How To Learn And Use 1000 English Vocabulary Words
- [Tiffani] As an English learner,
you sometimes experience a problem
when you’re reading something
or even when you’re having
a conversation with people
and even sometimes
when you’re listening to a
podcast or other audio file.
This problem is vocabulary.
But there is a formula.
This formula will help you to learn 1,000
English vocabulary words
and that’s what I will teach you today.
Welcome to Speak English With Tiffani.
I’m teacher Tiffani, let’s jump right in.
Okay, so here’s the problem.
The problem is you want to
improve your English vocabulary
but it just seems too hard.
Now let’s look at this a little closer.
So the first thing is you
memorize lots of words
but what happens is you
can’t remember or use them.
Many of my students have told me
that they memorize vocabulary words
but then when they get in conversations,
they’re not able to use them
and that’s what happens.
Or you start off strong
but what happens is you get
tired and often give up.
And often give up completely.
Now to be honest with you I
also experienced the same thing
when I was studying Korean.
I would study hundreds of vocabulary words
but then after two or three weeks
I would get tired and just stop.
So again, you start off strong
but you get tired and
often give up completely.
This is the problem.
Now there is a solution.
The solution is three
words lead to 1,000 words.
Now don’t worry I’m going
to explain this very clearly
and it will really help
you to learn 1,000 words.
Alright now the first
aspect of this solution,
before I explain it in detail,
is the memorization and repetition.
Memorization and
repetition is so important
because it is a set pattern
that will help your brain.
That will help your brain.
Now remember in one of
my previous video lessons
I explained how your brain works, okay?
There are certain triggers
that help your brain
remember certain things
so a set pattern will also help your brain
when you are trying to remember
or memorize English vocabulary words
and the next thing is learn and use.
Many times you will learn vocabulary words
but you’re not able to use them.
This solution, this formula
I’m gonna teach you,
will help you do both.
So again this will help
you use them in daily life.
When you meet someone that
is a native English speaker
or even another English learner,
you can use the words that
you’re learning, okay?
Alright, so the breakdown.
Let’s look at
the breakdown of this
solution or this formula.
Okay so again 1,000 words by
doing three words each day.
There’s five parts,
the select, memorize,
visualize, apply, and review.
Okay so let’s look at the breakdown
in a little bit more detail.
The first section is select,
so you select the three words
that you will use for that day.
Now remember in the beginning
I said this is a formula
and it’s actually a
part of a 16 day cycle.
Now the first part of the
cycle is the select column,
the first column, so on
the first day, day one,
you will learn only three words.
And each day after that
you’re only learning three new words.
Now let me explain exactly how
this selection happens, okay?
So once again, you select the words
that you will use for that day,
this is how it’s going to happen,
so let’s start right here on top.
There are many different ways
that you can select words.
Let’s say for example that you
are watching something on TV
so you can select words from
TV shows or movies that you watch.
You may have a favorite
American television show that you watch
and you may hear a vocabulary
word that you don’t know
so you can choose it
from the television show
or you may even have a special book
or magazine or newspaper
that you enjoy reading,
an English newspaper or magazine.
So you can pick a vocabulary word
from books, magazines, or the newspaper,
or the newspapers you read,
newspapers that you read.
The other method you can use
actually is something that
you may already have inside.
So this is your brain.
So there are some words
that you already know.
You can actually look for
or find synonyms, okay?
Find synonyms for words you already know.
For example, let’s say I
already know the word big,
that’s a word that you already know
but a synonym for the
word big is enormous.
So I already know this word
but enormous is a synonym
for that word, okay?
So these are three different ways
you can actually select vocabulary words.
Okay let’s keep going.
The next part of the
breakdown is to memorize.
You’re going to memorize the definitions
of the words from the previous day
so again let’s look at our 16 day cycle.
Now we’ve moved to the second
column, the memorize column.
Now on the far left
you see the day column,
then next the select, and
then next the memorize.
So on day one you only memorized
or selected three words.
Now on day two you still need
to select three new words
but now is when you’re going to memorize
the three words you
looked up the first day.
It’s very important, you’re
memorizing on the second day.
Let’s go in more detail, okay?
So again, memorize the
definitions of the words
from the previous day.
Okay so let’s look at it a little closer.
So here’s what’s gonna happen,
so right here, let’s give
him some glasses, okay?
Let’s give this student some glasses.
So we have this student, this
English learner right here.
So what’s gonna happen?
The first thing is to read
over the words and meanings.
You’re going to think about them.
Remember I chose enormous
so I’m gonna look over the
word enormous and realize,
ah, this means big, this means big.
The next thing you’re going to do is
you’re going to make something, okay?
I’ll explain exactly what these are,
I can write really tiny, alright
so what you’re going to do,
let’s put RD, let’s put it like this.
You’re going to make
flash cards for each word.
Remember it’s not gonna
take you a long time
because it’s only for three words, okay?
Make flashcards and then
what you’re going to do,
let’s put a little
clock right here for us,
got a little clock right here,
put a little bell on top.
Okay what you’re going to do is
time yourself as you memorize,
make this O a little better,
as you memorize each word.
You want to get to the point to where
you can memorize and know
three words in 30 seconds.
This is your goal.
This is your goal.
Alright so let’s keep
going to the next phase.
Alright so the next phase is to visualize.
Now for the visualizing step
you’re gonna select various images
that go along with each
of the vocabulary words.
Use them to memorize the words more.
Okay so let’s go back and look
at the 16 day cycle again.
So now we’re on the next
column, the visualize column.
Alright so again on day one
we selected three words,
day two we also selected three
words but then we also added
the memorizing of the first three words
and we’re also going to be
visualizing on that day
the first three words.
Now again I’m gonna
explain it very clearly
so let’s jump in to
explain it very clearly,
again, selecting various images
that go along with each
of the vocabulary words,
use them to memorize the words more.
So here we go, alright so the
first thing you need to do,
let’s do a little head right here.
Student with their eyes closed.
His brain right here,
he’s thinking, his mind.
Alright so what’s gonna happen is
you first need to think
about each word and
see what picture pops into your head.
This is important because
everyone is different.
If I say good food, the first
thing that pops in my mind
may be different from
what pops in your mind
so it’s important to see
what pops into your mind.
Now the next thing you’re going to do is
you’re going to get on the computer,
you’re gonna get on the computer
and what you’re going to do is
you’re going to go online
and find an image that matches, okay?
Find an image that matches
what you saw in your mind.
Now again remember it’s
only for three words
so it’s not gonna take you a long time
but go online and find an
image that matches each word
so you’re looking for
three images, three images.
Now after you find the images,
what you’re going to do is
you’re going to make another flashcard
but this time instead of
the word being on the top,
the word will be on the bottom
and on top you will place the image
so again you’re going to
finally make image flash
cards and practice with them.
Remember these steps are so important
because you need to practice
and learn vocabulary
in different ways,
not just sitting and looking
at a book and memorizing.
Your brain needs to see
things that are visual
and connected to different situations
in order for you to learn
and use the vocabulary words
so let’s keep going.
Alright so the next step is to apply.
Now that you know the meanings,
use each of the vocabulary words
in a sentence that you create.
Okay so again the 16 day cycle,
now we’re on the next
column, the apply column,
so again day one we just
selected three new words.
Day two we selected three new words
and we also memorized and
visualized the first three words
and now as we move down
to day number three
we’re still selecting three words,
we’re memorizing what we learned
or what we selected the previous
day and we’re visualizing
and now we’re applying
the first three words.
Now this applying I will explain,
let’s go and I will
explain it in more detail.
So again now that you know the meanings,
use each of the vocabulary words
in a sentence that you create.
So here’s what’s gonna happen.
Let’s have a student right here.
So we have this student right here, right?
Now this student is looking
at something right now
so let’s do this like this,
let’s have this right here,
give her some fingers so
she’s holding the book.
Okay so this student is
looking at something right now.
What you’re going to do is
you’re going to review the meaning
and, this is the key right
here, think about your life.
This is key.
Review the meaning and
think about your life.
So here we go, let me show you an example,
so let’s look at an example
so that you can understand
exactly what this step means.
So let’s say for example
I have this right here.
This is my dictionary.
And the word I selected
was enormous, enormous,
which means very big so
again it means very big,
that’s the definition I found
in the dictionary, correct?
Now what’s going to happen is
I’m going to look at the
dictionary sentence example,
I’m gonna look for the
dictionary sentence example
and let’s say the dictionary says
the building is enormous,
the building is enormous,
that’s the pattern that
the dictionary uses.
The building is enormous.
Now what I’m going to do
is think about my life
and I’m gonna write my own sentence
so you’re going to write your
sentence so your sentence
which is my sentence right now is gonna be
ah, maybe my school.
So I can say my university is enormous.
So what happened?
I changed this part right here.
So instead of the building,
I put my university but
everything else is the same.
This is what you’re going to do
for the apply step in this formula.
Let’s keep going.
Now the last thing for the
breakdown is the review step.
The final step in the breakdown method
is to review all of the previous steps
and see which step you
need to practice more
so remember it’s a 16 day cycle.
Now this 16 day cycle has
many different columns
but on the 16th day
you’re going to review all
of the 42 words you learned
on the previous 15 days.
Now don’t worry I’m gonna
explain exactly how to do this.
So let’s look at it in more detail.
once again the final step
in the breakdown method
is to review all of the previous steps
and see which step you
need to practice more.
So let’s jump in, here we go.
For the first thing we need to do
let’s put our timer right here
so we have our little clock right here,
this is our timer, our bell.
So you’re gonna find a timer
and what you’re gonna do is
you’re going to set a five minute timer.
This is very important, only five minutes,
set a five minute timer
for the review time.
Very important,
remember you’ve been practicing
these words for 15 days
so you should be able to bring
them to mind very quickly
so what you’re gonna do next is
remember there was a 15 day
period for the review day
so let’s just do it real quick like this,
let’s just kinda do a small sketch
so the 15 day period
and during that period
we had different flash cards
so we had a word flash card,
remember we had the word
flash card that we made
and we also had image
flash cards that we made,
okay so what’s gonna happen
is you need to review both
within the five minute time period.
Now it seems like a short period
of time to review 42 words
but remember your brain is amazing,
you’ve been using and
reviewing these words
for a 15 day period
so that means you actually will
know more than you realize.
What’s gonna happen is during
this five minute period
you need to go very quickly
and there may be some
words that you get wrong.
If there are words that you get wrong
that just means you need
to review them again
so what’s gonna happen is you’re
gonna have a separate pile.
This is the review again pile.
So what you’re gonna do
is if you get any wrong
put them in the review again pile
and what’s important is
what you’re gonna do is
when you start the next cycle
you’re going to go over
them every other day
until you feel comfortable
and you feel like you know them well.
This is the review step, okay?
Okay great job now I’ve created
the actual formula and spreadsheet
that you will need to do this
and put this into action.
The 1,000 vocabulary words
plan is a free download
that I created just for you
so if you wanna download it go to
speakenglishwithtiffani.com/1000vocabularywords
again it’s totally free and you can use it
to learn and use 1,000
English vocabulary words.
Also remember to watch my
next English video lesson
that you can see on the
left side of your screen.
Until then, keep studying English
and I’ll talk to you again soon.