If you often give up on learning vocabulary because it is too hard, this is the article for you, as it gives thirteen common sense tips on improving your knowledge of words and expressions in easier ways.
Learn the right level of vocabulary
The best way of making sure that the vocabulary that you are planning to learn isn’t too difficult is to use materials which have your level written on them, e.g. a Level 2 graded reader if you are A1/ Elementary, an Intermediate worksheet, or an Upper Intermediate vocabulary book.
Don’t try to learn too difficult vocabulary
Ways of avoiding vocabulary which is not necessary for someone of your language level include only learning words which come up in a suitable paper dictionary (e.g. a “Learner’s Dictionary” if you are Intermediate level).
Don’t try to learn all the vocabulary
As well as being written for learners of particular levels, paper dictionaries tend to have a symbol that marks the most important words to learn such as the 500 most common words in English. Other ways of selecting which words and phrases to learn include not learning words which are explained in the text, only learning words which are repeated, and/ or only learning words which you really need to understand the text.
Don’t try to learn too much vocabulary
Most people can only learn between five and twenty words and expressions a day, so stop making notes of new vocabulary when you have added that many new things to your vocabulary list, vocabulary flashcards, etc. Then concentrate on learning that number of things well.
Learn easier vocabulary
If you are working with words and phrases that are supposed to be for people of your English level but are still finding it difficult, it might mean that even though you have that level of fluency, grammar, etc, for vocabulary you should be using materials that are one level lower.
Read to learn vocabulary (instead of listening or watching)
Reading makes it easier to know what the word is, look it up and make notes to learn it from later. You are also more likely to notice what words go before and after the vocabulary that you want to learn. If you rarely read (even in L1), ways of reading include putting on English subtitles, reading podcast transcripts as you listen to them, and reading things related to arts and media that you do like such as comments under YouTube videos and books which movies are based on.
Learn vocabulary from (graded) fiction
You are more likely to remember vocabulary if it is in a memorable story.
Learn vocabulary related to you
Your brain is much more likely to retain vocabulary that describes your own hometown, your own family, etc. You can get this by using a dictionary as you write a description of something person, by selecting only the suitable language from vocabulary lists, and by reading about your own school, your own hometown, your own favourite restaurant, etc (on Wikipedia, on review websites, etc).
Learn more about vocabulary that you already know
While trying to memorise new words and phrases, you can also try to learn things that you already partly know such as different forms of the same words (“pleasurable” if you already know “pleasure”) and words that tend to go with words that you are familiar with (“very few” if you already know “few”).
Similarly, if there is a word or expression that you understand but haven’t used before, you could add that to your vocabulary list to test yourself on in a more challenging way, e.g. translating from L1 instead of just trying to remember the meaning of the English word or phrase.
Learn vocabulary that you like and avoid vocabulary that you hate
If you are avoiding learning vocabulary because you are sick of trying to learn phrasal verbs, proverbs, adverb collocations, etc, skip those things when you come across them and instead learn things you are interested in like slang, colourful idioms and euphemisms.
Don’t be shy about using your own language to learn vocabulary
Although it is better to use an English-English dictionary, English synonyms, etc when learning new vocabulary, that can be too difficult for some people and at some times, e.g. if you have the choice between an easy translation for a word and a difficult definition. There is therefore nothing wrong with using translations when you get stuck, or simply get too tired to continue using just English.
Only learn the key information about the vocabulary
Writing out the whole word in phonemic script is tiring and can stop you concentrating on just the parts which could be difficult to pronounce. It is therefore better to only copy the difficult sounds. Similarly, if the problem was just understanding that a word was an adjective and not an adverb, you can put just that aspect on your list of vocabulary to learn (without a definition, other forms of the word, etc).
Give up on that and try something else
Everyone sooner or later finds themselves struggling with a list of vocabulary that isn’t going in, too many vocabulary flashcards, a particularly difficult page in a vocabulary workbook, a book that has too many new words and expressions, etc. The best thing to do is to give up on that and move onto some of the many easier and more motivating vocabulary resources that are available.