Learning vocabulary from lists

Präsentation zum Thema: "Learning vocabulary from lists"—  Präsentation transkript:

1 Learning vocabulary from lists
How to maximise the time you spend learning the vocab from the vocab lists from this course

2 Beware of the serial effect!!!
= learning the order which the words come in the list rather than the meaning of the words! So, mix up the order in which you learn the vocab items (use cards?)

3 Translation will help you
But, make sure you have got the correct translation! Words/phrases translate differently in different contexts

4 e.g. leo.org gives us all these possibilities for ‘division’!!!:
i division die Abteilung i i division [comm.] die Aufspaltung i i division die Aufteilung i i division der Bereich - einer Firma i i division das Divis i i division die Division i i division die Einreihung i i division die Einteilung i i division [comm.] der Geschäftsbereich i i division der Geschäftszweig i i division die Gliederung i i division der Hammelsprung i i division die Spaltung i i division [comm.] die Sparte i i division [sport.] die Spielklasse i i division die Teilung i i division der Teilungsstrich i division die Trennlinie i i division die Trennung i i division - of a company [comm.] der Unternehmensbereich i i division die Unterteilung i i division die Verteilung i i division der Werksbereich i i division die Zerteilung i i division - of a company [comm.] Bereich eines Unternehmens

5 Repetition! The interval between the repetitions should get progressively longer if you want to get these words/phrases into your ‘long-term memory’ : e.g. after a day after 3 days after a week after two weeks after 3 weeks

6 Just ‘rote learning’ (saying/writing words again & again) won’t help you very much

7 You need to retrieve the words (‘get them from your memory’) when you are repeating the words

8 A way of retrieving a word/phrase
from a translation (look at German word, think of English word) This may be enough for words that you find easy, but for more difficult words you have to practice using the words (engaging with their meaning) and translate it

9 An efficient way of retrieving a word/phrase by using it!:
- Write an example sentence Good example sentences are not easy, they take thought (and so time)! But the more thought the more learning! A good example sentence should include elements of the words meaning, e.g: Definition of a foundation: an organization that is established to provide money for a particular purpose, for example charity, or that does research on a particular subject. Bad example sentence: ‘He works for a foundation’ - to think of this sentence you don’t need to engage with the key aspects of meaning. Good example sentence: ‘The board of the foundation meet once a year to decide which students to give grants to this year’ – to write this sentence you have to engage with the charity aspect and the providing money aspect of the words meaning

10 Save the example sentence and use it to test yourself the next time you want to recall the word!
‘The board of the f___________ meet once a year to decide which students to give grants to this year’ Reading the example sentence aloud will probably help you Personalising the sentence will probably help you (making it relevant to your life) You need to think of the sentence! Don’t use somebody else’s sentence. Thinking of the sentence is when most of the learning is happening!

11 An efficient ways of starting to learn phrases/words on your lists:
by categorising To think of the categories and to put words in categories you have to think very carefully about the meaning of the words ← here is a PDF example (double click)

12 Using cards English word/phrase on one side and translation on the other mix up the order of the cards regularly (to avoid serial effect) each time you ‘practice’ a card, put the date on it, and store it with other cards of the same date (so you know when to repeat it next) OK to mix up thematic areas (learning words with similar meaning at the same time can have a negative effect) concentrate on the difficult words/phrases! (remove the easy ones, don’t waste your time!) in one ‘session’, first English to German, then German to English

13 Using cards deliverable machbar

14 Using cards But remember: translating alone is not enough, it doesn’t give you enough detail about context and ‘grammar’ to use the word or be sure of its context for the meaning you want in English…

15 e. g. ‘deliverable’ has at least two meanings in business English
e.g. ‘deliverable’ has at least two meanings in business English. Make sure you’re learning the meaning that you want to! DELIVERBABLE // noun, adjective noun [C, usually pl.] (Commerce; Production) a piece of work that must be completed, especially as part of a long project: The development team have agreed on dates for all deliverables, including the final product. tracking project deliverables with specific software adjective [not usually before noun] that can be achieved, provided or delivered: Is the proposal deliverable? The futures contract becomes deliverable on January 31. deliverable results The company believes its takeover offer is deliverable. So add the necessary information to your cards…

16 Die Ergebnisse (eines Projekts)
Using cards Deliverables (project management) Die Ergebnisse (eines Projekts)

17 Example of how context is key. This is from a discussion thread on leo
Example of how context is key! This is from a discussion thread on leo.org: Übersetzung: Arbeitsergebnisse für Kunden Quellen: Kommentar: Das kommt wohl aus dem Projektmanagement, dort sind die "Deliverables" die Ergebnisse, die eine Untergruppe des Projekts zu einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt (Meilenstein) liefern muss. Leider wird in unserer Firma auch alles anglizert, daher weiss ich keine gute Übersetzung für die Customer Deliverables. Schau doch mal in die Links, dort werden die Details genau erklärt.

18 The Keyword Technique If you think you are a strong ‘visual learner’ then research shows that this will probably work very well for you for difficult words: Thinking of an image which links the English word with the meaning of the German word

19 Link between German & English:
e.g. (deliverable) Link between German & English: “LIVE auf ORF, Österreich 3, Frankreich 1” = „das Ergebnis von Projekt Frankreich-Schlagen“ Image = scoreboard showing ‘das Ergebnis’ And this is your ‘donkey bridge’!

20 Summary translation is not enough but will help you
repeat in ways in which you have to think about the meaning of a word repeat in short ‘sessions’ but often the vocab list for this course is too long to learn ‘last minute’! context!