When learning a foreign language, almost every person has a question about how to memorize foreign words quickly. Currently, there are many methods and techniques that will help expand a foreign vocabulary easily and quickly, without resorting to tedious cramming, often without benefit.

Method of interaction of sensations

This method works most effectively when used in a duet with other ways and methods of memorizing words.

The method of interaction of sensations shows how to better memorize foreign words through sensory perception. It is based not on a simple mechanical memorization of a word or phrase, but on their presentation and comparison with any sensations. This approach helps to use the studied words more confidently in colloquial speech and not spend too much time simply remembering them. With the mere mention of a person, object, action or phenomenon, the previously used sensory associations will automatically remind the brain of the necessary word.

An example is the English word cup, translated into Russian as "cup". When using the method of interaction of sensations, one should not only memorize the pair "word - translation", but also imagine the cup itself, the manipulations that can be performed with it, as well as the sensations that can be associated with it.

The method of interaction of sensations can be combined with mnemonics based on the search for consonances in the native language and the inclusion of sound associations and translation into a common, easily remembered phrase. The English word cup is very similar to the Russian "cap". Based on a consonant association and translation, it is easy to compose a phrase like: "Water drips from a tap into a mug: drip-drip-drip." This combination of techniques perfectly shows how to memorize foreign words quickly and efficiently. Mnemonics help to translate the word into long-term memory, and the method of interaction of sensations helps to fix it in memory and remind the brain of it when it needs to be used.

Method of cards and stickers

Based on the repetition of 10-20 words during the day. Small rectangles are cut from thick paper or cardboard. On one side words are written in a foreign language, on the other - a Russian translation. Words are viewed at any free moment: at breakfast, lunch or dinner, in transport, at work, etc. You can view both foreign words and their translation in Russian. The main thing - when viewing, try to remember the translation of the word or its original sound and spelling in a foreign language.

Lessons with cards can be made more effective if carried out in several stages:

1. Introduction to new words. Pronunciation, search for associations, initial memorization.
2. Memorization of new foreign words. Restoration of the translation into Russian in memory, constant shuffling of cards until all the words are learned.
3. A stage similar to the previous one, but in reverse order - working with words in Russian.
4. Consolidation of learned words. The fastest repetition of words using a stopwatch. The purpose of this stage is to recognize words without translation.

The original version of the card method is the use of stickers. With their help, you can learn the names of surrounding objects and actions that can be performed with them. For example, you can stick the English "door" on the door, and "push" on the side from which the door needs to be pushed, and "pull" on the side where the door is pulled into, on its handle.

Another option for working with stickers is sticking them in those places where the student can most often see them. This could be computer space (including screen), bathroom mirror, kitchen shelves, etc. Any foreign words can be written on stickers. The main condition is that the stickers should often catch the eye.

The use of stickers clearly shows how to memorize the words of a foreign language using visual information.

Associations

This is a very interesting and easy way to learn, which is suitable even for toddlers. Methods of lexical or phonetic associations tell how to memorize foreign words using Russian consonant with them. At the same time, a foreign and a Russian word consonant with it must be related in meaning. If such a semantic connection is not clearly visible, it should be invented independently.

For example, the English word palm in translation into Russian means "palm" and is consonant with Russian "palm". To memorize the meaning of the word palm with the help of association, one should think that palm leaves are like human palms with spread fingers.

Don't think that there are exceptions for association methods. It is quite easy to pick up similar-sounding words in Russian for one foreign word, while another is completely inconsonant with nothing. However, for any foreign word, you can choose either a consonant variant, or divide it into its component parts and look for a similar phrase in Russian.

Or divide one compound word into two, simple ones already known to the student of the language, and by combining their translations, make up a single association. For example, the English word butterfly (butterfly) is easily divided into butter (oil) and fly (fly, fly). Thus, the butterfly is easily remembered with the help of such associations as "a fly in butter" or "oil flies".

Association methods are described in many works of professional linguists and are widely used in the practice of language schools. Some of the most interesting works and effective methods were proposed by Igor Yuryevich Matyugin, the developer of a special technique that develops attention and memory. To make it easier to understand how to memorize foreign words, I.Yu. Matyugin presented the world with a book containing 2,500 English words with vivid and interesting associations.

Yartsev method

It is best suited for those who are easier to perceive information visually. This method will not tell you how to memorize hundreds of foreign words a day, but it will definitely help to significantly expand your vocabulary, fixing it in long-term memory.

The essence of the Yartsev method lies in a certain recording of words. An ordinary notebook sheet is divided into 3 columns. In the first one the word is written, in the second - its translation. The third column is for synonyms and antonyms, as well as examples of phrases and phrases that will contain the word being studied.

A pleasant moment of using this technique is the absence of cramming. The written words should be reread from time to time, thus gradually fixing them in memory. But one reading will not be enough. Words, in addition to lists, should also appear in articles, films, etc. Thus, they must be activated in memory.

Grouping Methods

This technique helps to figure out how to quickly memorize foreign words. Combining them into groups can occur:

• Within the meaning of.
• On grammatical grounds.

In the case of grouping by meaning, words that are synonyms or antonyms are collected together. The purpose of this grouping is to maximize the enrichment of the vocabulary. An example is the following group of words translated into any foreign language:

good, great, great, great, bad, unimportant, etc.

There can be a lot of options for grouping words according to grammatical features. When compiling groups, you can rely on words with the same root, on nouns of the same gender, on verbs with a certain ending, etc. Such a grouping helps not only to replenish vocabulary, but also to improve understanding of the basics of the grammar of the language.

Mnemonic associations

Mnemonics is a creative approach to the question of how to memorize foreign words and enter them into long-term memory. According to this method, for each foreign word it is necessary to come up with a consonant Russian that will be associated with the foreign original. Then the sound association and translation are combined into a phrase or story that needs to be remembered. The repetition algorithm looks like this:

• foreign word.
• Consonant association in Russian.
• Phrase or story.
• Translation.

As part of the methodology, the algorithm for each word is spoken 4 times a day for two days. The result is the exclusion of the "association" and "history, phrase" stages from the algorithm and the transfer of the "foreign word - translation" pair to the brain area responsible for long-term memory.

Initially, the story gets into it, while the translation is delayed in fast memory by only 30 minutes. In the future, at one glance at the word, a sound association will pop up in memory, a phrase will be remembered with it, and then a translation is extracted from the phrase. The algorithm will also work in the opposite direction: the translation helps the brain to remember the phrase, and a sound analogy is extracted from it or the story, which reminds of the original foreign word. Thus, the technique of mnemonic associations shows how to effectively memorize foreign words, leaving them in memory for a long time.

An example is the English word puddle, which means "puddle" in Russian. The sound association for him will be the Russian "fell", and as a phrase it will do: "Nikita fell into a puddle many times." The word repetition algorithm would look like this:

• Puddle (original foreign word).
• Falling (sound association).
• Nikita fell into a puddle many times (a phrase or story containing a consonant association and translation).
• Puddle (translation).

Using the method of mnemonic associations, in order to easily memorize foreign words, it is not necessary to come up with consonances and examples of phrases on your own. Currently, there are a large number of information resources that offer ready-made algorithms for memorizing foreign words and phrases.

Spaced repetitions

The spaced repetition method also suggests learning foreign words using flashcards. Its main difference from the card method is the suggestion of how to memorize foreign words. The spaced repetition method assumes that the words on the cards will be viewed and pronounced at certain intervals. Thanks to this repetition algorithm, the studied foreign words will be fixed in the long-term memory of the brain. But without the lack of repetition, the brain will "delete" unnecessary (in its opinion) information.

The spaced repetition method is not always useful and appropriate. For example, when learning frequently used words (days of the week, frequent actions, etc.), which are constantly heard and regularly used in speech, the repetition of words will become a natural process - they will often occur in conversations, when reading and watching videos.

Listening

This method will be ideal for those who like to listen to music or any information. It is based on listening to foreign words that must be pronounced correctly, as well as their repetition. Both special educational audio recordings and various videos with a detailed analysis of words, phrases and sentences can serve as materials.

Reading

When deciding how to memorize foreign words, books, articles and other printed materials in the target language can be of great help. Learning words while reading texts in a foreign language is appropriate when a person studying a language already knows about 2-3 thousand words. It is with the presence of such a vocabulary that the understanding of simple texts comes.

The best option for memorizing through reading is to write out unknown words from texts. In this case, you do not need to write out all the incomprehensible phrases in a row. Attention should be paid only to those without which it is impossible to understand the general meaning of the sentences. Surely they will come in handy in the further use of a foreign language. Such memorization will be much more efficient, since new information is "extracted" from the context, forming more vivid and pronounced associations in memory.

The number of written words should also be limited. To replenish vocabulary without interrupting reading, it is enough to write out just a few of them from one read page.

If you wish, you can do without writing out, as the vocabulary is replenished even in the process of continuous reading. But memorizing words and fixing them in long-term memory in this case is much slower.

Video viewing

Learning new words from videos also requires the learner to have certain knowledge of the language. Otherwise, it will be quite difficult to understand which foreign word, still unknown to the student, was uttered. Watching videos in a foreign language allows you to achieve two results at once: expand your vocabulary and improve your listening comprehension skills.

The easiest approach in this technique is to watch the video without the distraction of writing out unknown words. But the most positive result will be achieved only if, during the viewing, you stop the film, take notes and analyze new words and phrases for the language learner.

The method of phonetic (sound) associations (MPA) arose because in various languages ​​of the world there are words or parts of words that sound the same, but have different meanings. In addition, in different languages ​​there are words that have a common origin, but over time have acquired different meanings. Often people use this method without realizing that they are using it.

The first references to the effectiveness of applying methods similar to MFA are found in the literature at the end of the last century. In the 70s of our century, R. Atkinson, a professor at Stanford University, studied in detail the use of associations in the process of mastering a language. He and his colleagues had a group of Russian language students memorize words using the "Keyword method" while a control group memorized the same words using traditional methods. Atkinson's "key words" are nothing more than words that are phonetic (sound) associations to memorized words, consonance words. Numerous experiments by Atkinson and his colleagues proved the high efficiency of this method of memorizing foreign words. The method of phonetic associations as a method of memorizing foreign words is becoming more and more popular in the world.

Now let's take a closer look at what exactly the method of sound associations is. In order to memorize a foreign word, you need to choose a consonant to it, that is, a similar-sounding word in your native or well-known language. Then you need to make a small plot of the word-consonance and translation. For example, a consonant word to the English word look (bow) "look" will be the Russian word "bow". The plot can be like this: “I can’t LOOK when I cut the “ONION.” The plot must be drawn up so that the approximate sound of the word and its translation are, as it were, in one bundle, and are not torn apart from each other, that is, actually for memorization. A consonant word does not have to completely coincide with a foreign, rather consonant part. For example: MESH (mesh) LOOP, CELL (networks). Words can be considered consonant: "bag", or "interfere", or "sag" - as you like Depending on the chosen consonance, the plots can be as follows: "A LOOP Hinders getting out" or "The bag is tied with a LOOP" or "Stumbled in the LOOP". It is important that the remaining (auxiliary) words in the plot be as neutral as possible, not causing vivid images. Such words should be as few as possible.This is necessary in order not to confuse them with the necessary ones, that is, with the words that you memorized.Necessary words (word-consonance and word-translation), on the contrary, must and ways to highlight, to focus on them. If it is not possible to make a semantic accent, then at least intonation.

With the help of the IPA, you can memorize many words in one sitting. And most importantly, this method will help you get rid of endless repetitions of memorized words - it is enough to pick up a sound association for a word once and make up a plot. Specific examples will tell you more about the nuances of using this method. DIVONA means "FOOL" in the Dari language (the language spoken in Afghanistan). The Russian word closest in sound to the word "divona" is "sofa". The consonance word does not have to completely coincide with the remembered foreign word, the main thing is that it can serve as a kind of key with which we could find the necessary word in our memory. But it can serve as a key only if we compose a plot from these two words, so that the actualization of one word from the plot entails the recall of another. At the same time, as you already know, the more unusual and vivid the plot, the better it is remembered. For the words "sofa" and "fool" the plot can be as follows: "The fool fell from the SOFA." It is important to pronounce out loud both the memorized word and the consonant word. First of all, this must be done in order for your memory to capture in its natural course how the consonance word is similar to the memorized one and how it differs. As a rule, it is enough to say both words 2-3 times.

Here's another example: ARRESTO - STOP in Italian. The consonant word "arrest" (just the case when the memorized word and the consonance word have a common origin, but over time the meanings of these words diverged). The simplest plot is as follows: Someone was ARRESTED at the bus stop. Here it is better not to specify who specifically, so that when playing back, not to confuse the memorized word with this extra word. In such cases, you can use pronouns, and when reviving the plot, imagine that the matter happened with some of your acquaintances, and even better with yourself. At the same time, if you make a story about yourself: “I was arrested at the bus stop,” then it will be easy to apply the method of co-sensation to it to increase the efficiency of memorization.

You will probably record the memorized words, consonances and plots on paper. In this case, do not be too lazy to highlight the memorized word, translation and that part of the consonance word that resembles the memorized one in the letter. To do this, you can use a different size, italics, underlining, etc. It also contributes to better memorization (due to the interaction of visual and auditory memory).

In general, the best effect in memorizing foreign words is achieved with the simultaneous use of MVVO and IPA.

Often, in order to memorize a foreign word, one has to select not one, but two consonant words. This is necessary when the word is long enough and there is no similar word in the native language. In this case, the foreign word must be divided into two parts and a consonant word should be selected for each of its parts (words should be short if possible and contain as many common sounds as possible with the memorized). For example, for the English word NAPKIN (nepkin) - NAPKIN, we select two consonant words: "Neptune" (or "Fidget" or "NEP") and KINul. It remains to draw up a plot, for example, "Neptune threw a NAPKIN at me." At the same time, in the plot, the first and second consonant words must necessarily follow one after the other, and there should not be any words between them. Well, if, reviving the plot and presenting it as a frame from a movie, you take advantage of the exaggeration of associations. For example, imagine that a huge napkin was thrown at you, so huge that it covered your head. Do not forget to use the method of co-feeling as well.

Some people, choosing an association for this word, will prefer a longer, but also more phonetically accurate association made up of two words: Fountain and Gaiters. And the corresponding plot: "I forgot in the Gaiters Fountain." The other part of the people will prefer the less phonetically accurate, but shorter association "bassoon" (here "a" is unstressed and almost "o" is heard) and the corresponding plot, composed of the words "forget" and "bassoon".

It should be noted that this method is not without reason called phonetic or sound associations. It is necessary to select the association specifically for the sound, and not the spelling of the word (after all, in many languages, the sound and spelling of words are very different). Therefore, first of all, before choosing a consonance, make sure that you pronounce the word correctly. There are other methods for memorizing the spelling of words.

It should also be said that, due to purely anatomical differences in the pronunciation of sounds in different languages, the memorized word and the consonance word will never sound exactly the same, even if they seem to completely coincide, as is the case with the English word " look" and its Russian consonance "bow". It is enough to note that the sound "l" in Russian and English is pronounced completely differently. Therefore, pronunciation, strictly speaking, must be memorized separately. The method of phonetic associations perfectly helps to remember the meanings of words. The method of phonetic associations is indispensable in conditions of lack of time: when preparing for an exam, for a tourist trip or a business trip, that is, in any situation where a large number of words must be memorized in a short period of time. With its help, it is not difficult to memorize 30-50 words a day, which, you see, is not bad at all (this is at least 11 thousand words a year). Moreover, the most important thing is that this method allows you to avoid tedious cramming (which is simply impossible with traditional methods of memorizing foreign words) and can even turn the memorization of foreign words into an exciting, creative process.

If you like this method and want to practice its application, you can try the following exercise. I hope you can appreciate the benefits of the associative method. A little further you will find a variant of associations to the words from this exercise, as well as some comments on them.

Exercise: Here are words in different languages. Pick sound associations for them and make stories for memorization.

a) Here are 8 Italian words. They are read the same way they are written.

ARIA - AIR
FAGOTTO - NODE
BURRO - OIL
FRONTE - FRONT
GALERA - PRISON
GARBATO - POLITE
LAMPO - LIGHTNING
PANINO - BUN

b) Here are 8 English words with approximate transcription and translation.

BULL (bool) - BULL
CONCEAL (consil) - HIDE, HIDE
NUZZLE (Muzzle) - Muzzle
LIP (lip) - GUBA
DESERT (desert) - DESERT
HILL (hill) - HILL
SMASH (smash) - BREAK (to smithereens)
PIGEON (pidgin) - DOVE.

If for some reason you have not yet been able to pick up sound associations for foreign words or have difficulty compiling a plot, see how this could be done.

a) Italian words:

ARIA- AIR. "When you sing an aria, you get a lot of air."
FAGOTTO- NODE. "Bassoon tied in a knot." (Such a plot must be imagined.)
BURRO- OIL. "Burenka gives oil." / "BURatino slipped on oil." "Brown-colored oil." From the proposed plots, you can choose any. Each has its own advantages. The first is good because it is close to the topic "oil". The second one is the most dynamic and funny. The third is faceless, unimaginative and unmemorable, in my opinion, but i may appeal to some for its brevity.
FRONT- FOREHEAD. "At the FRONT he was wounded in the forehead." (Of course, in Russian there is also a similar word - "frontal", but not everyone understands its meaning, especially since it means "front", "frontal" (in medicine), but still not "forehead".)
GALERA- PRISON. "They sailed away from prison in the GALLERY", or "It was (scary, uncomfortable ...) in the GALLERY like in prison." In the word "galley" there are more identical sounds in a row with a memorized one. But the avid theater-goer, rather, will like it, which means that the second plot will be better remembered.
GARBATO- POLITE. The key word is "humpback" (we actually pronounce it "humpback"). It is difficult to come up with a vivid plot with these words. However, such moralizing statements are possible plot: "You have to be polite with Humpbacks. Or:" All Humpbacks are polite. "And someone is not too lazy and composes a whole story so that the plot becomes brighter and better remembered:" The boy is tired of being polite and give way to public transport. Then he pretended to be HUMPBACK, and the place is now being given to him. "Of course, there are too many superfluous words, but significant words are clearly enough highlighted.
LAMPO- LIGHTNING. "The lamp flashed like lightning." Or "Lightning shone for a very long time, like a LAMP". I like the second plot more, as it is more unusual and unrealistic, which means it will be better remembered.
PANINO- BUN. Consonant word "PIANO". There are many plot options. The main thing is not to forget about the rules when compiling them. And DO NOT make up stories like: "The bun was on the Piano." Much better if you imagine how she fell off him. And, of course, it’s very good if you learn to come up with more original stories to memorize foreign words, for example, this one: “The piano had to be fed with buns from time to time.”

b) English words:

BULL- BULL. There can be several consonant words: BULKA, COBBLE, PIN, BULL TERRIER, BUL'VAR, BULK, etc. It is better to use the word that first came to mind, considering, of course, that at the same time it should be bright. Plots, respectively, can be even more, and I leave the choice of plot to your discretion.
CONCEAL- HIDE. "The CONSUL was hiding important facts." You can break the memorized word into two parts and come up with a consonance for each of them: "HORSE" and "STRONG". "The horse hid that he was STRONG."
MUZZLE- Muzzle. "Smeared the whole face." Here it would be good to use your real memories of how some animal you know smeared its face, remember how it looked at the same time. In general, when the plot is intertwined with personal experience, it is remembered especially well, since not imaginary, but real sensations are actualized.
L.I.P.- lip. "Sticky lip" "Lip stuck together" It seems to me that the second option is a little better, since it has an action. You can apply the method of feeling: imagine that you are trying to open your lips and cannot.
DESERT- DESERT. "DESERTER fled into the desert." The word "dessert" also suggests itself as an associative one, of course, it can also be used if you remember that in English the word "desert" is pronounced with the sound "Z" and not "C", therefore it is still better as a sound association use "deserter" so as not to make a mistake in pronunciation. The stress in this and many other words should be memorized separately, since it is not always possible to select such a consonant word in which the stress falls on the desired syllable.
HILL- HILL. "Frail climbs the hill with difficulty."
SMASH- SHATTER (to smithereens). "Crashed to smithereens, but everything is FUNNY to him." / "Smashed everything to smithereens and now he was FUNNY."
PIGEON- PIGEON. "Dove PIL JIN".

Luca Lampariello

Italian polyglot. Knows 11 languages, among them - German, Russian, Polish, Northern Chinese. Lampariello became a well-known figure in the language learning community. Currently lives in Rome.

Association search is the process by which new information is linked to existing knowledge.

One piece of information can have thousands of associations with memories, emotions, experiences and individual facts. This process occurs naturally in the brain, but we can take it under conscious control.

To do this, let's return to the above-mentioned words: "gene", "cell", "synapse", "skeleton" ... If we memorize them separately, we will soon forget everything. But if we learn these words in the context of a sentence, it will be much easier for us to put them together in our mind. Think about it for 10 seconds and try to connect these four words.

You might end up with something similar: "Genes influence the development of elements as diverse as the skeleton, brain synapses, and even individual cells." All four words are now united by a common context - like pieces in a puzzle.

Approach these exercises progressively. First, try to combine groups of words that are united by a certain topic like physics or politics. Then try to build more complex associations between unrelated words. With practice, you will get better and better.

3. Repetition

More than a hundred years ago, the German physicist Ebbinghaus came to the conclusion that we forget information according to a certain pattern, which he called the "forgetting curve". We perfectly remember everything that we have recently learned. But this same information disappears from memory in a matter of days.

Ebbinghaus discovered a mechanism to combat this phenomenon.

If new information is repeated at precise intervals, it will become increasingly difficult to forget it. After a few spaced repetitions, it will be fixed in long-term memory and, most likely, will remain in the head forever.

You need to regularly review old information while working with new information.

4. Recording

The ancient Romans said: "Words fly away, the written remains." That is, in order to remember information, you need to fix it in a permanent format. As you learn new words, write them down or type on the keyboard so you can save them and come back to them later.

When you come across a new useful word or phrase while talking, watching a movie, or reading a book, write it down on your smartphone or laptop. Thus, you will be able to repeat recorded at any opportunity.

5. Application

Use what you learn in meaningful conversations. This is the essence of the last of the basic methods of effective word learning.

University of Montreal researchers Victor Boucher and Alexis Lafleur found Honor Whiteman. Repeating words aloud to another person increases memory recall. that using words in conversation is more effective in terms of memorization than saying them out loud to yourself.

In other words, the more you communicate with other people, the better your linguistic memory works and the faster the level of language proficiency grows. Therefore, always use the learned material in real conversations. This method will greatly improve your skills and give you experience in using new and long-learned words.

Suppose you have read an article on a topic that interests you. You can choose unfamiliar words from it and apply them later in a short conversation with a language partner. You can mark and learn key words, and then retell the content of the article with their help. See how well you learn the material after the conversation.

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THREE SCIENCE-BASED METHODS THAT WORK

You learn, you learn these words, but there is no sense! After a couple of days everything is forgotten.

Use a scientific approach to memorization! We present you three scientifically based methods that will allow you to quickly and permanently memorize foreign words.

HOW MANY WORDS SHOULD YOU KNOW?

To begin with, let's figure out how many words you need to learn in order to begin to understand most of the foreign speech, and to express your thoughts yourself. A five-year-old child living in an English-speaking country uses 4,000-5,000 words, and a university graduate uses about 20,000 words. However, a person who learns English as a foreign language has a vocabulary of only 5,000 words, despite several years of study.

But there is also good news.: a vocabulary of 2,000 words is enough to understand 80% of foreign speech. The researchers came to this conclusion based on the analysis of the Brown Corpus. A linguistic corpus is a collection of texts on various topics.

Interestingly, after you have learned 2,000 words, vocabulary replenishment for each subsequent 1,000 words allows you to increase the amount of text you understand by only 3-4%.

HOW TO REMEMBER A WORD QUICKLY?

The first question that interests everyone is how to quickly memorize foreign words?

Scientists have come to the conclusion that information is remembered faster, which has an emotional connotation. Accordingly, it is a good idea to learn words through games, riddles, movies. I liked the song - do not be too lazy to look at the translation of incomprehensible words. These words will forever be associated with the song you like, which means they will leave an emotional trace in your memory.

An excellent technique is a mnemonic. Create colorful associations - this will allow you to remember even hard-to-pronounce words. Usage example: the word weather is similar to the Russian word wind, we build a wind-weather pair in our head, remember forever that weather translates to weather. There are special reference books where you can find various mnemonic techniques for memorizing English words. However, it is better to come up with such associations on your own, since our associations and emotions are strictly individual.

HOW CAN YOU NOT FORGET A WORD AS QUICKLY?

So, you learned a couple of hundred words, but after a week, about ten of them remained in your memory. What is the problem? This is due to the existence of short-term and long-term memory. The mechanisms of short-term memory allow you to store information for 15-30 minutes, then, noticing that this information is not used, the brain gets rid of it, as if it were something unnecessary. How can we make it clear to the brain that we really need these words? The answer is repetition. It's like with Pavlov's dog: the light bulb lights up - saliva is released. However, it is released only after 5-10 repetitions of the food + light chain. If food is not served when the light is turned on, the association of the light bulb with food in the dog's brain will be destroyed, and saliva will stop secreting.

So how many times does a word need to be repeated in order for it to stably move from short-term to long-term memory?

German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus developed the Forgetting Curve, which characterizes the amount of information lost over time in the absence of repetition. During the first 20 minutes after learning the words, we will already remember 60%, and within 1 hour we will lose more than 50% of the information. Then, over time, more and more information will be erased, and by day 3, only 20% of the information will remain in memory. Thus, if you miss at least one day in repetition, you will not return the forgotten words.

The conclusion is obvious: without repetition, nowhere. Use words in speech, make up stories using new words, play flashcards on your smartphone for at least a couple of minutes a day - all this will help you save the learned words. Otherwise, the time spent on their initial study will simply be wasted.

We suggest using the following repetition schedule:

• 10-15 minutes after learning the words;
• After 50-60 minutes;
• The next day;
• After 1 day;
• After 2 days.

Here after this most of information will be fixed for life.

HOW TO EXPRESS THOUGHTS FASTER?

I really want foreign words to flow from my mouth without requiring excessive brain tension and several minutes to formulate a phrase. There is an opportunity to accelerate the formation of foreign speech - this is the development of muscle memory. By muscles here we mean the muscles of our articulatory apparatus. These muscles, like the muscles of the legs when riding a bicycle or the muscles of the fingers of a pianist, have a memory that allows you to perform automated movements almost unconsciously.

In order for muscle memory to form, it is important when learning words to pronounce them out loud, making movements with the tongue and lips. It is also useful to simultaneously present an image of the subject being studied. Over time, you will no longer think about what word to say - the muscles will do it automatically.

Thus, the correct organization of the work of the brain in the formation of short-term, long-term and muscle memory will allow you to quickly and permanently replenish your vocabulary.

Good luck with your learning!

Boring English for children and adults!

When learning a foreign language, it is very important to constantly replenish your vocabulary - memorize new and new words in English. However, not everyone succeeds in doing this. We offer you seven tips to help you remember new words in English more effectively.

Build Associative Networks

Our brains take what we read and convert it into images, ideas, and feelings, and then form connections between the new information and what we already know. This is how memorization happens - the new is combined with the old.

Imagine a tree. Isn't it easier to see a large spreading tree with many branches and leaves than a small tree with a few branches? The same is true for the brain. When you connect a new word or concept with something you already know, it's easier for your brain to find it and remember it at the right moment.

How to do it? Very simple. Draw a network of concepts. Take what you want to remember (word, idea, sentence) and write it in the center of the paper. Then draw lines from it in all directions, like a web.

At the end of each line, write down any English words or even draw pictures that come to your mind when you think of the word written in the center. It doesn't matter what the associations are, just write down whatever you come up with.

It will only take a couple of minutes, and now all the words or concepts will be interconnected in your brain. If you see or hear one of them, it will be easier for you to remember the others.

To make it work even better, say how this or that word in English is related to others. The more often you do this, the more connections are formed. And the more connections, the easier it is for your brain to “see” the word you want to remember.

Memorize phrases (phrases)

Remembering a word is important, but English, like any other language, is not just a set of concepts, it is a tool that people use to communicate and express their thoughts. Find examples of how a particular word is used in the text.

Write down not only the word itself, but also neighboring ones. For example, if you need to remember the English word "arrogant" (arrogant), you can write: "the tall, arrogant man" (tall arrogant man).

This will help you remember that "arrogant" is an adjective used to describe people. Then try three complete sentences to practice using it.

Use Pictures

Draw small pictures to remember the meaning of the word. Can't draw? Don't worry, it's even better. Our brain receives so much monotonous information that a strange picture is a kind of surprise, and we always remember surprises.

Our brain is better at reading visual information. Draw a funny picture illustrating the meaning of a word and you will remember it much faster.

Make up stories

English learners often complain that there are too many new words and they are hard to remember. There is one trick that you can use to quickly learn words. Make up any, even a ridiculous story, in which all the words in English are involved. Imagine it in detail.

We easily remember stories, especially strange ones, if we can recreate them in our imagination. Feel free to combine words in fun and awkward ways. Let's say you need to memorize the following 20 English words:

shoes, piano, tree, pencil, bird, bus, books, driver, dog, pizza, flower, door, TV set, spoons, chair, jump, dance, throw, computer, stone

(shoes, piano, wood, pencil, bird, bus, books, driver, dog, pizza, flower, door, TV, spoons, armchair, jump, dance, throw, computer, stone)

You can make up such an incredible story from them:

There is a piano wearing shoes and sitting in a tree. The tree is strange because someone has stuck a giant pencil through it. On the pencil a bird is sitting and watching a bus full of people reading books. Even the driver is reading a book which is bad because he isn't paying attention to driving. So, he hits a dog that is eating a pizza in the middle of the road and kills it. The driver digs a hole and buries the dog in it and then puts a flower on it. He notices that there is a door in the dog's grave and opens it. Inside he can see a TV set with 2 spoons for antennas on top of it. No-one is watching the TV set because they are all watching the chair. Why? - Because the chair is jumping and dancing and throwing stones at the computer.

The piano sits on a tree in shoes. The tree looks strange because someone pierced it with a huge pencil. A bird sits on a pencil and looks at a bus full of people reading books. Even the driver reads the book, which is bad because he doesn't pay attention to the road. So he hits a dog that was eating pizza in the middle of the road to death. The driver digs a hole and buries the dog, then places a flower on top. He notices that there is a door in the dog's grave and opens it. Inside, he sees a TV with two spoons on top that act as antennas. Nobody watches TV because everyone is looking at the armchair. Why? Because the chair is jumping and dancing and throwing rocks at the computer.

Try it. You will be surprised!

Remember opposites

Remember in pairs words with opposite meanings (antonyms) and words with similar meanings (synonyms). For example, remember the pairs angry/happy and angry/cross at the same time. We remember similar and opposite things faster, as the brain creates connections between them.

Parse the word by composition

Use roots, prefixes and suffixes to guess what a word means.

For example: even if you are unfamiliar with the word "microbiology", you can guess what it means. First, take a look at the "micro" prefix. "Micro" means something very small. You may know that the "-logy" part means science, the study of something.

So, we can already say that it is about learning something small. Also, you may remember that "bio" means life, living beings. Thus, we can conclude that "microbiology" is the science of microscopic living organisms.

If you make a list of common prefixes (un-, dis-, con-, micro-, etc.) and suffixes (-able, -ly, -ent, -tion, -ive, etc.) and remember what they mean, you can guess the meaning of new words for you in English.

The main thing is time

Psychologists who study memory processes claim that there is a good way to remember things quickly and for a long time. Use a new word as soon as you know it. Then use it after 10 minutes. Then an hour later. Then the next day. Then a week later.

After that, you will hardly have to make an effort to remember it - the new vocabulary will remain with you forever.

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