Knowledge of foreign languages gives people plenty of advantages. It is the opportunity to travel around the world without an interpreter, to read foreign literature, to watch foreign films in the original, and to have friends from different countries. Word cards help to increase language vocabulary in record time. This seemingly simple method is based on the utilizing of mechanisms of short-term and long-term memory.
This paper is a report on learning 50 German words using word cards. First of all, I decided to use this method as it seems interesting and time-saving. The following scheme was applied: I chose a card, read the word in accordance with its transcription, read its translation, and then put the card into the second pile, and so with all the cards. During the first attempt to learn chosen words, I read, repeated, and learned the meaning of half of them approximately eight times for about one hour.
The second day I spent about two hours reading, repeating, and learning the translation of other 25 words. In order to fasten the achieved results, I took my cards with me to the café on the third day and repeated all words following the advice by Blerkom: “carry word cards around with you and recite or mumble them whenever you have a few minutes to spare” (2012, p. 279). It required around 20 repetitions during three hours when I learned words with my friend. Overall, I have learned 50 German basic words during three days by repeating them roughly 30 times.
However, it should be noticed that some words such as “stehen” (to stand) – “stellen” (to put), “sitzen” (to sit) – “setzen” (to set) caused difficulties as their meaning and form are similar to some extent. Nevertheless, I consider using the word cards promotes to setting goals and monitoring achievements in foreign language learning. For example, by means of shifting already learned words in a separate pile, it is possible to count how many new words person learned in a day, week, or month.
Additionally, I used the keyword technique also known as mnemonics, as it is “a way of making a strong link between the form of an unknown word and its meaning” (Nation, 2001, p. 311). For instance, the word “die Brille” (glasses). To begin with, I repeated this word several times and found that it seems like “brilliant”. Then I imagined the next situation: somebody made me a gift of unprecedented generosity: diamond glasses.
Speaking more precisely, instead of glass there were two huge brilliants. Finally, I represented them in my mind in details and remembered. In my opinion, mnemonics is very useful foreign language learning method in comparison with usual memorization because it is typically connected with a specific bright visual or auditory images and strong feelings.
I believe the following research questions worth exploring with this type of technique: Is the keyword method more productive for learning at home than at school (university)? Is it significant to combine mnemonics with other foreign language learning strategies? What is the difference between paper word cards and their electronic version (which of them is more effective)?
In conclusion, it should be stressed that along with the right approach, the regular repetition of words and the use of method of mnemonics show the high effectiveness of word cards.
References
Blerkom, D. (2012). College Study Skills: Becoming a Strategic Learner (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Nation, I. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.