Tips on How to Memorize French Vocabulary
Struggle to learn new vocabulary? Here are some tips to memorise French vocabulary efficiently and effectively. Never forget a French word again!
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A technique to consider1. Have a list of about 30 words.2. Split the thirty words into equally numbered, small-sized groups.3. The learning technique.4. Test yourself, but not in the order the words are in.5. ConsolidationFrederic’s note: This article was written by Jack Nunn, who was kind enough to share his experiences about learning French vocabulary efficiently. He explains how he does it by taking into account the specificity of the French language (the gender issue).
If you have some tips about learning French and want to write about it, feel free to email me at contact@talkinfrench.com.
If your article is relevant and useful I will share it with great pleasure on the website.
« Je suis comme ça. Ou j’oublie tout de suite ou je n’oublie jamais, » was written by Samuel Beckett, an Irish avant-garde playwright who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969.
It translates as “I’m like that. Either I forget right away or I never forget,” and this perhaps highlights the importance of learning vocabulary in a language. Learning the estimated 600 words, which provide a useful starting point for everyday French vocabulary, may be difficult to retain in your long term memory.
This is not to mention the many thousands of extra words one would need to understand nearly all French texts! Generally speaking, you will either instantly forget a word or remember it easily. You’ll need a technique to know how to memorize vocabulary successfully…
A technique to consider
1. Have a list of about 30 words.
More than thirty may become confusing. Rewrite all the words into one continuous list, accompanied by their article (gender: le, la etc.) and English equivalent.
2. Split the thirty words into equally numbered, small-sized groups.
This makes them manageable and much easier to learn.
3. The learning technique.
You will need to decide what works best for you. Different types of people will find different techniques suit them better.
Are you a sports fanatic? There’s a technique for you. Are you a language enthusiast? There’s a technique for you too. Ideas to consider:
Look, cover, write, check method
Get your small group of words, look at them for a small amount of time, then place them out of sight – or cover them with your hand. While the words are covered, write them out, then check them.
Kinaesthetic learning
Physically doing something while learning the words. A bit of French football, anyone? (This will be effective for people interested in sport or acting.)
Visual
Writing the words on Post-it notes and sticking them to things associated with the word.
Say them
Saying the vocabulary aloud then repeating the English after is surprisingly effective and can even help pronunciation, chic!
Referring to ‘revision cards’ over a period of time.
Here’s an idea of how to set out your language learning cards:
4. Test yourself, but not in the order the words are in.
Keyword: RANDOMLY
If you simply test yourself in the order that the words are in, you are less likely to remember them. Use a random word or name generator where you can write in the words. First do it French to English, just to get the meaning, then when you have most of them correct, type the English version of the words into the word generator and test yourself from English to French.
This is more difficult as you have to get the spelling correct. Make sure you mark your test against your original list and make necessary corrections. Once you’re getting nearly all the words correct, you should be able to easily recognize them in texts and write them in sentences.
5. Consolidation
Be sure to go over the words from time to time so you don’t forget them, so there’s no « j’oublie tout de suite ».
