Maltalingua School of English Blog

Without vocabulary, we would not be able to express ourselves or communicate. As we all know it is very difficult to remember new vocabulary so teacher Abbie is here to help you out! She has different tips and tricks on how to remember new vocabulary quickly and easily.

1. By using the new vocabulary immediately and putting it into context as a personal story we build a picture of the meaning and we make the word come to life and make it relevant to us.
2. Flash cards are a teacher’s best friend. They are perfect to show exactly what a word means. By seeing a visual representation of the word, we are able to connect the word to a real thing. By playing memory games with pictures and words we can practise pronunciation by say the word out loud and matching words to pictures. Try playing flashcard games against your friends. It brings an element of competition to learning and will motivate you to remember the words.
3. Collocations will help you use your new vocabulary in different ways. Some words can be used in different contexts. By learning the collocations, this will help you to know how to use the word in the correct context and make yourself sound more like a native speaker.
4. The visual thesaurus is a mind map of words and synonyms that link to your new word. This can require a little bit of extra word-work as you have to think of as many words that are similar to your new word as possible. However, in the long run, it will help you to broaden your vocabulary collection.
5. Challenge yourself! At the start of every day choose 5 new words to use throughout the day so that you are aware of how to use the words in natural real-life scenarios.