What do you learn first when you start an additional language? Of course, get some new words.

Well, I will not mention the importance of learning vocabulary again. In this post, I just want to share with you my experience to make learning new words as fun as you are in love. Can you believe it? Sounds weird but it is so true. So here are 5 steps to treat every new word as your lover (let’s assume that it’s a “He”).

1. Learn about his family (Family word)

Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb. For example, if he is “interest” (N), his sister can be “interesting” (Adj), his brother can be “interested” (Adj). In order to remember the words better, I even put some adjectives like “nice, kind” or “naughty, strict”. This technique will help me to memorize words with opposite meaning. Quite intriguing, right?

2. His appearance and personality traits (Word form, meaning, pronunciation)

And now, just imagine a word is a physical person you are into. So is it a noun or a verb? I assume that it’s a person’s appearance. In respect to word meanings, I think of them as a trait of a person so that I can associate the meaning with the sentence. If a person can have distinctive personality traits, the same thing happens to word meaning. Finally, pronunciation is his voice which you really want to keep in your mind. 

3. His relationship in life (Synonym, Antonym)

So I am certain that you care about this. Who are his good friends and similar to him in terms of characteristics? And who around him is totally different? It is good to know his world and most of his relationship. You will be more confident being around him and communicating with those people. Of course, it’s not a must to learn about all of them.

4. His surrounding (Context, Syntax)

Where does he work? What about his place? Definitely, you are curious about these things. Come on, treat a new word similarly. Learn the context and how you can put the word in a sentence. In other words, it’s all about sentence building.

5. His life story (Examples)

In addition, keep reading.  Every example is a story of him in the past.  Spend time on reading examples and trust me, it is worth it.  And obviously, after all the above steps, you are absolutely ready to write your own story – With him. 

For more ideas of learning Vocabulary, have a look at our post about how to learn English vocabulary with Flash Card