Lecture 6: Going beyond Dictionary Meanings
Putting Words to Work
z As we’ve said, words exist in context, not in vocabulary books or
lists. Thus, you need to actually use the words you learn, or you’ll
lose them.z One easy activity for using words in context is to simply write
each target word in a sentence in your vocabulary notebook. Use
sample sentences from a dictionary as models, and try to make your
sentences rich enough in context so that when you read back over
them, they help you remember the target words.z Another activity for using words in context is to choose one or two
target words to use in conversation each day.Cramming on the Farm
z Almost all of us have had the experience of staying up all night to
“cram” for a major test. You may have managed to pass the test, but
how much of that information that you frantically studied did you
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you do nothing all spring and summer; wait until the day before
the fall harvest; then quickly plant and water the seeds, hope for
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is no. If farmers tried to cram all their work in at once, they’d
never survive.z The point here is this: Real long-term learning, like farming, is a
natural process that takes time. Cramming won’t help you achieve
it. What will help, however, is to do a little bit of learning every
day. Choose one target vocabulary word and use one of the
activities in this lecture to dig a little deeper into that word. Just
a few minutes a day can make a big difference over a lifetime of
vocabulary learning.