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Building your vocabulary

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Remembering new vocabulary and then activating it in conversation can be difficult.

Learners' experiences
"Finding new words in a foreign language is the easy part! It's remembering them and using them in real situations that I find difficult."
A learner from USA

"I choose a few useful words or phrases in my own language - the ones I use all the time and would like to say - and find out what the words or expressions are in English. Then I try working them in to my conversations. But I have found that literal translations don't always work!"
A learner from Africa

Learning Style Check!

Think about how you approach new vocabulary. Ask yourself these questions.

When you hear a new word in a foreign language, do you ... want to write it down? ... interrupt possibly fluent conversation to ask someone to repeat it? ... want to try it out yourself immediately?
If you think you understand what a new word means when you hear it, do you take a risk and respond to what you think it means? Or do you need to be sure of the meaning of every word before you reply

Learn it! - 3 tips

First admit you've got a learning style and think about how you developed this.
Try to identify your learning style or styles.
Take a risk sometimes: try the teacher's style - it could work.


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