- Use new words as often as possible. Write them down, read them aloud. Use them in messages.
- Make your own dictionary with pictures. Write around a picture or a key word of a certain topic as many related words as you can think of. Try to find groups where the words link to each other by meaning, by sound, or grammatically (they are verbs or nouns; they have the same prefix etc.). Use a dictionary to fill any obvious gaps.
- Do not try to memorise just single words: think also of opposites, synonyms and sentences in which the word can be used. Words are easier to remember in a context, as in a newspaper article.
- Stick slips of paper with target language words on objects in the house, anywhere where you can see them often enough to memorise them.
- Write words on cards with the translation on the reverse side. Carry them with you. During breaks at work you can pick up words, learn them, form sentences and write short texts. After a while use these cards to test yourself: how many of the words can you still remember?
- When you read a book in the target language, write down new words in a notebook. Try not to look them up immediately in the dictionary: instead, read the whole sentence, paragraph or chapter first and try to guess the meaning with the help of the context.
- Learning about the history of language and how groups of languages relate to each other is interesting and can help in learning words, e.g. compare the following words: blå (Swedish), blau (German) and blue (English).
- Make up your own memory rules. Does the word have something in common with another word or does it somehow sound like the thing it means? Funny associations help you to remember.
- Sing! You can memorise words and phrases with the help of a familiar song!
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