This way, when you forget a word in a real conversation, you’ll have plenty of other associations to fall back on. You and your friends can play games like “who can describe a concept with the fewest words.” Or, when you’re by yourself, you can write down as many word associations as possible. Then, put these word connections into practice with a little improv training. When describing llamar in Spanish, you’d have to connect it to words like teléfono and phrases like Me llamo _. For example, “to call” is llamar in Spanish, but it’s a versatile word whose synonyms include telefonear (to telephone), nombrar (to name, to designate) and vocear (to shout). These techniques help you associate a new word with other words in the same language.
- Learn how to describe new words in your learning language instead of simply translating a word from your native language into your learning language.
- Here are some tips to help bolster word memorization: Of course, your first order of business is to learn how to memorize vocabulary so you’re left searching for words less often. What To Do When Your ‘How To Memorize Vocabulary’ Stratagems Fail You 1. Follow these five tips, and you’ll never be left speechless again. But that doesn’t have to impede the flow of our conversations. We all forget words - even in our mother tongues. We’re told everything there is to know about how to memorize vocabulary, but it’s not very often we learn how to deal when we’re left in the lurch. It’s a problem that every language learner faces: you’re talking to someone in a language you haven’t mastered yet, and all of a sudden you can’t remember a word - or you realize that you haven’t even learned it yet! The flow of conversation stops, your mind goes blank, your conversation partner searches your eyes for clues in order to grasp what it is you’re trying to communicate.