfect! If not, don’t worry, you can just try reading the sentences you wrote over the past two days out loud, creating your own new variations of each sentence as you go. Doing this enough will ensure you remember to use the word in conversation, rather than leaving it dusty in the back of your brain.
Maybe you have your doubts – You might be wondering if it’s really worthwhile to spend an entire week learning twenty words. But, think of it like this – You’re not just learning any words, you’re learning some of the most important words in the entire new language you’re studying. Furthermore, you’re also practicing all four of the primary language skills in the process – Reading, writing, speaking, and listening. This process will definitely boost your comprehension skills, and your ability to pick up on new vocabulary in the future. If you repeat the process, you’ll find it goes quicker and quicker the more you do it. Eventually, you’ll start to need to rely on “Top 300 words” or more. By then, you’ll know you’re getting somewhere. Hopefully, this language learning tip works as well for you as it did for me!
