Vocabulary lists, what can you do?
You can’t learn English or any other foreign language using only them, but you can’t learn a language without them either. One great aid is to learn memorization techniques that will allow you or your learners to quickly and easily memorize even a fairly lengthy list of foreign language vocabulary. One such technique excerpted from my dynamic activity foreign language-learning e-book, “You CAN Learn a Foreign Language: Tested Techniques ANYONE Can Use to Learn ANY Foreign Language”, which you can use starting right now, follows here.
Let’s start by taking the following list of 18 common English words:
hat
hen
ham
oar
whale
shoe
key
wife
pie
toys
tot
twine
thumb
tire
till
dish
duck
dove
You’re going to memorize this list of 18 words in 5 minutes or less.
Oh, Yes you CAN!
Here’s how you’re going to do it:
Making a Memory Movie
This 18-word vocabulary string could be memorized as a sort of ridiculous movie like this:
A colorful hat falls down onto the head of a hen sitting on a nest of three eggs which look just like three small, whole hams. You slip an oar under the hams to take them out from under the hen by putting one end of the oar into a whale’s mouth. The whale swims backwards to slide the hams from under the hen, but the whale’s tail smacks into a giant, fashionable shoe floating on the water.
Sticking out of the shoe is a key that your (someone else’s) wife is trying to take out of the shoe. In her other hand she holds a steaming hot pie (your favorite kind of course) and there are toys sticking out of the pie which she then holds out to her tot crawling towards her so (s)he can get the toys sticking out of the pie. Tying the tot’s ankles together is a length of twine leading back to a big thumb that is jerking back and forth on the twine. See the thumb jerking back and forth?
The thumb is sticking up out of big, old, dirty car or truck tire. The tire just rolled down a hill because the fancy dish it was sitting on cracks and breaks because of the tire’s weight. There's a till (cash register) keeping count each time the thumb jerks - Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Ka-ching! The sound attracts a quacking duck which waddles over and starts to peck at the pieces of the dish when a white dove flies over dropping olive branches on the duck.
Remember, really “see” the movie in your head in as much detail and graphic motion as possible. “Hear” the sounds of the whale splashing in the water, the dish breaking, the duck quacking and the olive branches as they crash onto the duck’s back. The more ridiculous, outrageous and vivid your movie is, the more memorable it becomes.
Have you done it?
Have you really memorized the word list?
Yes, you have!
Now here’s proof!
Recalling the Word String
- Ok, now play the “movie” back in your mind,
saying the words on the list out loud.
No peeking back at the word list!
Recalling the word string is much easier, faster and more accurate than you’d originally imagined, isn’t it?
- Now give the word string IN REVERSE,
starting from the last word to the first word.
Very likely you could do so easily by playing the movie in your head, backwards if you needed to, right?
Simple isn’t it?
If you didn’t do as well as you’d like the first attempt, try it again. You’ll very soon get the hang of it. Using this type of memorization technique, you can memorize almost any list of English or foreign language vocabulary in 5 minutes or less.
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, by sending an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
You can’t learn English or any other foreign language using only them, but you can’t learn a language without them either. One great aid is to learn memorization techniques that will allow you or your learners to quickly and easily memorize even a fairly lengthy list of foreign language vocabulary. One such technique excerpted from my dynamic activity foreign language-learning e-book, “You CAN Learn a Foreign Language: Tested Techniques ANYONE Can Use to Learn ANY Foreign Language”, which you can use starting right now, follows here.
Let’s start by taking the following list of 18 common English words:
hat
hen
ham
oar
whale
shoe
key
wife
pie
toys
tot
twine
thumb
tire
till
dish
duck
dove
You’re going to memorize this list of 18 words in 5 minutes or less.
Oh, Yes you CAN!
Here’s how you’re going to do it:
Making a Memory Movie
This 18-word vocabulary string could be memorized as a sort of ridiculous movie like this:
A colorful hat falls down onto the head of a hen sitting on a nest of three eggs which look just like three small, whole hams. You slip an oar under the hams to take them out from under the hen by putting one end of the oar into a whale’s mouth. The whale swims backwards to slide the hams from under the hen, but the whale’s tail smacks into a giant, fashionable shoe floating on the water.
Sticking out of the shoe is a key that your (someone else’s) wife is trying to take out of the shoe. In her other hand she holds a steaming hot pie (your favorite kind of course) and there are toys sticking out of the pie which she then holds out to her tot crawling towards her so (s)he can get the toys sticking out of the pie. Tying the tot’s ankles together is a length of twine leading back to a big thumb that is jerking back and forth on the twine. See the thumb jerking back and forth?
The thumb is sticking up out of big, old, dirty car or truck tire. The tire just rolled down a hill because the fancy dish it was sitting on cracks and breaks because of the tire’s weight. There's a till (cash register) keeping count each time the thumb jerks - Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Ka-ching! The sound attracts a quacking duck which waddles over and starts to peck at the pieces of the dish when a white dove flies over dropping olive branches on the duck.
Remember, really “see” the movie in your head in as much detail and graphic motion as possible. “Hear” the sounds of the whale splashing in the water, the dish breaking, the duck quacking and the olive branches as they crash onto the duck’s back. The more ridiculous, outrageous and vivid your movie is, the more memorable it becomes.
Have you done it?
Have you really memorized the word list?
Yes, you have!
Now here’s proof!
Recalling the Word String
- Ok, now play the “movie” back in your mind,
saying the words on the list out loud.
No peeking back at the word list!
Recalling the word string is much easier, faster and more accurate than you’d originally imagined, isn’t it?
- Now give the word string IN REVERSE,
starting from the last word to the first word.
Very likely you could do so easily by playing the movie in your head, backwards if you needed to, right?
Simple isn’t it?
If you didn’t do as well as you’d like the first attempt, try it again. You’ll very soon get the hang of it. Using this type of memorization technique, you can memorize almost any list of English or foreign language vocabulary in 5 minutes or less.
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, by sending an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
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3 comments:
Like your article on EFL.
This is quite a good way of memorizing certain key vocabulary in a particular topic when teaching a concept. I like and appreciate it. But how can one make those learning English as a second language actually enjoy learning English without getting frustrated with the new words that develop in the course of creating a memorable verse.
This is quite a good way of memorizing certain key vocabulary in a particular topic when teaching a concept. I like and appreciate it. But how can one make those learning English as a second language actually enjoy learning English without getting frustrated with the new words that develop in the course of creating a memorable verse.
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