04. What's the best way to learn vocabulary?

Vocabulary: Some people love it, some people hate it.

The important thing is, though, that, if you're going to learn a language, this is something that you're going to have to do. Learning new languages is about learning new words.

The question is, though, what is the best way to learn vocabulary, so that we can improve the way we speak?

The answer to this question is a little bit complex.

The reason why is because everybody learns in slightly different ways. The four main types of learner are:

1.

Visual learners, or people who learn by seeing.

2.

Kinaesthetic learners, or people who learn by moving.

3.

Communicative learners, or people who learn better by speaking and finally,

4.

Audial learners, who learn better by hearing.

I'm gonna give you a couple of tricks that I've used in the past to learn some vocabulary, all of which appeal to different types of learners. Rather than just identifying with one of the categories of learners, you'll probably find that you're a combination of two. 1.

Associate the words with pictures.

Either draw the pictures yourself or find them on Google Images, print them out, and write the words that you're trying to learn to go with them. If you like, you can stick these around the house, so that you're constantly reminded of whatever you're doing, and of what these new words are. This kind of activity will appeal especially to visual learners.

2.

When learning new vocabulary, why not record yourself saying it? Put that on your phone, and then, when you're going about your daily business, just listen to it with some earphones. This will really appeal both to audial learners (because you're listening), communicative learners (because you're actually saying the vocabulary), and finally, kinaesthetic learners (because you're developing a geographical association between the word and where you are when you're revising it). 3.

Context is essential, as well, for learning vocabulary. So, instead of trying to learn vocabulary in isolation, why not invent or make up short sentences that are relevant for what you want to do for each word that you're learning. These can be fun, these can be short, and, instead of just learning the word, learn the whole phrase or sentence that it comes in.

But finally, the really important thing for learning vocabulary in the long term is that, if you don't use it, you'll lose it. When we talk about the conversion rate of how much of the vocabulary you learn through these techniques, and then how much you'll remember six months later, the best way to make sure that you will still have a lot of that vocabulary is to use it. So, make sure [that], whatever you're doing, that you're doing a lot of speaking, and a lot of writing, and a lot of reading and listening. Share your language-learning tips and experiences by leaving a comment below, and make sure you check out the other videos in this series.