Foreign language vocabulary studying tips

Steel Angel

So I currently work as a tutor and have a good amount of experience helping my students build their vocabulary. However, I now have a student who came over from Hong Kong about a year and a half ago and therefore has English as a second language. Vocab issues are gating her progress on the TOEFL exam and while I have a number of strategies that have proven successful on our students, I'd like to know how the folks here who have picked up a second language built up their vocabulary since it's slightly different beast compared to a native English speaker doing it.

Mogs

Flash cards have been a tremendous help for me in studying Spanish and Japanese. They're easy to carry with you, and don't require a whole lot of set up (I used to carry them with me, and if I got a 5-10 minute break in whatever I was doing, I would be able to study for a bit). There are rings you can buy to hold them together (provided you punch a hole in the cards or buy them pre-punched). The act of even making the flash cards is helpful for learning new vocab.

MagicToaster

When ever I learn a new word in Japanese, I make a sentence with it. Then I abuse that word and use it as often as I can untill it sticks.

Chanus

Repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition (you getting the idea?)

Also, try to start "thinking" with the new language. When you see an apple, think "manzana" (if you're learning Spanish, for example) instead of "apple". Try and do that with every word you learn.


And the best way to learn: Find someone with which you can have conversations in the language (easier said than done in a lot of cases, I know).

Mike Danger

My German book recommends using Post-Its to label everything in your room in the language.

Gandalf_the_Crazed

This is something I do with characters in Chinese, but I imagine it would be the same in English: word roots are your friend. If you can learn that "-cracy" often indicates a system of governance, then suddenly it gets about ten times easier to memorize words that end that way. The best way to do this is to take a word that's easy to learn and use in everyday conversation (such as, in this case, "democracy"), and break it down into its components. If she can add that word to her permanent vocabulary, she can build on it.

Rhymes and rhythmic phrases are also very helpful.

EDIT: Oh, and movies movies movies. I can still remember specific words that I learned from subtitled versions of Kung Fu Panda and the fifth Harry Potter movie. It's ridiculously useful. She needs to find movies that have been dubbed/made in her native language (Cantonese, I'm guessing?), but subtitled in English.