Transcript Here is a PowerPoint presentation

Learning vocabulary from lists
How to maximise the time you spend
learning the vocab from the vocab lists
from this course
Beware of the serial effect!!!
= learning the order which the words
come in the list rather than the meaning
of the words!
So, mix up the order in which you learn
the vocab items (use cards?)
Translation will help you
But, make sure you have got the correct
translation!
Words/phrases translate differently in
different contexts
e.g. leo.org gives us all these possibilities for ‘division’!!!:
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
division
division [comm.]
division
division
division
division
division
division
division [comm.]
division
division
division
division
division [comm.]
division [sport.]
division
division
division
division
division - of a company [comm.]
division
division
division
division
division - of a company [comm.]
die Abteilung
i
die Aufspaltung
i
die Aufteilung
i
der Bereich - einer Firma
das Divis
i
die Division i
die Einreihung
i
die Einteilung
i
der Geschäftsbereich
i
der Geschäftszweig
i
die Gliederung
i
der Hammelsprung
i
die Spaltung
i
die Sparte i
die Spielklasse
i
die Teilung i
der Teilungsstrich
die Trennlinie
i
die Trennung
i
der Unternehmensbereich
die Unterteilung
i
die Verteilung
i
der Werksbereich
i
die Zerteilung
i
Bereich eines Unternehmens
i
i
Repetition!
The interval between the repetitions
should get progressively longer if you
want to get these words/phrases into
your ‘long-term memory’ :
e.g. after a day
after 3 days
after a week
after two weeks
after 3 weeks
Just ‘rote learning’
(saying/writing words again &
again) won’t help you very much
You need to retrieve the
words (‘get them from your
memory’) when you are
repeating the words
A way of retrieving a word/phrase
- from a translation
(look at German word, think of English word)
This may be enough for words that you find easy,
but for more difficult words you have to practice
using the words (engaging with their meaning) and
translate it
An efficient way of retrieving a
word/phrase by using it!:
- Write an example sentence
Good example sentences are not easy, they take thought (and so time)!
But the more thought the more learning!
A good example sentence should include elements of the words meaning, e.g:
Definition of a foundation: an organization that is established to provide money for a particular
purpose, for example charity, or that does research on a particular subject.
Bad example sentence: ‘He works for a foundation’ - to think of this sentence you don’t need
to engage with the key aspects of meaning.
Good example sentence: ‘The board of the foundation meet once a year to decide which
students to give grants to this year’ – to write this sentence you have to engage with the charity
aspect and the providing money aspect of the words meaning
Save the example sentence and use
it to test yourself the next time you
want to recall the word!
‘The board of the f___________ meet once a year to decide
which students to give grants to this year’
Reading the example sentence aloud will probably help you
Personalising the sentence will probably help you (making it
relevant to your life)
You need to think of the sentence! Don’t use somebody else’s
sentence. Thinking of the sentence is when most of the learning
is happening!
An efficient ways of starting to
learn phrases/words on your lists:
- by categorising
To think of the categories and to put words in
categories you have to think very carefully about
the meaning of the words
← here is a PDF example
(double click)
Using cards
- English word/phrase on one side and translation on the other
- mix up the order of the cards regularly (to avoid serial effect)
- each time you ‘practice’ a card, put the date on it, and store it
with other cards of the same date (so you know when to repeat it
next)
- OK to mix up thematic areas (learning words with similar
meaning at the same time can have a negative effect)
- concentrate on the difficult words/phrases! (remove the easy
ones, don’t waste your time!)
- in one ‘session’, first English to German, then German to
English
Using cards
deliverable
machbar
Using cards
But remember: translating alone is
not enough, it doesn’t give you
enough detail about context and
‘grammar’ to use the word or be
sure of its context for the meaning
you want in English…
e.g. ‘deliverable’ has at least two meanings in business English.
Make sure you’re learning the meaning that you want to!
DELIVERBABLE // noun, adjective
noun [C, usually pl.]
(Commerce; Production)
a piece of work that must be completed, especially as part of a long
project:
The development team have agreed on dates for all deliverables,
including the final product. tracking project deliverables with specific
software
adjective [not usually before noun]
that can be achieved, provided or delivered:
Is the proposal deliverable? The futures contract becomes
deliverable on January 31. deliverable results The company
believes its takeover offer is deliverable.
So add the necessary information to your cards…
Using cards
Deliverables
(project management)
Die Ergebnisse (eines Projekts)
Example of how context is key! This is from a discussion thread
on leo.org:
Übersetzung:
Arbeitsergebnisse für Kunden
Quellen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deliverable
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projektmanagement
Kommentar:
Das kommt wohl aus dem Projektmanagement, dort sind die
"Deliverables" die Ergebnisse, die eine Untergruppe des Projekts zu
einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt (Meilenstein) liefern muss.
Leider wird in unserer Firma auch alles anglizert, daher weiss ich keine
gute Übersetzung für die Customer Deliverables.
Schau doch mal in die Links, dort werden die Details genau erklärt.
The Keyword Technique
If you think you are a strong ‘visual
learner’ then research shows that
this will probably work very well for
you for difficult words:
Thinking of an image which links the
English word with the meaning of
the German word
e.g.
(deliverable)
Link between German & English:
“LIVE auf ORF, Österreich 3, Frankreich 1”
= „das Ergebnis von Projekt FrankreichSchlagen“
Image = scoreboard showing ‘das Ergebnis’
And this is your ‘donkey bridge’!
Summary
• translation is not enough but will help
you
• repeat in ways in which you have to
think about the meaning of a word
• repeat in short ‘sessions’ but often
• the vocab list for this course is too
long to learn ‘last minute’!
• context!