And, indeed, remembering is a big part of language learning. To master a language, a working vocabulary of 2000 words is required. Besides vocabulary, there are also phrases, grammatical endings and constructions to remember. This does take time and effort, both to learn and to be able to retrieve what you have learnt.
I want to talk about how to make that effort in a way which is effective, not wasting energy on what will not deliver the result you need. So how do you do it?
Let me suggest some ways I have used to remember language.
1. One artificial way of remembering words is to come up with some association. My Hebrew teacher taught us to associate the Hebrew derekh (road) with the name of my current church minister, Derek. The word for yellow in Russian, jolty, sounds like the word for a dayglow jacket (jilet). I remember the German for elephant trunk, because it sounds like my name, Rüssel. The Kyrgyz for health is "den sooluk" which reminds me of St Luke's hospital in Brussels, where my brother, Lawrence was born.
2. A second way to remember words is when they recall a situation. Anyone who has lived abroad can remember situations when someone has said something memorable and the phrase has been remembered in the family for years afterwards. I remember how to wish someone something by remembering how the bin men in Belgium used to come round at the start of the year, looking for a start-of-year tip, saying, "Bonne année." (literally, Good year) I remember the word for doormat in Italian, having being castigated by an irate Italian on the beach for having walked over his towel: "Non è mica uno stoino." (It's not a doormat.) If you haven't got the luxury of spending extended time abroad, you can recall similar lines from films. One of the many classic lines from the Russian film, The Diamond Arm, is a scene, in which a woman lures the hero into a compromising situation and then says, "Я не виновата, он сам пришёл." (I am not guilty; he arrived himself) This teaches the use of short adjectives and how to say 'himself'.3. This leads on to a third way of remembering language - using rhymes, poems or songs. I have already made reference to my friend learning Russian grammatical constructions based on a pop song about the Russian president. Sophia was recently learning some French using this catchy song; in this case she learnt how in French you don't say, "I need," but, "I have need," (J'ai besoin); similarly, not, "I am hungry," but, "I have hunger" (J'ai faim)
4. But the best way to remember language is.... to use it! In the olden days this was compared with dialing a phone number, but no one dials phone numbers anymore. Instead we are constantly entering our PINs and passwords. And constantly using them helps us to remember them. When it comes to foreign language learning, find opportunities to use what you have learnt. Obviously, the best thing is to use what you have learnt in live conversation or correspondence, but, even if those paths aren't available, find other ways. The exercises in your language books are probably the most useful aspect of them. There is nothing more affirming than knowing you have got the answers right - and, even if you don't, knowing the answer now, you will get it right next time.
So, here are four tips for remembering language, whether it is vocabulary (words and phrases), grammatical forms or constructions: associations, situations, rhymes and repetitive use!
Now get forming those neural pathways!
If you are interested in language learning, follow this blog.
My name is Russell Phillips. I offer online video language tuition for English and Russian - and also German, Italian and French.
My rate is GBP 9 (nine pounds sterling) per block of 15 minutes (a typical lesson might be 45 minutes), payable in advance.
Contact me via www.facebook.com/russelljamesphillips or on email at regnavit[at]gmail.com
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