How to Rember English Vocabulary

In this post, you will discover some useful tips to learn new words and remember vocabulary.

Remembering vocabulary is a central part of learning a language. You might have outstanding listening comprehension and grammar knowledge.

Yet, new unknown words keep preventing you from feeling like you have truly mastered the language. 

You might be a new learner in the hunt for ways to learn words quicker and improve your English. Whether you are the first or the second case, this post is for you!

The ideas for this post were taken from Linguamarina. Marina is a Russian entrepreneur who has created different companies to help English learners. On her Youtube channel, she shares many interesting videos about learning English and life in America!

Let’s jump into the tips to remember vocabulary!

Learn all the forms of the words

Many words in English have more than one use. To avoid confusion, it is best to learn all the uses of a word as much as possible!

For example, the word “water” can be both a noun and a verb. You can drink water, and you can also water your plants! 

There are many words like this in English. Make use of them to widen your vocabulary!

Words ending in -tion

In English, there are many words ending in -tion. This ending is not exclusive to the English language.

In fact, many other languages may have similar words with the same ending.

For instance, the word “construction” can be seen with little variants in other languages. In Spanish it's “construcción.” In Italian, it's “construzione.”

In the end, the pronunciations are very similar. If you can find a similar word in another language, it might be easier for you to remember the word in English.

Use images

Many students learn faster through images.

In many cases, you might not remember a word, but the visual part can help. If this is the case for you, use the google image search when you are learning a new word!

That way, you will have not only the written form but also an image to remember!

Learn all the meanings

In some cases, words will have more than one meaning. This tip is similar to the first one and will help you have a larger vocabulary with great ease!

Words like “duck” can have more than one meaning. A duck is a bird, like Donald Duck. “Duck” is also a verb that means to move down to avoid being hit by something. You are basically learning two words in one!

Just like this word, there are many others with the same characteristics! Don’t let yourself be confused by them!

Learn the meanings and stay on top of your vocabulary!

International words

Believe it or not, words can be international!

There are many words that are used in many languages almost without changes. They might be adapted to serve the phonetic abilities of a community, but their meaning doesn’t change! 

For example, the word “organism” can be found in a myriad of languages with no alteration in its meaning! These words can be very easy to remember and can help you boost your English knowledge!

Learn the most commonly used words

If you Google, “the most commonly used words in English,” you will find lots of lists that can help you learn these common words.

Learning the most used words can give you a strong base to continue building your vocabulary. 

Learn expressions

Learning complete expressions is one of the best ways to improve your English level. In many cases, known words can get together and form unknown expressions with completely different meanings. 

For example, there's this expression, “To say one’s piece.” You might know all these words separately, but you might not know that this phrase means “to give one’s opinion.”

There are many expressions that are better learned together to ensure you understand the actual meaning.

Use the words and expressions you have learned

The best way to avoid forgetting the vocabulary you have learned is to put it into practice. When you actively use the words and expressions, it is harder for your brain to forget them. 

This is an awesome way to keep the new words around until they are completely fixed in your English knowledge!

Be careful with false friends!

Yes, I know this sounds like a bit of life advice instead of an English learning tip.

In languages, false friends are words that are similar to words in your mother tongue or in other languages you speak. Although we have talked about how useful similar words can be, they can also be confusing!

For example, “carpet” is the floor covering you use in rooms. In Spanish, “carpeta” is a folder. As you can see, it is very common to confuse these two words. Just like this example, there are many words in many languages that could be false friends!

Be aware of them and don’t get confused!

Wrap-up

With these tips, you will be able to remember vocabulary and learn new words faster!

Personally, I think that the best tip overall is to be curious. Curiosity is one of the keys to learning new words and add them to your vocabulary!

Thanks to Linguamarina for her insightful videos. Be sure to check more of her content to continue learning and improving. Her Youtube channel is one of my favorites! Don’t miss the opportunity to better your English!

Remember to look for the expression I left above! Until next time!