How to Learn and Remember New English Vocabulary
hi everybody welcome back to our weekly
live stream my name is Alisha and today
we’re gonna talk about how to study and
remember English or any other languages
vocabulary so today I’m going to talk
about a method of study called spaced
repetition and I’m going to give you
some tips for where to get your
vocabulary lists how to use them and
when to study like how often to study so
if you have been sending questions to us
about studying vocabulary like many of
you have I hope that this lesson has
some useful tips for you this is
something that lots of you asked about
so I hope this can help many people of
course if you have questions please send
them in the chat and I will try to check
them live throughout the session today
okay I see a few people joining as you
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today’s lesson we’re going to begin in
about one or two more minutes I guess
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in that theme is about studying and
remembering
have eulerian also another announcement
I mentioned these free PDFs every week
but we have lots of new ones new ones
available these are a few of the new
ones I printed them out to show you I
will show you close-ups a little bit
later of some of these but these will be
super useful for today’s lesson and for
your studies so I’ll show you these
later there are new ones though
I won’t probably show them all so please
check the link below the video on
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announcements I will say hi to people
now hello Sakura from Japan hello Damien
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everybody and on Facebook I see people
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okay great so lots of people are joining
lots of people are here fantastic I’m
going to share the video and like the
video and then I’m going to start
today’s lesson so as I said today’s
lesson is focused on spaced repetition
spaced repetition so this is a system or
like a method of studying so today for
today’s lesson I’m going to look at
using spaced repetition to study
vocabulary but this is something you can
use to study pretty much any other kind
of memorization related topic so it’s
not just for studying language but it is
an excellent tool for studying language
so let’s begin here this is a keyword
for today’s lesson spaced repetition
spaced repetition so what is spaced
repetition why do we need it why is it
useful first the concept spaced
repetition is studying with spaces
between your study sessions so this is
different like the opposite the opposite
is what we call a cram session
a cram session or like cramming style
studying so cramming style studying I
did this when I was a student maybe many
of you do it
cramming is like the night before a test
you pick up like your vocabulary or you
pick up your topic and you just try to
study everything in one night like you
put it all in your brain for a short
period of time and then use it for the
test but the problem with cramming is
that you forget it like after the test
you just forget everything you studied
so you study a lot in a short period of
time remember for a short period of time
and then you forget
so this spaced repetition is different
from cramming so cramming CR a.m. that’s
how you spell this is one time like a
one time study session space repetition
though the idea is that the first time
you study something this is like a kind
of basic schedule over a couple of weeks
and a couple of months in this case the
first time you study something or rather
at the beginning of like the first time
you learn a new word or the first time
you learn a new grammar point you need
to refresh your memory a lot so
refreshing your memory is important to
learn something long-term not just for
one day so the first time you study
something let’s say it’s like a new
vocabulary word or a new group of
vocabulary where it’s for example like
if you decide okay I’m gonna study all
of these words on this PDF so you study
them all one time then you need to study
again really soon because they’re new
like it’s all new information and you
need to refresh your brain again it’s
like it’s all new so I need to I need to
be reminded of the new information again
so maybe you study once on like like
today you study and then again tomorrow
you study the same things and maybe you
forgot its natural like that’s normal to
forget a few things so you review those
things then you study again like
two days later maybe the same things and
gradually you make more and more space
between your study sessions so maybe in
week one you study the same words like
four times for example and then in week
two you study like two times or
something like that and then further and
further you study like once a month or
whatever you have to give your brain
time to remember the word and in order
to do that you need to study several
times over a longer period of time so
you can already see this is very
different from just cramming everything
in so trying to put everything into your
head is great for a short period of time
but if you want to remember vocabulary
if you actually want to be able to use
your vocabulary for a long period of
time you have to keep refreshing your
brain you have to keep reminding
yourself so that you can actually
remember these words okay so a couple
other points about this set a spaced
repetition like this this is a good
concept but I know many people are super
busy of course so it’s hard to remember
like when to study like when did when
was the last time I studied or when was
the last time I studied this word or
this group of words so now we have
software we have software that can tell
us when to study that tells us okay it’s
time for your study session like you can
use your phone you can use an app you
can use software you can use like our
our stuff the stuff we have in English
class 101.com you can use lots of
different tools to help you remember
what time to study and what words to
study also but a couple of things first
remember in most cases software is input
only so by that I mean if you use an app
like you decide you’re going to use in
apt to study vocabulary words you read
the word on your app like okay this is
the word beautiful and you remember it
yes but you have to be responsible for
the output so not just reading the words
not just remembering the words that’s
where you have to be responsible if your
software doesn’t have like an output
option some software’s do if your
software does not have that you have to
be responsible to say the word to write
the word to make a sentence with the
word so these are examples of output so
you need to be using the words that you
learn don’t just put them in your head
but actually use the words so this is
another really important point to
remember
so not just input like if you can read
the word great that’s fantastic but to
use the word you have to actually like
use it you have to actually make things
create things okay ah then final point
here if you don’t want to use a software
you can use flashcards just basic
flashcards so writing something writing
something on a piece of paper or writing
something on small cards and quizzing
yourself like every day that’s another
way to do it it may be just kind of
difficult to do on a specific schedule
so software is really helpful okay so
that is the point first point for today
I haven’t checked the chat in a while
because I wanted to explain today’s
concept ah any questions specifically
about vocabulary words I’ll try to look
at those I see people just write in
comments about yes this is helpful this
is helpful okay cool
yeah some people uh Anissa on Facebook
says I always forget vocabulary totally
me too me too I totally forget
vocabulary so refreshing your memory a
lot you need to be able to refresh your
memory remind yourself of those words
you studied back here and to do that
effectively you need to study now and
then not just one time or two
times but you need to study regularly so
it’s like reviewing and another kind of
cool feature of this is that when you
study you can review old words and learn
new words at the same time so you can
put like a new group of words into your
study like plan or your study sessions
and you can like learn new words like if
you’ve studied one group of words for a
long time cool and then maybe at this
study session you introduce a new group
of words that’s starting here so that’s
really cool there’s lots of really cool
things you can do with software okay
Eric says he has many questions
all right thanks Eric okay am i the same
woman on the other English livestream
probably there are a few of us teachers
on the livestreams okay
someone lindomar says i use flashcards
with my students as well yeah great
great okay someone Gabriella says the
big problem is pronunciation ah so if
vocabulary if you can remember
vocabulary words but remembering
pronunciation is difficult then as I
said remember to practice output so when
you read the word if you know that
pronunciation is difficult for you
practice output like say the word at the
same time as you see it on your
flashcard so don’t just read it and if
you don’t know the pronunciation lots of
you say this if you don’t know the
pronunciation of a word go to an online
English dictionary for example Merriam
Webster’s or Collins dictionary they
have a button on every word in the
dictionary so you can hear the
pronunciation in American English and
usually British English too so go to
dictionary it’s totally free you can
check the pronunciation of any word in
English okay good so I’ll take a quick
break there and then we’ll talk a little
bit about some other ideas some ways to
get words and when to study so quickly
not I don’t know maybe not so quickly I
said there’s new there’s new PDFs I’ll
show you on this
amra over here there are new PDFs that
we have for you to download I was
looking at this one because of course
our lessons are online I’m sorry this is
the this is a new PDF talking online is
the topic of this so there are all of
these vocabulary words you can use for
your devices and on the back some useful
sorry hard to see some useful
expressions don’t do this useful
expressions you can use on the internet
on social media up here
these abrete like these little
initialisms and then a couple of other
well a lot of other vocabulary words
here so this is an example of something
you could make a group of flashcards
with these words you could study these
as one topic of study at a time other
new things I saw a couple other ones I
wanted to show you especially which were
here’s another one but I thought was
good sports some of you have asked about
sports recently this is a sports and
exercise vocabulary page so again
another group of vocabulary words you
can train using a spaced repetition so
to help you remember all of these words
more effectively so these are just a
couple of examples of the new PDFs that
we have I’ll show you some more again
later but like I said if you grab if you
download like a PDF for example and make
a set of flashcards or if you use an a
spaced repetition software you can
practice like you know for two weeks one
of these PDFs and master that so this
can be a great tool like to get some
words to get a list of vocabulary words
to study so I will show you more of
these later okay let’s move on then to
the next part of today’s lesson yes the
PDFs are free you can get them if you
have an account at English class 101
dot-com check the link below the video
on YouTube or above the video on
Facebook if you’re watching on Instagram
please check YouTube or Facebook and
sorry I cannot
see your comments live okay so let’s
continue to part two for today also a
quick reminder if you haven’t yet please
make sure to like and share the video so
other learners can find today’s lesson
let’s go to part two part two I started
talking about it a little already word
lists so some of you say how do I find
vocabulary words to study like why like
how do I know which words I need to
study here are some ideas first you can
download vocabulary lists from existing
software so existing this means someone
made this vocabulary list that’s what it
means there are already lots and lots of
vocabulary excuse me vocabulary lists on
the internet you can download for free
especially if you use a spaced
repetition software so I keep saying
spaced repetition these spaced
repetition software’s are called SR s
like spaced repetition systems or spaced
repetition software’s so you can find s
RS decks or lists of words that already
exist on the internet if you have an SRS
like app or something you can maybe find
it inside your app so for example if you
are an English class 101.com member I
think if you have the basic premium or
Premium Plus subscription you can access
we have word lists and a flashcard
system so you can practice we already
have like I think a group of 2000 core
words for English so you can use those
if you have an account on the website if
you have paid accounts you can access
all of the word lists so you can check
those out too another thing you can do
if you want a free resource this is a
very popular SRS spaced repetition tool
it’s called Anki a and
and ki this is a free software that you
can download to practice memorization so
if you don’t if you don’t have like
budget to buy like a software or
something you can get this and they have
what are called decks so deck a deck is
like a deck of cards playing cards yeah
so we imagine our like wordless or
flashcards are like a deck also so you
can download a deck of like thousands
and thousands and thousands of cards and
you study with something that looks like
this so in in the software there’s the
vocabulary word and then there are some
buttons you can choose at the bottom so
you see the word and you have to ask
yourself do I remember this word or not
you can choose no I don’t remember this
word at all or it’s a little hard or it
was okay I got it it was okay or it was
very easy so you choose an answer to
this and the software remembers your
answer the software remembers your
answer and chooses when to quiz you
again on the same word so these kinds of
software are super super useful for
remembering which words to study like
which words were easy which words were
difficult for you
the software remembers for you so you
don’t have to remember so your
responsibility is to open the software
to make some time to study so this is a
free resource that you can use as I said
we have of course our vocabulary lists
on our website if you are already a
member there and I mentioned to our PDFs
so if you know there’s some topic you
want to study like this is shopping at
the supermarket vocabulary word this is
one about making plans with time so like
talking about schedules so if there’s a
specific topic you want to focus on you
can take a PDF one of these and put all
of these vocabulary words into your
software to practice study
that way so there are many ways that you
can use existing information to create
your word lists some other ideas you can
look for specific news articles so if
for example you’re interested in
politics and you have like a website you
always read you can choose a specific
news article and take key vocabulary
words from the article put it into your
vocabulary study system and you can
practice those vocabulary words until
you master them other ideas you can use
blogs so if there’s a blogger or maybe
even someone’s social media feed maybe
you can use those you can use those
resources as vocabulary word resources
so when you see a new word you have to
kind of train yourself see a new word
take the word put it into my flash card
like deck or my group of flashcards so
that I can study it so these are just a
few ideas of places you can get word
lists of course your textbooks also have
word lists if you use text books that’s
another idea as well of course if you
have other ideas you can send them in
the chat so that other people can see
your ideas too but these are some places
where you can get lists of words already
made and some ideas for how you can
custom make your vocabulary lists too
okay I don’t see any questions yet so I
will continue on let’s see we’ve got
about nine minutes yeah everybody’s just
saying hello and they understood Oh some
people I’m on on Facebook said how do we
get the free PDFs so these ones I
mentioned if you want to get these if
you’re watching on Facebook there’s a
link above the video not the chat box
but like above the chat area or above
the video on Facebook below the video in
the description box if you’re watching
on YouTube please log in to the website
with your account if you do not have an
account you can make a free account
okay / son says how do I learn words
with the same translation for example
target goal purpose objective yeah so
one recognizing that the words are
different great and then if you think
these words seem to be the same check a
dictionary to look at the differences
and I recommend checking example
sentences too because sometimes when I
check a dictionary I understand like you
say the translation of the word but I
don’t understand the nuance I don’t
understand like the small differences in
meaning until I check example sentences
so I say dictionary yes but also check
the example sentences to understand it
and sometimes quite honestly lots of
people use the same words
interchangeably okay
good let’s continue then to the last
part of today’s lesson I guess I’ll take
one more break and show you a couple
more of these the new ones I haven’t
shown you yet so this one this is what I
was looking for earlier this lent it’s
about hobbies so this says leisure time
activities which means hobbies so the
things you do in your time off so if you
want to study hobby related vocabulary
this is a good resource on the back lots
and lots of vocabulary words that you
can practice to be able to talk about
your hobbies
for more specific hobbies like for
example about music this says singing
but this is actually about music there’s
a lot of music related vocabulary on the
back here so please check these out
there are lots and lots of new ones I
think I have a couple more maybe if
there’s time later but please check the
link below the video on YouTube or above
the video on Facebook to check out all
of the new PDFs that you can use your
vocabulary studies okay let’s go to the
last part of today’s lesson men please
today’s lesson the last part will be
about when to study when to study so if
you missed it I talked about the spaced
repetition this idea of having a gap
between your study sessions as you
practice as you review vocabulary words
so when should you study first every day
is the best setting every day is the
best finding a little bit of time to
study vocabulary every day is the best
so I know like lots of people are busy
but if you just kind of change a little
bit of your existing schedule it can be
kind of easy to find 10 minutes or 15
minutes here and there some ideas during
your commute so your commute means your
travel to work or your travel to school
so if you drive a car it might be a
little challenging but I’ve heard of
some people who listen who do listening
practice in their car on the way to work
so they do like a listening vocabulary
listening sorts of things this could be
an option if you drive other things
during your lunch break you can study
take 10 minutes in your lunch break to
review vocabulary maybe after dinner or
before you go to bed or before you eat
breakfast or maybe after school if
you’re a student so there are lots of
different times during the day of course
everybody has a different schedule
everybody has you know a different kind
of feel as well like I hate mornings for
example I am NOT a morning person
it takes me a super long time to wake up
I like to sleep late so for me I don’t
want to do anything before breakfast for
me it’s like late afternoon is the best
time for me so that’s when I prefer to
study
in my case actually though like my
favorite time to study vocabulary when I
studied vocabulary my favorite thing to
do and the thing that was most helpful
for me I was using an app and I studied
on my commute in the morning and at
night my commute was very short like 15
minutes or so so I studied 15 minutes in
the morning and 15 minutes at night and
that was 30 minutes a day that’s a true
story I did that for like a year or so
and I learned a lot of vocabulary that
was really helpful I was using a spaced
repetition system too so I remembered it
as well so that’s what was helpful for
me that was very helpful for me you can
find something that works for you
specifically so but key points try to
study every day try to study every day
of course if you miss a day that’s okay
that’s fine but try to make a little bit
of time every day because you refresh
your mind like if you’re refreshing your
mind every day a little bit it’s really
really good to do so try to study every
day okay any more questions
um Alisha today youtube okay someone up
bori on facebook says i always study
english after school nice nice so you
already have a specific time maybe some
of you already have an English class so
maybe you can study just before your
class to review your vocabulary good
marcello on youtube says on my commute
works better for me yeah that was my
case too
we’re like studying on my commute was
really really good for me I liked that a
lot because otherwise I’m just gonna
like check social media or something
like I can check that anytime so I just
changed how I used my time and studied
instead okay other points someone says
if I miss a day I’ll get lazy I
understand I totally understand but it’s
like if you stop if you quit you’ll
regret not continuing so it’s like if
you miss a day just go oh
and then start again so don’t get down
on that penny says do these tips apply
to remembering grammar rules totally I
think so totally so it’s not quite the
same like studying vocabulary words like
we can’t always just pick up a flashcard
and remember all like the grammar rules
of something but you can use the same
idea so for example if you study like
present perfect tense at the beginning
of your I don’t know here and then you
study it like you know you review it the
next day what is it how do I use it
what’s it used for and then you study it
the next week and then two weeks later
you can do that and then I think with
grammar you naturally use it so you
might not use all of your vocabulary
words a lot but with grammar rules
you’re naturally using them so if you
refresh yourself a few times in the
beginning I think it becomes much easier
long term to remember so don’t just
study a grammar point one time okay it’s
really hard to remember words for things
relating to medicine and disease yeah I
would say again just put him in a
flashcards just put him in a flash card
deck find some word list get your get
your words together and put them
together in a flashcard group that you
can study with the same system we’ve
talked about how’s my Japanese
vocabulary pretty good I do pretty good
I don’t know how many I don’t know I
don’t know how many words I know
actually I’m not sure other questions
let’s see Facebook Facebook Facebook
I don’t see specific questions about
vocabulary or let’s see someone says
what can I do to improve my listening
well if you’re talking about vocabulary
listening then try you can use this and
you can try to listen as well
to like our videos or to like audio
podcasts at the same level as what
you’re studying so that might help you
okay good I don’t see many questions so
I think I have to wrap it up as well so
it is half past the hour so we’ll
conclude there I think well look at me
I’m on time for a change
alright so I’ll end there but I hope
that this lesson gave you some useful
tips for studying vocabulary again the
system I talked about the method I
talked about here was spaced repetition
spaced repetition you might find spaced
repetition systems or spaced repetition
software’s called SRS SRS so please
check that out or make your own
flashcards and your own study schedule I
wish you the best of luck with your
vocabulary studies but I have to finish
so today’s lesson will end here we will
be back of course next week next week’s
topic is yes every day English idioms
everyday English idiom so I’m gonna talk
about maybe twelve to twenty or so I’ve
chosen a few like hit the hay or knock
it out of the park I’m gonna talk about
some everyday English idioms that we use
for those little bits of like daily life
so please join us next week that will be
Wednesday August 21st 2019 um we’ll be
here 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time that
is in New York City time if you don’t
know your local time please google it
and join us to talk about everyday
English idiom so this will be kind of
like a vocabulary lesson but like
phrases we’ll talk about some set
phrases to use so join us again next
week we’ll be here I will sign up so
please check out the new PDFs I showed
earlier these are all for free from the
link below the video on YouTube or above
the video on Facebook if you’re watching
on Instagram please check the links on
youtube or on Facebook and we’ll see you
again next week so thanks very much for
liking the video and for sharing the
video for sending your questions that
was awesome and enjoy your week enjoy
your weekend we will see you next time