Vocabulary Learning Techniques

One of the techniques I have come across is called word linking. The idea is to link words that you know from your native language to the words you are learning in the target language, then create an image that combines them both. For example, if you are trying to learn the word 'matin' in French, which means 'morning', you would think of a similar word, such as 'matinee'. You would picture someone going to a matinee in the morning.

Another technique is to write down about 20-25 words in your target language on the left side of a piece of paper, and their equivalents in your native language on the right side. You then read the entire page. Afterward, take a ten minute break, then go back and read the right side of the page with the words in your native tongue. As you read each word, try to remember how to say it in the target language. Skip over the words you can't recall and go back to them later. Take a 5 minute break, then try again, focusing first on the hardest words to recall. Try to review the page until you can remember all the words, then try to recall the words 7-10 hours later, and again 24 hours later. You should have them memorized after 4 revisions.

A passive method of learning vocabulary is to listen to a recording of vocabulary words in the target language with translations in your native language. Keep the recording on repeat at a normal volume and after many playbacks you will learn the words passively without having paid much attention to them. This technique can be used with 40 to 50 words.

Another trick is to create a list of words and put them on the wall in the bathroom. Every time you use the bathroom, make sure to read the list of words. This is a bit less tedious, since you aren't taking too much time out of your day to do it, and you're combining it with something you do regularly anyways.