How to memorize foreign words

At the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​(!) in the pre-smartphone era, they called me a “walking dictionary,” although my memory seemed average. I'll share the tactics I used.

People remember information differently, and teachers won't be much help. There are no universal memorization techniques; everyone must study how their memory works on their own. In general, our ability to remember rests on 2 pillars:

  • emotions (his surname is complicated, but I remembered it easily: it sounds funny);

  • associative connections (his surname is complicated, but I remembered it easily: a friend had a similar one).

Emotions

When we sleep, the brain filters the information received during the day for its significance for “survival.” He considers what evokes emotions – negative or positive – to be important for survival. The brighter they are, the greater the chance that the information will be retained in memory. (We will not discuss repressing traumatic memories now.)

Imagine leaving your apartment and seeing a stranger with a knife. He just came to his neighbor: well, he doesn’t have a grindstone! You will remember this situation forever: your brain will assign it the highest priority.

The psyche, preoccupied with the problem of “survival,” can be deceived by daily repetition: She also perceives frequently occurring pieces of information as vitally important. and stores it in memory.

Associative connections

Words are better remembered in context: the more associations attached to a word, the greater the chance that it will stick in memory. Without context, fixed expressions or idioms are remembered well, because they themselves contain a vivid image. Let’s kill two birds with one stone: remember the idiom + the words it consists of.

When a person appears next to us, emotional interaction immediately begins, even if there are no words or gestures. Even a stranger. Even at the other end of an empty subway car. We begin to take into account the presence of this person at all levels.

The language environment does not provide any special miracles. In the same way, you have to memorize thousands of words and their individual meanings. But there they are spoken by real people in real situations. It is no coincidence that we remember in detail “meaningless” everyday dialogues: they are strung with a huge number of associations, moreover, supported by emotions.

An interesting film brings us as close as possible to the linguistic environment: facial expressions, intonation of the actor, surroundings, and plot context work to remember phrases. Therefore, at some point I almost completely switched to watching TV series (if not at home — podcasts), and reduced working with texts to using English-English explanatory dictionaries and searching for the necessary information on English-language resources.

The text/textbook usually loses to live interaction with the teacher. The mind understands that the textbook is important. But the psyche is like a stupid teenager: are there any funny pictures? interesting, save it. No – merciless ignore.

Interaction with people is an inexhaustible source of emotionally charged situations. Take full advantage of this! Returning home, we say the English idiom loudly and clearly instead of “good evening.” In response to puzzled looks, we provide a translation of the idiom and explain why it was necessary. Twisted at my temple We laughed, exchanged positive emotions, remembered this incident for a long time and, at least for some time, the idiom itself. (This incident itself will become the main association associated with the idiom.)

But you cannot use the same technique with a large amount of material. One idiom – one unlike others life situation. Imagine that a relative comes from an English course and joyfully dumps the words he just learned on you. You won't remember them: several unrelated words are too complex material to associate with one situation. But if he tells the story of the funny expression And Bob's your uncle! (“and it’s all in the bag” in our opinion), you will remember this situation for a long time and, with a high probability, the expression itself.

Ways to use life situations to remember can and should be non-standard. Write a short idiom on your hand – you will remember this experience for a long time. The idiom itself will also stick in your memory for a while.

In my environment, no one except me speaks English. However, I introduced several English expressions into use. Those for which there are no direct analogues in Russian take root especially well: fair enough, take your time, designated driver. Very soon they become as simple and natural as I love you.

Rename the contacts on your phone into simple nouns or adjectives: you will constantly look at them, and a strong association will arise between the person and the word. It is absolutely necessary to make all passwords in idioms. Why clutter your head with meaningless Lenusik87? There is also a set phrase under no circumstances, which also contains a word that is difficult to spell. Enter on different devices for a couple of years – nothing will knock you out later.

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