3 STEPSTO LEARN VOCABULARY DEEPLY

© REAL RUSSIAN CLUB 2016

Hey everyone!

My name is Daria and I’m a certified teacher of theRussian language for foreigners. I’ve been working withstudents for more than 7 years and that’s what I noticed.When it comes to learning the new vocabulary, peopleface the same problems again and again.

Has it ever happened that you tried to learn the newwords, but couldn’t recall them the very next day? Ormaybe it seemed that you remembered, but when theright time to use them came, the words treacherouslywouldn’t come to mind?

Don’t worry! There’s nothing wrong with you, andeverything is fine with your memory. The problem is inthe typical methods that language schools have beenusing for years.

After reading this shortguide you will understand

how to learn the newvocabulary deeply and howto use it without hesitation.

Let's get started!

How NOT to learn the new words

Let me tell you how we used to learn new vocabulary in the

lessons in school and college. Every time the teacher wrote a list of

several new words of a particular subject or randomly grouped.

For example, weather or food.

Weather / Погода

Winter  ­ Зима  Cold ­ ХолодноRain ­ ДождьCloud ­ ОблакоSpring ­ ВеснаSun ­ СолнцеSnow ­ СнегWarm ­ ТеплоWind ­ ВетерHot ­ Жарко

Food / Еда

Tomato  ­ Помидор  Cheese ­ СырButter ­ МаслоWater ­ ВодаJuice ­ СокRice ­ Рис

Carrot ­ МорковьSauce ­ СоусSalt ­ СольTea ­ Чай

In the next lesson the teacher said them one by one, and we had to

translate them into English. And that was pretty much it. Obviously, a

couple of weeks later half of those words were completely forgotten!

According to the scientific research, people can forget information

they consider as not important in 1 minute after reading or hearing

it. It means that without deep learning you'll keep forgetting the

foreign language.

As you can see, it’s essential to use the new words from thevery beginning as often as possible!

And you know what? I picked up the three most popular

textbooks of Russian as a foreign language and looked through

Lesson 1. Here are some of the words I found in the “Vocabulary

section”: доктор, университет, студент, and other typical

words for those who start learning any foreign language. These

ones are appropriate, because almost everyone can understand

them without translating.

But also in Lesson 1 there were such words as:

магазин - store,

город - city,

билет в кино - movie ticket,

трамвай - tram,

этаж - floor,

шахматист - chess player…

Wait a second. ШАХМАТИСТ?!Ummm seriously? How on Earth would

beginners use the word chess player in everyday life? They simply will not!

And learning those words would be

just a waste of time.

In this guide I’m going to tell you about three easy steps that will

help you to memorize the new vocabulary

DEEPLY and to use it ACTIVELY.

Step 1. Post-it notes

I’m sure you’ve heard that in order to memorize new

words, you should write them on post-it notes and put those

notes everywhere in your apartment. But I assure you, it never

works effectively. To put around different words chaotically

(something like brick, cool, assistance, candy, supply, etc.)

and to glance at them once in a while is just another variation

of those “word lists” we used in school. You’ll forget them as

soon as they go off the wall.

It’s great to use post-its, but one should do it sensibly!That’s what I recommend: pick ONE room in your place (orjust one part of the room) for the period of a week or two.If you need more time, don’t worry. It’s up to you to decide.Then in this particular room you put post-it notes onto thethings you use more often.

For example, let’s choose a kitchen. On the fridge we put

the note with the word холодильник, on the stove – плита,

on the table – стол and so on.

Don’t write the translation! The more analogies you draw

with your native language, the slower you will move on in

learning the foreign one. It’s a very bad habit – constantly to

translate everything in your mind. The main rule of beingfluent is to THINK in the foreign language. And it’s only

possible if you learn vocabulary deeply and not make

associations with your own language.

You don’t need translation! If you had put a post-it with

холодильник onto the fridge, it’s obvious what it is. Why should

you write the word fridge there?

Once you think that you remember all the words, add simple

phrases about the subject. Onto the fridge put the note with “Вхолодильнике лежит еда”, onto the sink or dishwasher – “Враковине/посудомойке я мою посуду”.

Х О Л О Д И Л Ь Н И К Холодильник

Step 1. Post-it notes

Then comes the most important part. Every time you do something

with one of the objects, say this phrase OUT LOUD. Don’t be shy! If

you’re alone, say it loudly. If you’re not alone… Say it even louder!

Impress your family with speaking in one of the most difficult

languages.

Next week choose another room. For example, bathroom. Here are

my suggestions for post-it notes:

Зеркало – Я смотрю на себя в зеркало.

Стиральная машина – В стиральной машине я стираю вещи.

Крем – Я мажу лицо кремом.

Полка – На полке я храню шампунь.

Every time you meet new words it’s very important not toforget to write them down.

Imagine that you’re reading a book in Russian and see some

unknown word. How often did it happen that you had a quick look in

a dictionary and immediately went on reading? 10 pages later you

met that very same word and understood that you had to dig in the

dictionary again, because you simply had forgotten it already. And I

assure you, even if you do it ten times in a row, a week later you will

not remember the meaning of that word.

Step 2. Become a writer!

So the main question is – how to learn the words deeply? The

answer is simple – write them down first. Use any notes app you

have on your phone or find some small notebook for these purposes

if you’re old-school (just like me).

From now on, every time you see a new word, spend 1 minute

writing it down together with several phrases including it. For

example there is a sentence “Я не люблю сладкий чай” and you

don’t know what “сладкий” means. Write it down like this:

Сладкий – Sweet.

Examples:

Я не люблю сладкий кофе. Сладкий шоколад. Она не ест сладкое. 

Don’t forget to say those phrases out loud. Train your memory as

often as you can. Change the words in those phrases sometimes:

Сладкий торт, Я ем сладкое, Сладкая кока-кола.

When you simply “copy” the word from the dictionary to your

notebook, the only active thing is your eyes. Not your brain. The

brain doesn’t have to do anything. Make it work! From now on,

every time you collect 5-10 new words or phrases, try to create amini-story with them. Yes, become a writer!

Now some of you may ask: “But I’m just now starting to learnRussian and don’t know any words. How can I write a story at all?”

Of course you can! Be sure that if you know English, you already

know thousands of “Russian” words. I prefer to call them

“international” ones.

Step 2. Become a writer!

Here are just a few examples of the words you already know:

You see? You know enough words already! Add a couple of verbs

and you can create any story. The more absurd and funny it is the

better you’ll remember the new vocabulary.

Sports: футбол, хоккей, волейбол, бейсбол, гольф, бадминтон, автоспорт,

бокс, виндсёрфинг, гандбол, гол, голкипер, дайвинг, сноуборд, регби.

Business: бизнес, бизнесмен, офис, дилер, менеджер, копирайтер, риелтор,

холдинг, пиар, промоутер, стартап.

Science: физика, география, астрономия, математика.

Food: фастфуд, хот-дог, гамбургер, майонез, кофе, вино, паста, пицца.

Ohers: компьютер, презентация, номинация, спонсор, видео, шоу, бойфренд,

имидж, кастинг, актёр, джинсы, свитер, тинейджер, тюнинг.

Most of those words can be easily turned into adjectives: офисный,хоккейный, кофейный, компьютерный, математический and soon.

Let’s imagine that you have just finished learning the words

from the kitchen post-its. And even if it seems that you don’t know

anything else, you can try writing something like this:

В офисе есть кухня. На кухне есть элегантный стол. Настоле тарелка из бамбука и стакан. На тарелке хот-дог, а встакане – вино. В центре – гигантский холодильник. Моя

кухня супер!

Step 2. Become a writer!

I highlighted the words you need to learn in green: kitchen, table,plate, glass, and fridge. And in red, the words you already know:

office, elegant, bamboo, hotdog, wine, center, and super.

Have a look at the words we used.

New words: bathroom, bath, sink, washing machine, mirror.

"International" words: showman, sponsor, show, computer,

American, jeans, celebrity.

Verbs: to stay, to look, to understand.

And here is an example of a silly story using some of the “bathroom

vocabulary”:

Я шоумен и спонсор шоу о ванной комнате. В ванне мойофис. В раковине стоит компьютер, а в стиральной машинеамериканские джинсы. Я смотрю в зеркало и понимаю –

я селебрити!

Later you can “play” with these stories, switching the tenses.

Step 2. Become a writer!

Here are the same mini-stories in the Future tense:

- В офисе будет кухня. На кухне будет элегантный стол. На столебудут стоять тарелка из бамбука и стакан. На тарелке будет хот-

дог, а в стакане – вино. В центре – гигантский холодильник. Моякухня будет супер!

- Я буду шоуменом и спонсором шоу о ванной комнате. В ваннебудет мой офис. В раковине будет стоять компьютер, а встиральной машине будут американские джинсы. Я посмотрю взеркало и пойму – я селебрити!

Here they are in the Past tense:

- В офисе была кухня. На кухне был элегантный стол. На столе=стояли тарелка из бамбука и стакан. На тарелке был хот-дог, а в=стакане – вино. В центре – гигантский холодильник. Моя кухня=была супер!

- Я был шоуменом и спонсором шоу о ванной комнате. В ванне был мой офис. В раковине стоял компьютер, а в стиральной

машине были американские джинсы. Я посмотрел в зеркало и понял – я селебрити!

Don't forget to read your stories out loud. Then try to say them in

front of a mirror. If you can't recall some words - replace them with

synonyms.

If you have left Step one (with post-its) far behind, you can use

this method with any new words. For example, during the week you

found these ones: машина (car), падать (to fall), необходимо(necessary), рано (early), срочно (urgently), дождливо (rainy),

пьяный (drunk).

Step 2. Become a writer!

Story:

Вчера рано утром я вышел на улицу. Было дождливо искользко, поэтому я упал и сильно ударился об машину.Необходимо было срочно звонить врачу. К сожалению,врач был пьяный и не приехал.

And the same story in Future and Present:

Завтра рано утром я выйду на улицу. Будет дождливо и скользко,

поэтому я упаду и сильно ударюсь об машину. Необходимо будетсрочно звонить врачу. К сожалению, врач будет пьяный и неприедет.

Сегодня рано утром я иду на улицу. Сейчас дождливо и скользко,

поэтому я падаю и сильно ударяюсь об машину. Необходимо

срочно звонить врачу. К сожалению, врач пьяный и не едет.

Present:

Future:

If you already have a pen pal from Russia, then it’s great!If not, then I insist that you find several as soon as possible.

Step 3. Use it!

It’s much better to start with those kinds of sites that werecreated exactly for the people who want to practice a foreignlanguage.

Some of them require a fee (for example, http://penpalworld.com).

My favorite one is free and takes about a minute to sign in –

http://interpals.net

There you can set the needed parameters (such as age, location,

interests, etc.) After you make a new friend, start using the new

vocabulary actively. For example, you’ve just finished learning the

words from the post-its in the kitchen – time to practice!

Why is it essential? To have a person who can help you with some

problems in the foreign language might be very useful. For example,

you wouldn’t call your professor every time when you don’t

understand some slang from a Russian movie, right? But you can

easily text your native speaker friend!

If you’re a beginner, I don’t recommend finding those people in

social networks such as Facebook and VK. According to statistics, in

Russia only 10-15% of people know English. That’s why it’s very

possible that you won’t be able to find anyone who can understand

you on those sites.

Don’t be surprised, but 99% of all the dialogues in Russian start

with two phrases: “как дела?” (how are you?) and “Что делаешь?”

(what are you doing?). Instead of saying the standard “всё ок, как утебя” (fine, and you?) suddenly try to talk about your kitchen. Why

not? If you’re afraid to look weird, let your friends know that you’re

about to practice the new vocabulary, in that case they won’t be

surprised.

Step 3. Use it!

Penpal: Приветик, что делаешь?

You: Привет. Убираю на кухне. Мою посуду. Кстати, у тебябольшая кухня?

Penpal: Да не очень.

You: У меня тоже маленькая кухня. Но всё равно много времениуходит на уборку. Сейчас буду мыть холодильник.

Translation

Penpal: What’s up, what are you doing?

You: Hi. I’m cleaning up the kitchen. Washing dishes. By the way, is

your kitchen large?

Penpal: Not really.

You: Mine is also small. But anyway it takes long to clean. I’m going

to wash the fridge now.

Here is the example for beginners:

These were just examples. Choose any words, any situations, and

any subjects. Don’t be shy and don’t feel awkward. Pen pal sites are

not for making lifelong friendships, both of you are there to practice

the foreign language. But who knows, maybe you’ll find a true friend

or even love there. It’s a great opportunity.

So, let’s summarize everything about what we talked. Themost effective way of learning the new vocabulary deeplyand for a long time is to use it actively.

In conclusion

Step 1. Instead of learning random words, concentrate onthe subjects around you. Start putting post-it notes ondifferent things in your apartment – room by room. Don’tforget to say everything out loud as often as possible.

Step 2. As soon as you collect 5-10 new words, try to createan easy story with it. Read it out loud, and then tell it. Keepdoing it until you understand that you remember all thewords perfectly. Time after time go back to this story andsay it out loud again, changing some details, switchingtenses, making it more difficult.

Step 3. Find a native speaker to practice Russian on one ofthe penpal sites. Every day try to use the new vocabulary incasual conversations. Ask your friend questions with newwords to see how native speakers use them. The more youpractice the better!

Follow these steps and you'll feel confident inRussian in no time!

I'd like to thank you for taking thetime to check out

3 steps to learn vocabulary deeply.

Thank you!

I hope you have found some valuable information in it andwill be able to use it as a guide to help you increase yourRussian vocabulary.

I wish you best of luck on your way of learning the Russianlanguage!

Cheers, Daria

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© REAL RUSSIAN CLUB 2016

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

This mini-book would not be possible without theinvaluable help of Dr. Curtis Richardson.