How do I remember a list of spanish words quickly?

Question

¿Cómo puedo recordar una lista de veinte adjetivos que describan con sus inglés equivalentes, rapidamente? Is there any good memory technique that I could use?

Thanks for your help.

Seb

Answer 1

There isn't a magic trick that will work for everyone, but if you manage to construct sentences with those words, even though you need to look up more words in the dictionary for the task, you'll learn them much faster and you'll internalise them better. This will work even better if the sentences are connected telling a story, no matter how silly it may sound.

• Thanks...I'll try that now!! - Seb79 Dec 12, 2010

Answer 2

I agree with lazarus, I would also add that teaching or explaining something to somebody else helps you store the information in your long term memory. Anyone in your class up for studying together? Help someone else learn it and you will remember it well.

• I'm the only student in my Spanish class..... - Seb79 Dec 12, 2010
• But I could teach my sister.... - Seb79 Dec 12, 2010
• :D perfect! - athegr8 Dec 12, 2010
• Else, what's a sister for? - samdie Dec 12, 2010
• YesIam sure that wwhen students revise together then learning becomes more effective!:) - FELIZ77 Dec 10, 2011

Answer 3

You can also go to the Flashcard section here and build your own set with just those 20 words. It will go very quickly from there, as you will see it both written out and you'll hear it orally.

• Thanks Echoline!! Brilliant idea....I hadn't thought about that at all!!! - Seb79 Dec 12, 2010
• The reviews built in to the flash cards are excellent, too. I am going to try to do one set per day to build vocabulary. - JoyceM Dec 12, 2010

Answer 4

Repetition and rehearsal, are the key to memory. There are many ways to accomplish this, and the effectiveness of each method probably varies from person to person. Here are a couple of methods that I have found effective for quickly remembering a large amount of information in a short amount of time.

►Break the information into manageable chunks of 5 to 10 items and write these words, together with their translations, over and over until you can write them without having to look at anything for a reference. Make sure to do this both forward and backwards (i.e. Spanish word first/English word first). When you have gone through all of your words in this way, try to recall each word from your list (without looking) and write it out alongside its translation. As you do this, you will likely come across words which you just can't remember from you list. Find out which words these are and write them out again as you did before (i.e. repeatedly), until you are confident that you have got them down pat, and then make another attempt at recalling the entire list of 20 words. Keep repeating these steps until you can recall the entire list of 20 words without trouble. The entire process probably shouldn't take more than about 5-15 minutes (tops) for a list of 20 words.

►Write out the information on a sheet of paper in two columns. For example:

alto		tall
bajo		short in stature
corto		short in length
limpio		clean
sucio		dirty
hermoso		handsome
feo		ugly

The purpose of writing each in a separate column is to allow you the ability to cover one column up (with a sheet of paper for example) and quiz yourself on/review the material very quickly. As you read down one column of words, slowly slide the paper covering the other column down in order to reveal the translation. As you do this, compete with yourself by trying to recall the information before you have revealed it to yourself. As the information becomes more ingrained move the cover paper down the page faster each time. As you go through your list, you are bound to find that some words just seem to "stick" easier than other. As some words become easier, focus more attention to the part of the list or the words that gives you the most trouble, and give this part of the list extra repetitions. Do this with both columns. It shouldn't take long to remember 20 words with their translations in this way.

►You can also make use of the flashcard feature here at SpanishDict, but for the best effectiveness, I would use the flashcards in a slightly different way than what you might have done in the past. First, make your list of 20 words. Then, open up this list in 2-4 separate windows. Minimize the windows so that you have just enough room to see the flashcards on each screen. See below:

Set half of the screens to "flashcard" mode and half of the screens to "recognize" mode (alternatively, you could begin with half the screens set to "recognize" and half set to "listen"), and start each of the (two to) four screens one after the other. If you do this right, each time you answer one of the screens, the next screen (in the next window) should be just ready for you to respond. As you cycle through and finish the "flashcard/recognize" section of one set of flashcards, move on to the next option (i.e. recognize/listen). Try to compete with yourself and answer each flashcard as quickly as possible without allowing much lag time between a question popping up and your answering that question. It shouldn't take long before you know each word (be sure that you don't skip the "recall" section of the flashcards either. This will force you to type the appropriate word from memory).

Other ideas that might be more or less effective would be to develop mnemonic devices (little phrases or rhymes to aid in recall) for the words that just won't stick. Personally, with rare exception, I have not relied to heavily on this method; however, I know other people who find this to be a very useful tool for memorization.

I just want to note that if your goal is long term memory, I don't think that any of the methods listed above is sufficient on its own. They might help you pass a test in a pinch, but they are not likely to give you lasting memory. What they can do is etch that preliminary indentation into your memory that might eventually become a well trod path. For lasting memory you will need to periodically review/recall this information, and the best way to accomplish this is through in-context contact and usage (in the form of reading, writing, listening or speaking).

That being said, I think that an extremely useful method for laying the foundations for long term retention is to use a technique often referred to as sentence mining. There are many articles written on the idea of sentence mining (especially in relation to SRS—Spaced Repetition Systems), but if you are unfamiliar with the idea of sentence mining, in a nutshell it simply refers to the idea that the best way to learn individual words and phrases within a language is to learn them in-context. With sentence mining, you simply look for instances of the word in question being used in-context (for example in books, magazines, TV and radio programs, on the internet, etc.) and collect several of these instances/short sentences or phrases (in a notebook, using an SRS like Anki or mnemosyne, etc). The idea is that by doing this you create a sort of language "web" within the memory where words are connected to other words in a natural way rather than being learned in isolation or in the abstract.

• Wow, you really worked hard. :D - culé Dec 12, 2010
• To date all scientific studies support what Izanoni has written. I would especially like to emphasize not skipping the recall section on the flashcards. - territurtle Aug 22, 2011
• If you use the smart phone version of Anki, you can build on your long term memory of Spanish whenever you have 20 seconds and your phone in your pocket! - stu40 Dec 9, 2011

Answer 5

You could create sentences that have related words (or even unrelated ones as suggested by lazarus)

Example:

Nurses work with doctors in hospitals to help patients.

Las enfermeras trabajan con los médicos en los hospitales para ayudar a los pacientes.

Los gatos trabajan con los perros en los restaurantes para entretener a los clientes.

The cats work with the dogs in the restaurants to entertain the clients.

• If I was clever enough to formulate sentences like your second one, I'd be miles ahead of where I am now! - territurtle Aug 22, 2011
• Great Idea, Ian :) - FELIZ77 Dec 10, 2011

Answer 6

Yes, I agree that learning vocab in context is the best way. It also depends what kind of learner you are. You might like to say the sentences out loud so that you can establish patterns. You might want to write them out over and over again - I use this technique to learn verb conjugations. Or you might want to act out the sentences, either physically or paint a picture mentally. The basic idea is to associate the words with something rather than just a mindless, endless list of individual words.

Best of luck !

Answer 7

Aside from flash cards, music helps me out termedously. There are songs that we studied in high school Spanish class (I graduated in '02) that I still remember to this day! Try to take a really catchy song and make a "remix" to it. Sometimes, the sillier, the better!

Answer 8

Hola,

Try to compose sentences which include your word, short ones, popular expressions...

Buena suerte

Answer 9

I agree with Izanoni1 - SRS software is the best way to learn any amount of information for long term memorisation. Smartphone apps like Ankidroid make the software available whenever you have your phone in your pocket, and 20 seconds to spare.

After having used Ankidroid myself every day for over 4 months, I feel a sense of achievement at the volume of Spanish I have covered. And it's fun too.

Answer 10

Lazarus's advice is very good: you need to use the new words you have just learnt in order to effectively remember them!

What I do when I am learning new vocabulary in the flashcard section is first to see which words are closest to the Spanish and learn them first For me this is very easy because the ''recognize'' and ''listen sections'' use the multiple choice method so this helps to reinforce the words without having to exactly memorise them. I simply make a quick connection between the similar words and move on.

I think... okay, artery is = la arteria very similar(!) and when I see it in the recognize and listen sections I can immediately click on it without having to really think much about it This frees up my conscious memory so that it can focus on words that are not similar

If I were to do what you are doing: making lists of words I would then make sentences using the more tricky words that do not sound or look the same in both languages. You would need to write each word out at least three times preferably usng a different sentence each time!

Now, if you could draw a little picture, or using Microsoft WORD add a Clip art illustration next to each word this might help you in a bigger way because learning by association is a very effective way!.

Furthermore, if you could somehow incorporate at least one of your new words into a sentence for Word of the Day or Picture of the Day managed by Marshall and Chris then this could really help you to remember.!

You need to know above all what kind of learner you are.People fall into one of these three groups. Aural, Visual or Tactile Kinaesthetic We are all capable of learning using any or all these styles evn at teh same time(! )but we usually find one style is our predominant learning style:

Aural: We learn best by listening to new informtion and processing it through hearing the information repeated Useful tips:listen to the words spoken by yourself or another person on a tape recorder

Visual: We learn best by seeing the information displayed visually.through pictures/icons and mind maps (Google: Tony Buzan) etc... Useful tips: Draw pictures to accompany the words or if possible to ancapsulate the idea.

Tactile Kinaesthetic: We learn best when we are very actively involved in doing something and/or moving around while we are learning This really stimulates us and enables to grasp the ideas. Useful tips: Act out the word if possible If the word is kind try to act-out doing a kind deed for someonewhile repeadly saying teh word! If the word is bright you could pretetend to shine a torch or get a real torch and say the word in the desired language while shining the torch!

These ideas are based on and built around people's preferred learning styles. The most effective way is to make connections in your learning between the word and the idea: either aurally through imagination, visually through seeing or actively through doing! If you can apply all three approaches into your learning then this will probably help you in a big way!

I hope this helps

Update: The most important thing is to use these new words in real time conversations with people This will enable you to remember them long term when you are regularly using them in appropriate ways!