Pogo - I absolutely agree with Ramses. Learning sentences is the way to go. I do the same thing with my flashcards!
However, if there is a vocabulary word that I keep forgetting or getting stuck on, I use a "hook". You can think of a "hook" as a little drawing you craft in your mind where you "hang" the word you’re trying to remember.
For example:
The Spanish word for “slice” is “rebanada.” I imagine the country singer, Reba McEntire singing “na” and “da” over a slice of pie.
Here's another one: “Lechuga” means “lettuce” in Spanish. To me, “ley-chew-ga” sounds like a lot like the sound one makes when sneezing. So, I imagine a person sneezing with lettuce flying out of his or her nose!
The weirder the hook, the more memorable it becomes. Eventually the hook fades away but I remember the word.
Hope that helps,
Asia