I know it sounds like something your teacher used to make you do, but it works

Question

Writing out sentences, that is. Rather than just putting new words in your flashcards, then reading through the flashcards, write out a sentence with each word. I like to add words I don't know to my flashcards as I'm reading, watching a movie, etc. Then I go back through the list and write sentences with each one of the words or phrases, using the translators and dictionary here as a guide. Not only does it help you memorize the words in your flashcards, you learn/study other words as you try to put together sentences.

The writing part is important, compared to just saying them. Preferably you should write them out in long hand with a pen and paper, though I will admit I type them into the translator. The physical act of writing/typing forces you to concentrate on the words. It's a great study habit, regardless of the material. When I was in college we used to copy out our notebooks when studying for tests, rather than just reading the notes, for this very reason.

I know, it's pretty obvious and boring, but there's a reason why your teachers make you do this. It works.

Answer 1

Kevin, I appreciate this post. My problem is that I am so visually oriented, I have to visualize the sentence in my mind before I start to say it. That probably sounds crazy, but it is the only way I have found to avoid speaking myself into a corner or a position where I can not retrieve my idea.

This makes my conversation very slow, but it avoids a lot of other problems.

I'm very visual, too, which is why wriing works for me. As an engineer, I do most of my designs by drawing pictures. At some point, though, you have to start thinking in Spanish to get the conversational speed up. - KevinB, Sep 9, 2011

I found it takes me a couple of days immersion to get into the rythmn of speaking without visualization. - 0066c384, Sep 9, 2011

Answer 2

It depends on yourself and the way you're used to, for me no matter how many times l write something, l'm never ever capable of remembering it, but for me saying and reading ita few times works so much better, l must admit it writing is a very important part because it helps you to improve your spelling, however for me it only tests my spelling and never teaches me anything.

each mind has its own way thinking, l know many of my friends who never get anything into their minds without writing it, and just reading something or saying it isn't enough for them to remember.

Everyone learns differently. It's just that witing combines several of these methods. But whatever works for you is what works. - KevinB, Sep 9, 2011

Answer 3

Writing helps me tremendously with expanding my Spanish vocabulary. I think writing is a method of recording something in my brain...it works!

Answer 4

This is a blast from the past for me. It reminds me of my 12 years of Catholic school. The nuns would make us write out our spelling word, including sentences five times each (ten times if we made mistakes on our tests). We also employed this method for multiplication tables. You know, it really does work.

So thanks for the reminder Kevin! I think I am going to go "old school" with my Spanish studies. Perhaps the only thing standing between me and the memorization of scores of conjugated verbs is a marble copybook and a #2 pencil!

Answer 5

I agree completely Kevin , I am a great believer in writing down ones sentences as

a way of reinforcing the memory . I write the word of the day down on paper

and make the translation long before I touch the computer , I find this gets the

sentence ( right or wrong ) into my brain much quicker , I have old school exercise

books full of my scribbles alongside my Imac and I spend hours ruffling through

the Dictionary and " Big Red Verb Book ". Believe it or not I have yet to learn to rely

on the computer too much.

Answer 6

I'm exactly like this. In school, I wrote and rewrote pages of notes when studying for tests. When I took the test, I was able to rewrite everything almost exactly word for word.

When learning my second language, Mongolian, I found that I really needed to see how a word is spelled in order to truly understand and learn it. My vocabulary grew exponentially when I learned how to say, "How do you spell that?"

Now that I'm learning Spanish, I find that I still need to know how to spell words, and the best practise is for me to write the word and then use it in a sentence.

I knew a lot of people who thought I was weird for this method, though. They could go into a situation and hear a new word one time and have it stick, whereas I'll hear the word, understand it completely, then have absolutely no memory of it until I hear it again.