Do you keep forgetting the new vocabulary you’ve learned?
It’s really annoying to study hard… and then discover that you can’t remember the words a few days later.
But there are PROVEN ways to remember what you learn much better – and I’ll teach you two very effective ones today!
These techniques are what we use inside my Vocabulary Builder Courses.
💡 Tip #1 – We remember words better with IMAGES
Let me tell you about an interesting experiment.
Students learned a lesson, then were tested to see how much of the lesson they remembered three days later.
When the lesson was only verbal (the teacher talking), students remembered about 20% of the content they had heard.
When the lesson was only written (reading a text), things were even worse – students could only remember about 10% of what they had read.
But when the lesson was verbal AND visual, students remembered 65% of the content after three days. That’s a big improvement!
There is a lot of scientific evidence showing that pictures and images help you remember what you’re learning more effectively. Our brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, and we remember visual information for a longer time.
So how can this help you improve your vocabulary?
When studying English, most students just study text, text, and more text. They read word lists and definitions, trying to memorize them.
This method is difficult… and it’s not very effective!
But learning vocabulary with pictures has a lot of benefits:
- you understand the word faster and remember it longer
- you learn to associate the image directly with the English word
(not by translating from your native language) - it’s just more fun to learn with pictures 🙂
That’s why my Vocabulary Builder Course is full of great pictures and illustrations!
💡 Tip #2 – ACTIVELY use new vocabulary words yourself
There’s nothing worse than WANTING to use a particular English word… and KNOWING that you know the word; you’ve studied the word… but you just can’t think of it at the moment. It’s really frustrating!
Why is it so hard to bring words to mind when you need to use them?
The answer is related to active vs. passive vocabulary.
Your passive vocabulary includes words that you can recognize and understand if you see them, or if someone else says them to you.
Your active vocabulary is the words that you can understand AND use yourself.
(Note: This has nothing to do with “active voice” and “passive voice” in grammar. It is a completely different concept.)
Most people have a bigger passive vocabulary than active vocabulary. This means you can understand better than you can speak.
You know a lot of English words, but you feel like you don’t have enough vocabulary to express yourself fully.
So how can you turn your passive vocabulary (words you recognize) into active vocabulary (words you can use)?
To remember new vocabulary better, USE the new words right away.
Every time you learn a new English word, I suggest writing down:
- The word
- The definition in English (or translation)
- 1 example sentence from the article or dictionary
- 1 example sentence that YOU create
My Vocabulary Builder Course makes it easy to put new words into practice!
Because at the end of each lesson, there are two exercises:
- A quiz to help you review and test your knowledge of the new words
- Short-answer writing exercises to help you create your own sentences using the new vocabulary. You can also send your sentences in for feedback from the Espresso English teaching team!
The strategy of “using new words right away” and creating your own example sentences is something you can do at ANY level of English – from beginner to advanced.
If you make this a habit, then you’ll find yourself with a much larger “active vocabulary,” making it easier to speak and write in English without pausing to think of the right word.
I hope you’ve found these two tips helpful, and I’d love to see you inside the Vocabulary Builder Courses!
