How to learn new vocabulary
I need to make a confession. I've always been a lazybones when it comes down to learning languages.
I can't seem to make myself get down to it and actually learn the new vocabulary. Not that I haven't tried. I've been struggling with French for more than 2 years now. I subscribed to “The word of the day”. It didn't work. I would forget to check my email on time. Then I opted for reading books which I found quite interesting in my native language. Well, to put it in a nutshell, I now have as fine a collection of French books as any library could boast of. Not that it did any good for my French. But I didn't stop there. I went on to try out hanging post-it notes around the house. Now one should note that I live with a flat mate and a cat, both of whom opposed the notes utterly. Within 3 days the cat made sure all of them are gone. I figured out it knew what's best for me, so I moved on. Then there was an option of vocabulary games online. No good. Obviously, one needs to actually play them regularly to get any effect.
It was not until I started listening to French music that my language skills got any better. I particularly liked some of the songs and got so hooked on them that listened to them whenever I could. I tried to sing along but not knowing the lyrics hampered me. And you know what? There was no way around this one, so I actually had to get off my lazy bottom and check the lyrics and the translation on the Internet. Somehow, I found myself knowing more words than I ever did with all my previous methods.
The moral of the story is – if you are as lazy as me, get a new CD!
