How to Study Vocabulary Without Hating It Part 2
Public Service Announcement: studying vocab doesn’t have to be horrendously boring. Here are a few methods for studying vocab designed to keep you both awake AND entertained, while learning vocab that would impress even the literati.
1. GET CREATIVE WITH VOCAB STORIES. Rather than studying vocab words off a list one by one, let’s work on relating the words to each other.
Say, for example, you find the following five words on your vocab list:
Aberration – (n.) A change from the norm, and not a good change—a “your car was working but now it isn’t” sort of change.
Ameliorate – (v.) To improve a bad situation. To take something from bad → better.
Antediluvian – (adj.) REAL old, like MAD old, like pre-Biblical-flood old
Apocryphal – (adj.) Talking about stories or statements, the kind of story that is told as fact but actually seems a little iffy. Fishing stories about “the one that got away” are apocryphal.
Archivist – (n.) An Indiana Jones-type character, basically a librarian-meets-historian who studies old treasure maps and scrolls, usually in a big refrigerated room.
After studying these five words for a few minutes, I can come up with a quick situation that uses all of them:
The archivists worked to ameliorate the water damage on the old scrolls. Once they could read the words, they found that one antediluvian scroll was an apocryphal version of the American Constitution. However, aberrations in the text, such as mentions of Bruce Springsteen and Top Ramen, made the archivists suspect the scroll was a forgery.
I call this a VOCAB STORY, and it’s a really fun vocab exercise for students with a creative bent. Simply writing the stories is good practice, but you can also make these into flashcards: with a few words’ definitions on one side, and your vocab story on the other, you’re ready to rock ‘n roll. Why is this method better than normal flashcards, you ask? Well, firstly, your brain is now going to connect all those meanings to each other, giving you a way better chance of remembering what they mean. Secondly, you only had to make one flashcard to study FIVE vocab words at once, right? I rest my case.
2. DRAW PICTURES. If you’ve ever studied a foreign language, you’ve probably seen an illustrated vocabulary sheet: the kind with a picture of a living room, labeled with words like “waterbed” and “flatscreen TV” and “robot butler” (in the language of your choice). To learn new vocab, I recommend making simple drawings that incorporate 3-5 vocab words into a simple scene. Here’s a quick example: If your words are “bizarre,” “bucolic,” and “burgeon,” draw a guy in a bizarre outfit (like a wetsuit and a top hat) next to a tree with apples on it and a couple of sheep.
“How bucolic!” exclaims a speech bubble from Weird Outfit Dude. “It makes me want to write a poem!” Feel free to also write the words you’re learning on appropriate parts of the drawing, like “bizarre” next to Dude’s outfit, and “burgeoning” next to the flourishing apple trees. Then, here’s what it says on the other side of the sheet/ flashcard:
Bizarre – (adj.) weird
Bucolic – 1 (n.) a poem idealizing the lives of shepherds.
– 2 (adj.) having to do with pleasant country life.
Burgeon – (adj.) to grow and flourish
Get it? This exercise is great because it situates your new vocab words in a visual context--this works well for nearly everyone but is especially suited to visual learners.
3. BOOK SESSIONS WITH OUR AMAZING INSTRUCTORS. Our tutors can give you all the tips and tricks to best learn and retain your vocabulary.
4. RELATE WORDS TO THE WORLD AROUND YOU. By this, I mean attaching words and their meanings to actual, physical space. Here’s how: if your word is “Ameliorate,” which you may remember from earlier, imagine Amelia Earhart in your kitchen, ameliorating the damage of a broken plate.
Learn more strategies by meeting with our instructors.
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