Uczysz się słówek tylko po to, żeby zapomnieć je po tygodniu? A, może masz słabą pamięć i nic nie chce zostać w niej na dłużej? Zapraszam na trzynasty odcinek Umiem po angielsku!
Transcription:
Do you struggle with memorising vocabulary? Or do you learn words only to forget them a week later? What if I told you that polyglots don’t just memorise words? And what if I told you that they have a system that makes vocabulary learning easier and more natural? If you’ve answered yes to at least one of those questions, then you are in the right place. My name is Ania, and you’re listening to the 13th episode of Umiem po angielsku.
My goal today is to share a few vocabulary learning methods used by polyglots, so that your vocabulary learning can become a little bit more effective. Let’s begin with how not to learn vocabulary. Don’t do it by memorising word lists with translations — it’s ineffective and easy to forget. Remember? You learnt this way at school. You already know it’s not efficient. You probably were given a list of vocab, and a few days later, you were tested. And no matter how amazing a grade you received, you still weren’t able to use the vocabulary when you really needed it.
Another thing to avoid is learning words in isolation. Your brain needs context to retain them. Retain means to keep something. So, once again, your brain needs context to retain words. Another crime that people tend to commit is no repetition. ‘And why is it a crime?’ you may ask. It’s because your brain deletes unused information quickly. It’s very, very good at decluttering. To declutter means to remove things that you don’t use. So, once again, it’s… Your brain is very good at decluttering.
So, why is it that some words stick with us while others fade away? Vocabulary can be divided into active and passive. Active vocabulary are words that you can use easily in speaking and writing. Your brain always remembers them, whereas passive vocabulary are words you understand when you hear or read them, but don’t use effectively. Your brain doesn’t remember them when you need them. Think about a song you’ve heard many, many times. You recognise it instantly, but can you sing all the lyrics from memory? That’s the difference between passive and active vocabulary. Active vocabulary is the one that you can use all the time, whereas passive vocabulary is what you recognise but cannot retrieve from your memory.
Polyglots turn passive vocab into active vocab through practice (storytelling, conversation, writing). They know that context, repetition, and active usage are key. How do polyglots learn vocabulary? Everyone who truly wants to learn languages needs to find their own ways to do it, because language learning needs to be fun. It needs to be entertaining somehow. So, I’ll give you a few methods that I’m familiar with, and I hope you will give them a try.
The first method is learning vocabulary in context. Instead of memorising single words, learn phrases and collocations. For example, instead of just learning improve, learn I want to improve my pronunciation. Instead of learning want, you can learn I want to go home early today. So, this way, not only will you learn vocabulary actively, but you’ll also get familiar with grammar.
Method two is creating language islands. It’s a technique that requires creating pre-learned conversation topics to sound more fluent. For example, instead of memorising separate words, prepare ready-to-use phrases about your hobbies, work, or travel experiences. I’d like to encourage you to create your own language island. My first language island would be about myself. I would talk a little bit about my hobbies, my work, probably about my travel experiences, about my family.
The third method is storytelling and associations. Memorising words through stories and personal connections makes them stick. Let me pause here for a sec to explain something. Please, pay attention to how I’ve pronounced it. I said, makes ’em stick. Keep in mind that native speakers, not only of English… of the English language, but also of the Polish language, combine words together, and sometimes, when they pronounce words in a sentence, a few words can sound like one, so, when I said makes ’em stick, what I meant was makes them stick. So, let me repeat the entire sentence once again and pay attention to how I pronounce [it], and try to understand what I’ve said: Memorising words through stories and personal connections makes them stick.
If you’re not sure you heard me correctly, or you are not sure you understand me, you can visit my website and look for the transcription there. It’s also linked in my… In the description of the episode.
Associations are mental connections that help you remember words better. When you want to learn one word — apple — instead of just memorising this one word, imagine eating a fresh apple in an orchard. Orchard is a place that is isolated from other places, usually. It’s an isolated area with fruit trees — for instance, apple trees — and it’s taken care of by people, gardeners, or whoever take care… takes care of apple trees.
Method number four is active listening and reading. Yes, you heard me right. Active listening and active reading. Active listening is paying attention to intonation, pronunciation, grammar patterns, and how words are used in context. That’s very important. Context is really, really important. Repeating words and phrases will give you exceptional results.
Exceptional means very good, unusual. So, exceptional results are very, very good results — unusual results.
Active reading is underlining new words, taking notes, guessing meanings from context instead of translating everything. And it’s particularly helpful when you want to stop translating from [your] native language. Trust me, you don’t need to translate everything into your native language. Trust me when I say that I know that it feels weird — it feels really off — whenever you don’t translate something into your native language, because you’ve got this feeling… You probably have got this idea… That if you don’t translate something into Polish — if Polish is your native language — you don’t truly know the word.
Trust me, you don’t have to translate everything. Focus on active reading, focus on active listening, and with time, you will have more and more understanding of how and when to use certain words.
Active listening and reading are key elements of immersion. Many people think that immersion means moving to an English-speaking country, but in reality, you can create immersion wherever you are. Immersion is surrounding yourself with the language daily, in a natural way. For example: podcasts, books, talking to yourself, signing up for conversations, watching movies, etc.
Immersion is all about engaging with real content — and it can be done at home. However, immersion is not just about hearing English or reading it. It’s about making it part of your world.
If you check your phone 20 times a day, why not see notifications in English? If you relax with Netflix, why not watch with English subtitles? Do you like memes? There are plenty of them in English.
Method five is spaced repetition. It’s a technique that helps you remember words by reviewing them at increasing intervals over time, instead of cramming words all at once. By doing this, you move words from your short-term to long-term memory. The brain needs time to process and store information. SRS* helps optimise this process. I’ve just used the [phrase] cramming words all at once. I will not explain that word to you, but I would like you to go find out what it means.
So, those are the five methods I wanted to share with you. Remember that you need to personalise your learning because different learners prefer different methods. I would like you to choose what fits your learning style. You can combine techniques like storytelling and spaced repetition. It’s a powerful memory boost.
Key takeaways from today’s episode are that you don’t memorise words alone — use them in sentences. Create language islands to become more fluent. Use storytelling, active listening, active reading, and spaced repetition for better memory.
I’d love to encourage you to try one of the techniques today. And please, please, please, share your experience with me. I’d love to hear from you. Send me a DM and tell me which method you tried. Did it work for you? What challenges did you face?
Okay, so that will be all for today, my friends, and thank you so much for listening, and as always, take care and set realistic goals, because practice is more important than perfection. Cheers!
Umiem po angielsku 