Learning new vocabulary is a necessity for learning any language. It also happens to be one aspect of acquiring functionality in a new language that proves daunting for many students. In large, this is due to the fact that learning and recalling information are two separate actions. While many people experience the differences between these two actions with a great deal of frustration, learning and retaining new lexical information doesn’t have to be a painstaking process.
There are a variety of techniques that are useful for learning new vocabulary, and this article is written with the intent of spreading knowledge of these techniques.
Language Learning Psychology
Fundamentally, retaining new vocabulary is a process that hinges on a student’s ability to create strong neurological highways; this is because, before converting knowledge to long term memory, the human brain first must retain information as short term memory. Short term memory, if reflected upon enough, is eventually converted into long term memory, and stored within gray matter, a vast network of nerve tissue in the cortex analogous to a kind of mental file cabinet. Much in the same way that pulling information from a file cabinet is made easy or difficult by the organization of said cabinet, pulling information from long term memory depends on the organization of that knowledge. When we create memories, they are organized by association within our brain; for this very same reason, the processes of learning and recalling new vocabulary are made simple through well organized, methodical acquisition.
What this ultimately boils down to, put simply: information stored effectively is information easily retained and recalled. The most effective way to learn new vocabulary is through association. For example, reading through a dictionary and picking—at random—words that speak to a students interests will always result in a lower rate of retention than learning words with related meanings, similar kanji, or general subject matter.
Allow me to use the example of organizing new vocabulary in terms of Kanji.
Examples of Japanese Word Association
The kanji, 気 (ki—spirit, air) is very common; in fact, without learning such a kanji, or any words containing such a kanji, it is highly unlikely that a student of Japanese would ever be able to obtain even a low degree of fluency. Naturally, this character is often times one of the first that new students of Japanese come to recognize. What most people do not, however, realize initially, is that this character provides a wealth of potential for learning new, common vocabulary.
For example:
気(ki—spirit, feeling, intention, mind, atmosphere)、気味(kimi—feeling, sensation)、気質(katagi, kishitsu—temperment, disposition)、気合(kiai—yell, scream, fighting spirit)、気圧(kiatsu—atmospheric pressure)、気管(kikan—windpipe, trachea)、気軽(kigaru—carefree, lighthearted)、気候(kikou—climate), 気勢(kisei—vigor)、気絶(kizetsu—faint)、気が遠くなる(ki ga tooku naru—to become dizzy)、気体(kitai—gas, vapor)、気分(kibun—feeling, mood)、気楽(kiraku—ease, comfort)、気付く(kizuku—to notice)。
Because all of these words share the common element 気, it is much easier to remember them if grouped in accordance to their association.
Another way to group words together so that they can be learned by association is to learn words that relate to a given subject.
For example, nouns that refer to items found in a kitchen:
棚(tana—shelf)、冷蔵庫(reizouko—refrigerator)、オーブン(oobun—oven)、台所(daidokoro—kitchen)、テーブル(teeburu—table)、椅子(isu—chair)、フライパン(furaipan—frying pan)、なべ(nabe—pot)、包丁(houchou—knife)、石鹸(sekken—soap)、蛇口(jaguchi—faucet)、流し(nagashi—sink, drain).
A final technique that can prove useful for grouping words is to choose those that follow a predictable shape, form, or grammatical category. For example, there is a (rather large) set of adverbs in Japanese that follow a very set phonological pattern: (C)VCCVCV ((consonant)-vowel-geminate consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel). These are native Japanese adverbs, those that have survived from ancient Japanese, through classical and middle Japanese, and continue to persist in modern Japanese.
Some more examples:
はっきり(hakkiri—clearly, distinctly) 、しっかり(shikkari—firmly, solidly, steadily)、そっくり(sokkuri—entirely, altogether)、ぴったり(pittari—neatly, exactly)、がっかり(gakkari—disappointed, feeling let down or drained)、ぐっすり(gussuri—soundly of sleep)、ゆっくり(yukkuri—slowly)、たっぷり(tappuri—ample, full)、すっきり(sukkiri—cleanly, nearly, thoroughly)、すっかり(sukkari—completely) 、びっしょり(bisshori—saturated, completely soaked).
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