Learning vocabulary with cards

The sun playing on the surface of the river in Skipton wood - UK.

Learning vocabulary with cards

An excellent* way to learn new words is to make vocabulary cards.

The diagrams below show an example using the word cat

Here's how you do it:

Write the word you want to learn on the front of the card (e.g. size A7 or A8).

On the back of the card, write either the translation of the word in your language,

or a definition of the word, or a gap sentence. If you write 2 or all 3 of these you will learn the word more quickly, and give yourself extra English practice. You could of course copy the definition

and example sentence from the web page, but writing your own is the better choice.

(If you write down a verb, it's best to put its infinitive form.

So for example it's better to write "to purchase" than "purchased" or "to strike" than "struck".)

Now imagine you have a stack of 20 words that you want to learn. To do this, you can test yourself

in many different ways. For example, you can look at the word and try to remember the translation 

or definition; you can look at the gap sentence and try to think of the word that fits in it;

you can look at the word in your language and see if you know the English.

If you get the answer right, write a tick in the left corner on side one of the card, put the card

at the back of your "To learn" stack, and take the next card. If you get it wrong, write a cross and put the card ten places from the front of your stack. When you have three ticks in a row on your card, you know the word and can put the card into a second stack, called the "Done" stack.

You should try and look at about 10-20 words each week in your "To learn stack";

and every few months you can look at some of the cards in your "Done" stack,

just to make sure you haven't forgotten them. If you have, then you can return the card 

to the "To learn" stack and start the process again!

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* Paul Nation, one of the most renowned researchers in the field of vocabulary learning, states:

"There is a very large number of studies showing the effectiveness of such learning

(i.e. using vocabulary cards) in terms of the amount and speed of learning."

http://esl.fis.edu/learners/advice/voccards.htm

You can TCR specialist and language dictionaries that are spontaneously accessed.

I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube  

How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

www.facebook.com/mreenhunt

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Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:

www.innermindworking.blogspot.com        gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life

www.ourinnerminds.blogspot.com              which takes advantage of the experience and expertise of others.

www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com       just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”