I remember several years ago, when I was teaching English in a French multinational, a purchasing manager who had spent years trying to learn English came to my class.
I noticed that he was not really very interested; probably because he didn’t need english for his daily work.
I don’t remember the details of what we talked about, but I do remember that I told him that, in general, learning English was slow because you had to learn a lot of vocabulary and structures. He looked at me as if he couldn’t believe what I was saying, so I clarified:
“Take the Spanish-English dictionary next to you. Open any page and tell me if you know, more or less, all the words you see in Spanish. “He
answered yes, that he knew them.
Then I added: “There is the problem. Now you have to aprendértelas English. “
After this conversation, it never reappeared per class.
My crude words, combined with its lack of interest, made to give up my classes.
Why does it cost so much to learn new structures and vocabulary
from In my view, the problem is not so much the huge amount of vocabulary to be learned, but rather the way in which we try to learn all that information. If the way of learning is inadequate, then there is no way that you will be left with the new structures and vocabulary.
I give an example.
It is obvious that not everyone can take a dictionary and say:
I start with the “A” – First word of the dictionary.
How do you say “abbe” in english? It is said that:
Abbe- (pronounced as in French: a bé) – And I repeat a hundred times “a bé” = abate
You will be with me that by the fifth, or tenth word, most of us would drop dead.
This is precisely what my runaway student imagined: learning a page of the dictionary word for word every day, in addition to having to work long hours in his office.
But then, how have we learned so many words in Spanish without so much effort?
Because in our own language, we use words every day in context.
Without the need for dictionaries, we visualize the situation and associate each term with something that occurs, or that we think, within our environment. Then, when we learn to read, we gradually enrich our vocabulary. Thus, learning does not hurt.
This is, therefore, the great trick to learn new vocabulary and structures; try to learn the words in context; something relatively easy if you live in an Anglo-Saxon country. But when you are in your country it requires an effort.
With this idea in mind, I will list below a series of tools, or resources, that you can use to make learning vocabulary and structures more bearable.
Tools to make learning structures and vocabulary more fun
First of all, keep in mind that you should not consider that you know a word until you know how to pronounce and say it in the correct context.
For example, if I want to learn the word “chug”which means “snort a motor”, it is not enough for me to learn “chug”, I must know that / tʃʌg / -something like / chag / – sounds and I must know how to use it in a sentence.
For example: The boat was chugging down the river. The ship snorted downstream.
To remember this and other new words and structures:
1. Use the most powerful tool you have to retain information: your imagination.
It is almost impossible for you to remember something if you do not relate it to your environment, so it is very important that every time you want to learn a new structure, VISUALICES.
With the previous example I can imagine, for example, a small boat, in the Amazon going downriver. Here we have it.
| The boat was chugging down the river. Notice the detail, I have drawn steam over it to remember “chug” |
I repeat : “The boat was chugging down the river”, using IVONA , or similar software, to remember the sounds. It’s hot, it’s the jungle, I look at the little boat, and I hear the slow and repetitive sound of its engine: chugging, chugging.
For photos you can search Google images by putting the words in English.
If you put “boat + chugging” these images come out . Since you already know it is “chugging”, you choose one where steam comes out of the boat to better visualize the idea.
Remember that when you visualize the situation you are creating the context you need to be able to retain the information. If you don’t see, feel, and repeat the words many times, you will forget them in a few minutes or even seconds.
This system will serve you, above all, when you are learning vocabulary through reading.
2. Draw bullets.
A reader asks me how to make reading in Unit 1 of our free IELTS course more fun .
The truth that the articleIt is very hard because he is thinking so that you increase your vocabulary exponentially. Also think that it has not been adapted for people who have English as a second language, therefore, it is what the natives read and it indicates what is the level of English to which we must aspire to have a good IELTS score. .
When I saw the article again, the first thing that occurred to me was that the story could be drawn in bullets.
IMPORTANT: You don’t need to know how to draw, just make a few sticks with a pencil and put names to each bullet.
Follow these steps:
a) Choose the paragraph you are going to represent. For example this:
“Chris McKinlay was folded into a cramped fifth-floor cubicle in UCLA’s math sciences building, lit by a single bulb and the glow from his monitor. It was 3 in the morning, the optimal time to squeeze cycles out of the supercomputer in Colorado that he was using for his PhD dissertation. (The subject: large-scale data processing and parallel numerical methods.) While the computer chugged, I clicked open a second window to check his OkCupid inbox. ”
B) You draw a square and put elements inside. The lamp, the monitor, the boy in front of the computer, something that represents the word “cramped” (tight, narrow) like the shelves.
I have done it like this, using an online drawing program extremely simple. Although no computer program is needed, just a notebook and pencil. And this came out.
- Cubicle: / kiubíkol / cubicle
- Bulb: / balb / bulb
- Glow: / glou / brightness
- Lit:illuminated
- Cramped:/ krampt / narrow, tight
- Chugg (ed):/ chaagt / snort a motor
For folded and squeeze out I will need to do two other bullets.
As you will see, I was not careful in making a work of art, just something that helps me remember words in context.
3. Use Youtube movies and videos
If you are not preparing a certain exam, and you want to learn vocabulary and structures as you have learned them in your native language, that is, at random, movies are the best. You have the context, you have the image, you have the words and you have the sounds. For this reason, I always recommend movies and videos in my posts.
Here is an example of a video that helps you learn vocabulary in American English.
(upper intermediate level)
Here’s another example of a video for kids and adults in British English.
(intermediate level)
It is important that you have English subtitles and that you listen to only one, or two, minutes – paying close attention to the sound – because otherwise you will be saturated.
4. Play with the words.
In principle, the games are for children, but there is no reason for you to try some games, especially if you get bored with traditional methods.
This formula for learning vocabulary is especially useful when you are not forced to learn some specific vocabulary from an exam. But watch out! never forget to look for the sound of words if they don’t have it.
I leave some links.
Games 1 to learn vocabulary. American English. Pretty good.
Games 2 – 25 online games
Games to do in class.
5. Teach what you learn
This is probably the most effective method of all that exist.
Education researcher Sugata Mitra recommends it for children, and strongly emphasizes that it be in a group. In this video, Sugata tells how the children “taught themselves” English using a computer. (minute 11.27)
Therefore, I recommend that you meet (in person or online) with other people who are learning English, and organize yourself to learn vocabulary and structures together. A group on Facebook is ideal, although it is also possible on Twitter.
The method will be for one person in the group to learn a specific vocabulary and then teach it to the rest of the group. You can use drawings, videos, explanations, games, whatever you consider best so that your “students” learn faster. Then it is the turn of another.
Here you have a list of games for adults that will help you get ideas.
6. Graded Readings
I can’t stop recommending eBBi book and its bilingual audiobooks. The great advantage is that you have it all in one click: vocabulary, structure, translation and sound. Here you can get a free audiobook.
You also have the graduated audiobooks that I have recommended many times in this blog.
ANDHere you have free undergraduate audiobooks. American English.
Finally, I have to recommend our online course by Lingualia , if you have a level lower than B2 (upper intermediate), it will also help you to learn vocabulary and structures. You can try 7 days for free.
As you have seen, to learn more vocabulary and structures there is nothing like putting wings to the imagination. Don’t forget to check the news below, there are interesting topics this week.
