05 Track 5

Unit 11

The mystery of memory

Chapter 2

Words to Remember

Page 195

Words to Remember

How many English words do you need to know in order to be considered fluent? Experts disagree on the exact number of words learners need to know to achieve fluency in a new language, but they generally agree that you need to know at least several thousand.

Many language learners have at some point wished that they could simply insert a computer chip into their memories containing all the vocabulary of the target language.

Although that isn’t yet feasible, with training, the potential of the human memory can be unlocked. Many teachers suggest accelerating the vocabulary-building process by using mnemonics.

Simply put, mnemonics are methods used to help remember information that is otherwise difficult to recall. There are a wide variety of methods and different ones work better for different people, depending on their learning styles.

The loci method is a primarily visual system of remembering things. The association method encourages people to link target words to memorable images and utilize their senses.

The grouping method works well for people who are good at linking concepts and organizing ideas together.

The Loci method

This method is very useful for remembering lists of words. Before using this method, it is necessary to visualize a path that you know well, such as the way to school or to work.

Next, looking at your list of words, you’ll need to create an image for each word, ideally one that is vivid and memorable.

For example, for the word “accelerate,” you might choose the image of a race car; an image for the word “enormous” might be a dinosaur.

Creating these images may take a little practice. Then, imagine yourself walking down your path and put the images you associated with the words at certain common landmarks, like seeing a race car at the convenience store, dinosaur in the park, etc.

Finally, put away the list and move along the path in your mind again, recalling as many words as you can.

The association method

To commit a word to memory, it can help to associate it with an image that is memorable in some way − colorful, funny, embarrassing, beautiful, etc.

For example, if you are trying to remember the meaning of the word “tremendous,” you might associate it with tremendously large trees and men.

This image is connected to the word not only in meaning, but also in the sound of the first two syllables of the word. Say the word “tremendous”, and you hear “tree” and “men.”

This pairing of meaning, sound and images can help you memorize new words more quickly.

The grouping method

Try to memorize the following words: radio, pencil, index card, notebook, book, marker, magazine, newspaper, stereo, pen, MP3 player, paper.

These words are meaningless on their own. But try dividing the list up into smaller groups (things you write with, things you write on, things you read, and things you listen to) and you’ll probably find that you are able to recollect more words.

When you encounter word lists that aren’t so clearly divisible, you may need to be creative about categorizing the words.

What these three methods of memorization have in common is the idea of active learning.

While it is certainly possible to absorb a great deal of information by just listening or reading, there is no guarantee that the information will remain in your memory in the future.

We’ve looked at just a few of the many types of mnemonic devices that can be applied by language learners. In the end, it really depends on your own learning style and how you best retain information.

Why not try a variety of methods and find the ones that work best for you?