Looking for Tips on Learning English Vocabulary

[Snader]

Hey all!

So, I'm interested in starting a consistent habit of learning English vocabulary for the sake of being able to fluently read English books with more unconventional vocabulary and expressing myself more diversely, and would like to hear some ideas for effective learning. 

I know I could learn a lot and fast if I invested like an hour into learning every day, but I don't have time and interest to do so. I'm aiming far ahead by looking for a method with 5-15 min investment per day and let consistency do its magic.

About 2 years ago I tried some methods such as:

• Tried underscoring words from books and writing the words on a post it note 1 word per note with the translation on the other side. Did classic memorization by flipping the notes, flipping 5 words a day for 5 minutes. Did that Mon-Fri and on Sat I put all 25 words on the table and flipped them until I got em all right. Sunday would go by arranging new notes for the next week. I did that for like 200-300 words until I decided to take all the old notes and pull out words randomly, which took me to the realization that I don't remember shit. I remembered less than 50% of the words, which isn't effective enough. And I didn't feel I really remembered them, I had to dig them from the deep end of my memory, they didn't come out naturally like I would've wanted to. This method just seemed to be too dull and ineffective. I feel like I need to titillate my brain more with the word by approaching this with a whole different strategy to learn the words properly.
• Tried some phone applications. They were nice, because I could do the work while taking my morning shit and they also had pronunciation feature with every word, which shortened my learning curve nicely. There was just one big error with every app I tried. In example they give you a round with 20 words where you need to fill in the letters to complete the word. The unfortunate part is that I already knew like 80% of the words asked so again I wasted so much time speed typing most of the words. So again, not effective enough.
• Tried Vocabulary.com. I don't remember why I quit that, it must have been a bit stiff or something... (see the irony with my amazing memory).
• Tried checking dictionary every time an unknown word appeared while reading a book or watching a video or whatever. This method is shit, interrupts my attention too much.

So any suggestions are warmly welcome. I'm sure there is some killer methods out there that I'm just dismissing. I'm willing to try all kind of methods until I find one that suits my stupid ass brain  The point is to keep it quick and simple per day, maybe can work for it a little extra on one day a week or something like that, but consistency is the thing I'm after here.

[SamC]

Search for SAT comprehensive memrise. That's what I would do if I where you.

Another thing you could do is to keep a list of the words you don't understand each week and than paste them in Quislet and practice then til you'll learn them ( or review your list every day for a week or whatever)

 

Edited May 4, 2021 by SamC

[Snader]

@SamC Will definitely check those out. Thanks!

[SamC]

2 minutes ago, Snader said:

@SamC Will definitely check those out. Thanks!

you can also highlight the words you don´t know while reading and look them up later

[Snader]

12 minutes ago, SamC said:

you can also highlight the words you don´t know while reading and look them up later

Can't do that. If I kept my attention on spotting words I can't directly translate, my reading speed would slow down A LOT and I couldn't get into flow. Normally if there is an unknown word in the middle of a sentence -- especially a word I've read before somewhere -- the context is usually strong enough for me to understand what was being said. And if I didn't, then my mind would alert and I'd need to check the translation right away.

It's exactly the frequency of this checking process I want to minimize by learning more vocabulary -- when it comes to reading books.

[Bob Seeker]

There are flashcards apps that use spaced repetition. You create your own words list on google spreadsheets and download them to the app. I’ve used flashcards deluxe. No typing, just say the English word out loud after viewing the native word, and check your answer by clicking the word. I think those are the best. Google them.

I watched this video and copied some of his methods to learn spanish pretty fast: 

Just do what he did but for English, although you don’t have to do it all.

in the end you can’t be lazy. Devote at least an hour of undistracted study at a desk each day, the more you do, the faster you learn.

Edited May 5, 2021 by Bob Seeker

[Snader]

1 hour ago, Bob Seeker said:

There are flashcards apps that use spaced repetition. You create your own words list on google spreadsheets and download them to the app. I’ve used flashcards deluxe. No typing, just say the English word out loud after viewing the native word, and check your answer by clicking the word. I think those are the best. Google them.

Thanks! that was helpful. I will check some of those apps. I quickly checked the Anki app he talked about in the beginning of the video and I think I might be able to use that with my routine to come.