Vocabulary-learning techniques

When learning a language it is especially important to expand your vocabulary and everyone has a different approach in doing so.

For  my English class we got the assignment to write about useful vocabulary learning techniques. I believe there are a lot of helpful strategies for learning new words. You just have to find the one that suits you the best.

I myself am a visual learner so it is always easier for me to write a new word down. The most effective way is by making flash cards where I write one word on one side and the definition or example sentences on the other . Flash cards can be also useful when learning something else but they are specially useful for vocabulary learning.  The great thing about flash cards is that it is a simple but effective method. And if you use this strategy it is very easy to feel good about yourself, because there is just one word per card and when you master it its a great feeling when you can put the card in the “words I already learned pile” - that way you get the feeling you are actually progressing. Also, if it helps, draw a little picture next to the explanation because you will find it even easier to learn new words when you can connect them to a picture.   

Online sites

I always use the Internet while learning new vocabulary. It is an effective and easy way to find different language-learning tools. For starters there is a variety of monolingual dictionaries where you can look up specific words and how to properly use them. My favourite dictionary is the Macmillan dictionary because it allows you to search for the explanations and also for the synonyms all at one place.

Another online site, and probably my favourite one, is vocabulary.com. There you can make your own vocabulary lists or browse through the ones that already exist and you can also learn new words through a multiple choice quiz. The best thing about vocabulary.com is that the system remembers every word you look up so when you use it frequently it is basically designed to your needs. When you log in to the site a random question pops up and its usually a word or a phrase you had problems with in the past. That way the site allows you to revise the words every time you use it.

Reading and listening

If you read a lot, it helps you revisit new vocabulary and see those words in new sentences and contexts. Everytime I read a book and encounter an unknown word I write it down immediately and look it up later. Try to include these new acquired words in new sentences or the next time you write a text. Also when I look up a new words I always search for synonyms. That way you expand your vocabulary even further and it really makes an impression if you use  more “fancy” words than just the most basic ones.  

Another good learning-technique is listening to a language. Pronunciation is another important step towards mastering a new language. Maybe find a tandem partner and speak to him/her at a regular basis to improve on your communication skills or just watch a TV show.

Summary: Before and After

 The reason I'm writing this post is because our English professor gave us the assignment to write a summary on this video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx_LWm6_6tA

When I first watched the video I was relieved, because even though it is a topic I know nothing about, its explained in a simple way and easy to understand. My first big problem when I was writing the summary was to include only the important information. I wasn't sure if I included everything or if i have left something important out. The second problem was the length. I had way too many words and I had to read through my text several times to figure out how to shorten it. 
So when the time came to show the summary to my professor I wasn't really sure what to think. As it turned out: overall it was actually a good summary and I was really surprised. There were of course some minor things that I had to correct but otherwise it was okay. However, I did make a huge mistake and because of that mistake I got a lower grade - I forgot to spell check !! I mean who does that? Or better yet, who doesn't spell-check.? Normally I do but this time I somehow forgot and the result was a lower grade. But the upside is that it is a mistake that I can easily fix. 

So what did I learn from this "before and after" experience? ALWAYS spell check even if it is the most basic word like because ( yes I didn't spell that right ) and also that writing summaries isn't actually that hard I just have to practice how to do it in 90 minutes and that is probably the hardest part.  

Here is the final version of my summary:

The video “The crisis of credit visualized”  aims to explain the reasons for the 2008 credit crisis.

Years ago investors were looking for a better investment than treasury funds because interest rates were drastically lowered, which lead to an abundance of cheap credit. This led to leverage- the reliance on using credit to increase profit. Wall Street used this idea to connect investors to homeowners using mortgages as a source of income. At this point the mortgages were divided into three categories: safe, okay and risky and this is called CDO- Collateral debt obligation. The safe- labelled mortgages were additionally insured via CDS- Credit Default Swap. This system allowed a constant money flow between homeowners, banks and investors and the market boomed.

The credit crisis occurred because mortgages were given to low-income families, who after time failed to pay off their mortgages, and the houses were repossessed. Eventually the CDO stopped and there were too many houses on the market and because of that house prices started decreasing.  At that point everyone started going bankrupt because even the financially-stable homeowners left their houses rather than pay for an overpriced house. Therefore the money flow stopped and the market crashed.

If you think there is still something to improve, I will be grateful for your suggestions :)

 And I guess the moral of my blog post is: never forget to spell check ;)