How to memorize words

When I first arrived in the US, I didn’t have work permission documents. We moved to the States because of my husband’s job, but in the beginning the visa that I had didn’t allow me to work. I wasn’t in a hurry to look for a job though because I didn’t speak English and wanted to learn it first. That’s why I spent all of my free time taking ESL classes. But once I received my US work permission document, I couldn’t wait to find a job. At that time, I had been attending the ESL school for three years and I felt ready for the “real world.”

Although it wasn’t easy to convince someone to hire me because I didn’t have any previous work history in the US, I finally managed to get what back then seemed to me like a dream job – a front desk associate at a major Marriot hotel in downtown Minneapolis. I was happy, but scared at the same time. I knew that I would have to speak a lot and was excited for the opportunity to become more fluent. But thoughts like “what if I forget a word” or “what if I don’t understand what they’re asking me” flooded my mind.

 

Click here to see a newer version of this post, which also includes a video 🎥 from my YouTube channel LingoAdventure.

 

I wish I could say that my fear of not knowing or forgetting words was unfounded, but I knew my limitations. Before starting this job, I’d only spoken English in my ESL classes and this was the first time I would face native speakers. And although I felt that during the last three years I’d learned a lot, there were still so many words and phrases that I didn’t know or understand. Nevertheless, I was determined to succeed.

The first day on the job, I was asked to “just pick up the phone.” My new boss didn’t realize that for me, a nonnative speaker who’d barely spoken to Americans face to face, let alone on the phone, “just” picking up the phone seemed scarier than public speaking. But pick up the phone I did. The whole day. For eight straight hours.

This first day consisted of questions and requests like:

   “Do you have foam pillows? I’m allergic to feathers.”

   “Can I have a cot in my room?”

   “Can you bring a broom to the water park?”

I was trying to ask any of my new colleagues for help, but everyone was extremely busy. It was Saturday and the lobby was packed with families with little children who were checking in and rushing to go to the water park that we had in house.

Do we have foam pillows? Gosh, I don’t know. I have to ask. But what is foam anyway? It must be the other thing they put in pillows that is not feather. And what the heck is a cot? Oh man, I know I’ve heard the word “broom” before, but I don’t remember its meaning. My brain was a concoction of pride, fear, determination, embarrassment, and gratitude. All of these at once.

Pride because I was brave enough to put myself in such a situation and was somehow surviving. Fear because I thought I wasn’t meeting expectations and was convinced that I’d be fired that same day. Determination to prove to my new boss and colleagues that I wasn’t as stupid as I thought I looked at that moment. Embarrassment because I asked our concierge Paula if we had a concierge at the hotel and she looked at me with a mixture of annoyance and pity. And gratitude because after these few hours of being the worst employee in the history of the hospitality business, I still had a job.

Mind you, this was before the smartphone era. Even the computers at the front desk weren’t connected to the Internet, so I couldn’t just look up the words that I didn’t know. What I did was I memorized unfamiliar words exactly the way I’d heard them and looked them up when I went back home. This was challenging because English is not a phonetic language and sometimes I had trouble spelling what I thought I’d heard. But when there’s a will, there’s a way.

Little by little I started learning more words. I also found some ways to remember them better. Below I share some tips on memorizing words that have personally helped me.

How to memorize words

I often hear people complain that they just can’t remember words in English. They claim they read in and listen to English all the time, but new words and phrases don’t seem to stick.

While memorizing words is very individual and depends on different factors, some research shows that when you use the Spaced Repetition System (SRP) your chance to remember a word goes up to 80% after six intervals. What this means is that you need to use the word you are trying to remember about six times over a period of a week or a few weeks. Then the word enters your long term memory.

The problem with many people is that they get impatient. They try to memorize too much in a very short time and they get overwhelmed.

Five ways to memorize words faster

Here are five ways that have personally helped me to remember words faster:

1. Look at the synonyms and use the words in a sentence interchangeably with the synonym

When you look up a word online, Google also shows you the synonyms of that word. Look at where it says “similar” and find a word that you already know. Then “mentally” put the new word in the same “box” with the other word. Now use the new word in a sentence while swapping it with the word you already know. Do this a few times. For example, let’s say that you want to remember the word “fester.” You find out that “rot” has a similar meaning. Then you use it in the sentence:

A gully full of garbage that festered in the shade.

Then swap “fester” for “rot”:

A gully full of garbage that rotted in the shade.

After a few iterations you will remember the new word.

2. Use mnemonic devices

No, this is not another device that you need to buy 😉. A mnemonic device is a memory technique that can help increase your ability to recall and retain information. For example, a picture, another word that rhymes with the one you want to memorize, or even something that sounds similar in your own language even if it has a different meaning. Anything that will help you recall the word when you need it.

3. Brush up on the new word or phrase in a couple of days again

The Spaced Repetition System (SRP) is a very helpful method for remembering words. It is based on reviewing material at intervals of time. At the beginning, you repeat the new word once an hour, for example. Then you go back to it once every four hours. Then once a day, once every three days and so on until you realize that you are not forgetting it anymore. The problem many people have is that they memorize a new word, but don’t repeat it or use it in context. Then when they need to use it in a real situation, they realize that they are unable to retrieve it.

4. Add a melody

Try to make up your own mini song with the new word. For some reason we always remember better when words or letters are in a form of music. Remember the Alphabet song?

5. Try writing it down with your non-dominant hand

Struggling to write a word with your non-dominant hand might help you to remember it better just because you are doing something different. I still remember some of the things I wrote with my left hand back in high school when I was bored in class 😅.

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To be honest, I still encounter words that I don’t know. I doubt that I will ever be able to memorize the entire vocabulary of the English language. But with time, I’ve learned to let go. That is, if I hear a non-commonly used word, I ask myself if I know its meaning and if I know at least two synonyms to it so that I can express the same idea if I need to. If the answer is yes, I just choose not to stuff my brain with more information than I need. Choosing what not to memorize at the moment is as important as choosing what to focus on. It will preserve your energy and keep you sane.

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What methods do you use when you are memorizing new words?

English is more than memorizing vocabulary and studying grammar. A language is meant to be spoken. Click here to join our free Speaking Club and become the confident speaker that you know you can be.

 

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