Vocabulary app/website recommendations?

[Natalie382]

I really need to work more on memorizing vocabulary, but I forget so quickly!

Flashcards are efficient, but I'd love an app or website that automatically adds new words each day and reviews a few old words so I won't forget them.

Does anyone know of anything like that? Or have another recommendation for something that has worked well for them?

Thanks!

[Manuel]

Hi Natalie,

I have some tips for you that have worked extremely well for me.

First of all, I recommend that you increase your vocabulary by learning new words that you will actually USE in your conversations. Too often people try to memorize words they learn in a language course that they never use in their daily conversations. So I recommend you try to think in Spanish and notice which words you don't know; those words you want to learn, because those words you need to express your thoughts. Notice everything around you; the things you see, hear, feel, smell, taste etc. and notice if you know the Spanish word for it. If you don't, and you would like to know it, that would seem like a good word to add to your vocabulary, if you ask me.

As far as remembering the word goes, I recommend the following procedure:

I do NOT recommend remembering the word as a translation from your own language, because you didn't learn your own native language that way. You learned your own language by associating a word to the actual object/idea that you could perceive.

So, for example, if you are trying to remember the word "la mesa" for "the table" in Spanish, I DON'T recommend to create a flashcard that says "the table = la mesa." Instead, when you think of the word "la mesa", picture a table in your mind and associate the word to the actual image of what the word represents. That is how you learned your native language. You will find it's infinitely easier to remember the word this way, because that is how your mind works. You never learned your native language by translating one into the other, you learned it by associating words (symbols) to actual things you perceive in your daily life (whether they be actual objects, like tables, or more abstract things like concepts etc.)

Now, for some more abstract nouns/verbs you might have more difficulty finding an image in your mind to relate it to, so I'll give you another tip that I've used myself lately. Whenever I can't think of an image immediately that represents the word/verb that I am trying to remember, I google a picture for it, and many times I find something that represents the idea well enough to help me remember it. I don't find something 100% of the time, but for the vast majority of vocabulary I can find a picture on google that represents the word well enough for me to help me remember it.

I hope this helps you a little!

Good luck,

Manuel