Do you have trouble remembering new English words and phrases? You want to increase your vocabulary but it’s frustrating when you forget them so quickly.
There is a lot of pressure to memorize vocabulary. You have to put this word – memorize – out of your mind! Simply ‘memorizing’ words will not help you become a fluent speaker!
I prefer the word – integrate. You have to focus on integrating new vocabulary into your daily life and speaking.
How do you do this? There are so many blogs on this topic and applications to help you ‘memorize’ vocabulary. But I want to give you my top 4 tips on integrating new words and expressions into your language. These are suggestions I have tested with my students in my 15 years of experience teaching English and I have seen good results.
WRITE IT DOWN! 
This sounds simple or maybe it doesn’t seem necessary to you. You might learn new words or phrases when reading or in an English lesson, but so many students don’t think to write them down! The simple act of just writing the words you learn down in a list in your notebook will help.
By this I mean, writing with your hand, using pen and paper! We live in such a digital world now. Everything is so easily accessible on our devices but the problem is we don’t retain information this way.
The act of physically writing with your hand actually helps commit new knowledge to memory. This is scientifically proven.
Two psychological scientists in Los Angeles conducted an experiment to test the effects of handwriting against typing notes on learning and memory. The students who took notes by hand were found to do significantly better in the exams than the typists.
Check out the article here
MAKE SENTENCES
The next step is to take the new words or phrases you have learned and put them into a sentence. It’s very important to be able to use the words in a context. This will also help you memorize (integrate!) the words. You also need to know how to use them in a grammatically accurate way, so it’s important to check your sentences with a teacher if you can.
But don’t just write any old sentence! Make it personal! I always tell my students to make true sentences, about their own lives and situations using the vocabulary. When you make it personal to yourself and your life, then you increase your ability to remember it!
USE FLASHCARDS! 
Surround yourself with the new language in any way that you can. Put sticky notes all over your computer screen. Write the phrases on post it notes and pin them around your room. Put them on your bathroom mirror. When you see them in the morning, say a sentence with the word out aloud. Then you will be exposed to the vocabulary at all times of the day and even just looking at the words will get you thinking about them.
FOCUS – on just 6 words a week!
Many students of English believe they will become better speakers if they just learn huge lists of new words. But less is more! In my experience it is more effective to focus on no more than 6 to 8 new words (or phrases) for one week. If you try to learn 10 words a day, the reality is you will be less effective at remembering them and using them. I usually tell my students to choose just 6 words from the topic we have been studying (E.g. – Family or The Environment). Write these words down, make sentences, and then surround yourself with them. Focus on them in your mind and try to ‘hear’ them as you watch English movies or TV shows or listen to podcasts or conversations. When you hear the new word somewhere you will feel delighted as you recognize it in a context and it will imprint it more strongly in your memory.
And my last extra bonus tip!
USE THEM!
Whenever you have an opportunity, use your 6 words for the week in conversations. Experiment. If you have the chance to speak to a native speaker, try out the new vocabulary! If you make a mistake, they will probably correct you and you will learn something new!
You can also practice by yourself
MY FLUENCY EXERCISE!
This is something I use with my students and it’s very effective in committing new vocabulary to memory.
Write down your 6 words. Choose a topic related to the vocabulary. Make it personal. (E.g. – A travel adventure / The most dangerous thing I have done / The most interesting person I have met)
Then TIME yourself (2 to 3 minutes) and speak continuously on this topic. Can you use all 6 words/phrases in the 3 minutes? If not, try again!
If you want to learn to speak more fluently and practice your English with a native English teacher – contact me for lessons online with Skype!
Written by
Nick Dale
CEO
Real English Speaker
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