7
votes
Accepted
Learning a language, for someone who can't stand flash cards
If you are learning a language, and it is not fun, then you're doing something wrong. See what can be changed.
When your brain thinks that some word is not necessary for your nearest activities, it ...
6
votes
Accepted
Best way to learn Hebrew verb conjugations?
It's easier to memorize a pattern than a paradigm. Instead of memorizing the conjugation, you could memorize a rule to identify it. This is more useful when you're trying to understand a text, rather ...
6
votes
Learning a language, for someone who can't stand flash cards
It is difficult to give specific advice without knowing what your goals are, so here are some general tips.
Do extensive reading using graded readers. (See this question about Japanese graded readers....
5
votes
How to make vocabulary acquisition fun?
Fun is very subjective, so I am not sure if my approach will work for you. However, what helped me was:
writing a blog;
participation in online discussions;
doing research or studying something (...
5
votes
Accepted
Learning Latin with Dowling's Wheel
Verbs
For the verbs, you don't need to learn the conjugation of every single verb individually. Latin has four basic verb conjugations:
First conjugation: model verb: amāre.
Second conjugation: ...
5
votes
How to overcome limitations of memory palace?
Apparently constructing an imaginary memory palace (instead of using a real place) is the way to go. It is only harder to setup in the beginning, but after that it should be as efficient as the loci ...
5
votes
Does memorizing French verb conjugations with the sound of English characters have negative impact in the future?
I would strongly recommend learning the correct pronunciation from the start instead of a pronunciation based on a different language, for several reasons:
You will later need to invest time and ...
5
votes
Accepted
How to learn conjugations?
There are several things you can do.
Gabriel Wyner's book Fluent Forever advises using flashcards (e.g. in Anki): on the "front", you put a sentence using the verb form you want to learn but you ...
4
votes
Accepted
How to make vocabulary acquisition fun?
Another variety in the same line as the other answers ("fun is important") is reading novels or novellas, or short stories in the target language. Clearly this presupposes a somewhat advanced level of ...
4
votes
How to make vocabulary acquisition fun?
As Olga pointed out, it all depends on what you experience as "fun". One way of expanding your vocabulary is extensive reading, which is also known as reading for pleasure. This requires texts where ...
4
votes
When to remove a word from Anki
You start with a false premise. An SRS like Anki does remove words. It removes words when they are too hard to learn by marking them as leeches. The default condition for a leech is answering a card ...
3
votes
Which 'direction' to use for memorizing new words?
The question assumes that translation is the proper way to learn new vocabulary in a foreign language. Historically, this habit comes from learning vocabulary lists that had one language (typically ...
3
votes
Learning a lot of similar words in a short period of time
If you are willing to put in some intensive study (since it's a "short" period of time) and you are looking for a type of "flashcards on steroids", consider using SAFMEDS. SAFMEDS is a technique ...
3
votes
Best way to learn Hebrew verb conjugations?
You should memorize two things:
The prefixes and suffixes that apply to ALL the binyanim. Here is an example of what I'm talking about.
A full conjugation example for each of the seven binyanim. Don'...
3
votes
How to combat the predisposition to forget certain types of words?
It seems like you need to put extra attention into verbs, so I would recommend the following techniques that you might not be using:
Mnemonics: You probably know what mnemonics are, but just in case, ...
2
votes
Does memorizing French verb conjugations with the sound of English characters have negative impact in the future?
Since you are only interested in writing the forms correctly, you might want to learn the endings as a short mnemonic, just like one often learns days, months, numbers, etc.
You need to memorize "...
2
votes
Learning a language, for someone who can't stand flash cards
I agree with the previous answer's point of having fun with it, but to address that specifically, let me say that the easiest way to learn a language is to learn the words to songs you like in that ...
2
votes
Homonym Learning Techniques
Interestingly, not only second language learners, but also children often have trouble learning homonyms, for instance according to this study.
This is however not always the case. In this other study ...
2
votes
How to remember a big list of grammar rules?
Assuming you need to memorize some word forms such as Latin or German inflections, what I find to be key is the reduction of entropy, or uncertainty/randomness in the rules. When I need to memorize ...
2
votes
Vocabulary memorization techniques
Use the language. Read books, news and whatever else. Speak and write in the language.
At least I do not typically have active means of memorizing vocabulary in my native language (Finnish) or ...
1
vote
Can someone learn English by listening?
When native English speakers learn English for the first time, they do it by listening and speaking, since they're too young to read. So it can be done!
That being said, you have the advantage of ...
1
vote
What is the efficiency of memorizing pieces of text? How much time does such activity have to take?
I collected some evidence and notes for my question:
memorizing useless pieces is useless, like:
famous speeches "I have a dream" - not useful vocabulary
chapters of Shakespeare ("Be ...
1
vote
Learning a lot of similar words in a short period of time
Let's take an angle from the philosophical representation of your situation, if you don't mind.
It doesn't really matter what you are learning, unless you are capable of to use what you've learned. ...
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