Have you heard of the Linkword Technique? It was made by Michael Gruneberg and is a fun and simple way to remember new vocabulary. Here, you remember new words by making an image in your head that links the new word to its meaning.
Make a link to your new word like this:
A. Find a word it sounds like: Think of a word (or words) that sound similar to your new word (or part of it). It can be a word from your first language or an English word you already know. For example, for the new word transit (meaning travelling between places), tran sounds like train and sit sounds the same as sit (on a chair).
B. Make an image in your head: Imagine a picture linking the sound words to the new word’s meaning. For transit (above), you picture a person sitting on a train going between two different stations.
C. Use the image in your head to remember: The next time you hear the word transit, you remember the person sitting on the train and remember the meaning is travelling between two places.
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Different people will link their words in different ways. And how you link it is not important. Any image is okay. It’s only important that the image linking the meaning is clear to you.
In fact, a stranger or sillier image will help you to remember it better.
For example, your new word is deduct (meaning to remove or take away). In this word, duct sounds like duck. Then you picture in your head a cheeky duck stealing someone’s bread near a lake (the bread is being taken away).
The Linkword Technique is not only useful for remembering new words, it’s also useful for remember people’s names. Just think of a word you know that sounds like the person’s name (or part of it). Then, in your head, link the image to their face.
For example, their family name is Somersby, then your words might be summer and bee. Then you imagine the person wearing a big summer had with many bees flying around it.
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Extra tip! Once you remember the new word’s meaning, try to find out more about the word. Check its spelling and how it’s used. Also, check other things like its pronunciation and stress. Make some notes about the word in your study log. The more links you make to the word, the less likely you’ll forget it. |
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