7 Tricks To Help Remember New Words Quickly & Easily
Words, words, words…so many to learn and it’s so hard to remember them all, let alone use them, right? Well, today I’ve got seven tips that should make learning & remembering new vocabulary easier, faster, more fun, and more effective. 1. Make word association webs – our brain takes what we read and makes it […]
Words, words, words…so many to learn and it’s so hard to remember them all, let alone use them, right? Well, today I’ve got seven tips that should make learning & remembering new vocabulary easier, faster, more fun, and more effective.
1. Make word association webs – our brain takes what we read and makes it into images, ideas, and feelings etc. and then makes connections between what we knew before and the new information (words and ideas). This is how we remember things. The “new” stuff is fitted into the “old” stuff. Think of a tree. It is easier for you to see a big tree with lots of branches and leaves than it is to see a small tree with very few branches and leaves, right? Well, it’s the same for your brain. When you connect a new word or idea to things you already know you make it easier for your brain to find (see) it when you need to remember it. How can you do this? Easy. Make an Idea Web. Start with the thing you want to remember (words, ideas, sentences) in the middle of a piece of paper. Then draw lines from it like a spider’s web. At the end of the line write down any ideas or words or even pictures that you think of when you say the word or idea in the middle of the page. Anything you think of is ok…just write it down.
This only takes about 2 minutes. Now all the words/ideas are getting connected in your mind. If you see or hear one of them it will help your brain remember all of the others. To make this work really well, you can talk to yourself about how each word/idea fits together with the others. The more you do this, the more connections you make. Lots of connections makes it very easy for your brain to “see” the word you want to recall when you are trying to remember it.
2. Remember in Chunks (collocations) – Remembering the word is important but English, like Chinese, is a language and languages are NOT just facts to be remembered – they are tools for people to USE to express their ideas and communicate. So, find examples of how each word is used in your text. Write a few words before and after the word so that you remember how it is used. For example: if your word is “arrogant” write something like this….”the tall, arrogant man” … This will help you to remember that “arrogant” is an adjective and that it describes people. The next thing to do is to make 3 full sentences with the word to practice using it.
3. Use pictures – Draw small pictures that show the meaning of the word if you can. Sounds crazy, right? That’s why it works. Our brains have so much normal information coming in every moment that a crazy image is a nice surprise – and you always remember surprises, don’t you? Our brains are also specially designed to catch and understand visual information quickly. So, make a funny picture that shows the meaning of the word you want to remember and your brain will remember it easily.
4. Tell a tall story – I always hear my students say that there are too many new words to remember. There’s a memory trick you can use to do this. Just make a crazy story that uses all the words. Picture it in your mind as you make the story. We remember stories easily, especially crazy stories that we can imagine in detail in our minds. Repeat the story and you will remember the words. When you make the story connect the words in funny ways. For example, if you want to remember these 20 words:
shoes, piano, tree, pencil, bird, bus, books, driver, dog, pizza, flower, basketball, door, television, spoons, chair, jump, dance, computer, stone….you could make a story like this:
There is a piano wearing shoes and sitting in a tree. The tree is strange because someone has stuck a giant pencil through it. On the pencil a bird is sitting and watching a bus full of people reading books. Even the driver is reading a book which is bad because he isn’t paying attention to driving. So, he hits a dog that is eating a pizza in the middle of the road and kills it. The driver digs a hole and buries the dog in it and then puts a flower on it. He notices that there is a door in the dog’s grave and opens it. Inside he can see a television with 2 spoons for antennas on top of it. No-one is watching the television because they are all watching the chair. Why? – Because the chair is jumping and dancing and throwing stones at the computer.
Try it. You’ll be surprised!
5. Recycle the pieces – Use roots, prefixes and suffixes to guess what a word means. For example:
Maybe you don’t recognize this word “microbiology” but may be able to guess what it means. First, look at the prefix “micro”. Micro means very small. You may also remember that “ology” means a subject, the study of something. Already we know that part of this word’s meaning is “the study of” + “something small”. Now, you will probably remember that “bio” means living things. So, we can figure out that microbiology probably means the study of very small living things. This is correct. English is like a puzzle – we put the pieces together to make new words. So if you make a list of word beginnings that you often see (un-, dis-, con-, micro-, etc.) and word endings that you often see (-able, -ly, -ent, -tion, -ive, etc.) and remember what they mean, you will be able to guess what many new words mean.
6. Think & learn in opposites – Learn words with opposite meanings (antonyms) and words with similar meanings (synonyms) together. For example, learn angry/happy (antonyms) and angry/cross (synonyms) at the same time. We can remember similar and opposite things more easily because they “stick together” in our minds.
7. Timing is everything – According to psychologists who study how we remember anything, there is a better way to learn things quickly and permanently. Use the new word immediately. Use it 10 minutes later. Use it 1 hour later. Use it 1 day later. Use it 1 week later. After that, you’ll rarely have to review – the new vocabulary is yours forever.
Have Fun!
July 2008 | Filed under Teacher Technique
Paul Turner M.Ed TSL, BA Psych.
54 Comments on “7 Tricks To Help Remember New Words Quickly & Easily”
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November 25th, 2008 at 16:49
I found you idea, about Tricks To Help Remember New Words Quickly & Easily, very wonderful and should be tried.
May 19th, 2009 at 13:18
I found your idea is very helpful for learners, can I put it on my blog for more Taiwanese people to read?
May 29th, 2009 at 08:41
thank u so much::::))))
September 6th, 2009 at 08:39
nice article ! most of the people(like me) are too lethargic to try these tricks.i hope they work. but the only problem is with words which are difficult to pronounce which i think is directly related to the difficulty one will have in remembering it.
September 25th, 2009 at 00:03
Hi,
I found it really good,
Thanks
October 22nd, 2009 at 09:08
Hello, I think writing the words and take few minutes seeing word by word will help.
January 22nd, 2010 at 13:16
thanks for your article. it is really helpful for me. i will try. thanks again. :)
January 30th, 2010 at 18:58
Thank you very much, It’s so helpful!
Thanks again ^^
February 6th, 2010 at 06:22
i found it fantastic
February 6th, 2010 at 06:23
i found these fantastic for my personal improvement
February 6th, 2010 at 06:25
i advise others to read this article again and again . it may change ur life .
February 24th, 2010 at 08:14
i think very helpful for me ,thanks
March 22nd, 2010 at 03:39
it’s great……… !!!!!
April 1st, 2010 at 12:41
hi,
It’s sounds interesting because many people don’t have the time to remember new words in every walks of our life.This technique of mind mapping is interesting.
Thank you
May 3rd, 2010 at 19:17
i find it easy,i will try to exlore it
May 13th, 2010 at 12:36
I think that the most motivating technique is “crasy story”.I don’t mind using it with my pupils
May 31st, 2010 at 18:31
Thank you for this, it helps. But looking at the other comments here you seriosly need to help these guys out with grammer as well.
June 1st, 2010 at 03:54
@ theslimer3: funny how we all have our little weaknesses, isn’t it? Maybe some of the others could give you a hand with spelling.
June 16th, 2010 at 10:43
Very interesting
July 1st, 2010 at 05:32
Thank you for this, it helps. But looking at the other comments here you seriosly need to help these guys out with grammer as well.
August 10th, 2010 at 13:31
its really fantastic,my heartful thanks to this site
August 17th, 2010 at 11:06
It sounds nice but it’s not easy to practice and feel the usefulness.
Trust me. Learning English words is not never an easy work.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:21
i really like tis… its very useful for me… thks…
October 2nd, 2010 at 15:45
This is such wonderful tricks…
It works for all….
Thanks…
October 11th, 2010 at 18:22
First of all thnx,
for this helpful site, i have really read with enjoying
this is a beautiful and helpful site i would like to
thank you for creating this beautiful site i love
this site and also for creater this site thnx bye ..
October 14th, 2010 at 07:28
Thanks for your informative tips coming in handy.These points are expected to work like a magic,anyway,keep up the good work,dudes.Ta ta.
November 9th, 2010 at 14:48
Mucho good, mucho bueno…
November 21st, 2010 at 09:25
you’re great!
November 29th, 2010 at 16:08
Hi!!!!!
You are Great
December 9th, 2010 at 06:58
woow…i ve been learnin english bout 6 yrs…Last trick is the greatest and true one….Just trust it….
August 20th, 2015 at 00:49
I found these tricks really helpful thank you so much sir
August 26th, 2015 at 14:57
its verý good trick sir i feel our mind is catch it.
wonderfull it of my life.
September 5th, 2015 at 23:11
Sure..It really works out….high concentration is required…..but people with low concentration like me? Is it possible?
September 23rd, 2015 at 21:00
I should try it !!
September 23rd, 2015 at 21:01
Nothing is impossible be +ve work hard ?
January 15th, 2016 at 02:58
Thank you very much for sharing your idea and knowledge.
I teach the small kids English. Sometimes I cannot have their attention in class. because they like playing all the time. Anyway, I am finding the new way for them to learn new vocabulary during their play.
Thanks once again.
February 20th, 2016 at 06:20
EXCELLENT! IT IS VERY HELPFUL FOR ME, IF I FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTION.
March 5th, 2016 at 10:37
best way
April 10th, 2016 at 19:17
really worked!
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June 17th, 2016 at 19:51
Great wonderful and useful points. Thanks I wish u success …
July 18th, 2016 at 11:49
this realy works thank you soooooooooo much
you are awsom
August 24th, 2016 at 06:07
nice tips…………………….
November 4th, 2016 at 16:49
This is way more than my expectations…it helped me learn more than 20 new words with its meanings and antonyms in just 3 days
November 12th, 2016 at 03:23
Is there any app for remembering vocab by tricks?
November 18th, 2016 at 02:02
Hhii
January 28th, 2017 at 06:43
not nice wasting time website
February 16th, 2017 at 23:44
white
February 16th, 2017 at 23:45
i saw a nigger once and i killed him
February 16th, 2017 at 23:49
I saw a girl named macie and she was dating a guy named tyler but there not anymore.RIP
April 15th, 2017 at 17:58
It’s very helpful for everyone and lovely or nice tricks
July 16th, 2017 at 07:42
بسیار راضی هستم از این سایت شما
July 16th, 2017 at 07:55
Thanks for your article very helped to me and the others friends
August 7th, 2017 at 15:43
tysm….nice one