How to Master Vocabulary When Learning Another Language
Learning more words is sometimes the most difficult part. Here are some ideas to help you get through it
Sometimes I sit there feeling so overwhelmed by my journey to learn a new language, I feel like I could just curl up into a ball and cry. Language learning is a journey that’s both rewarding and challenging and those rewards and challenges come in waves. They oscillate back and forth and you feel like an utter failure on some days and a language-learning wiz on others.
You’ll sometimes go from feeling totally elated to feeling like you’ll never “finish” the long, grueling work of studying.
But here’s the thing, language learning is a lifelong process.
I’m a native English speaker, but still, I learn new words, new structures, new ideas, new ways to use my native language every single day. I often have to remind myself that language learning will be a lifelong voyage no matter which language I learn. We’re all learning and learning is part of the fun.
If you’re like me, you’ve probably gone through the different apps available and learned quite a bit in your target language. Currently, I’m studying Spanish and while I’ve completed the Duolingo course, and the Rosetta Stone courses, I’ve found myself wanting more.
These apps are great for teaching you how to speak, listen, read, and write in a foreign language. But what they lack is the powerhouse vocabulary that you’ll need in order to be taken seriously as a foreign language speaker.
Words like “normalized” and “confusion” don’t come up in such apps. They’re basically designed to help you get by when you travel to a foreign land, or if you’re in a pinch, but as far as having deep, meaningful conversations goes, you’ll quickly find yourself woefully inadequate if you try to spark up a conversation in your new language.
But fear not, I’m going to give you a few pointers on how you can build your vocabulary and feel much more comfortable explaining yourself thoroughly in your new language.
1. Lingvist
The most powerful tool in my vocabulary-building arsenal is an app called Lingvist. It’s available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, or you can use it from the web browser, as I often do. The current pricing is $9.99 per month, or $79.99 per year, or $174.99 as a one-time fee and then you get the app for a lifetime.
There’s a try and subscribe later option so you can demo the app and make sure it’s something that’ll work for you.
But trust me when I say this (and no, I’m not paid to say it), it’s worked phenomenally well for me.
The app’s design is really simple and there’s only one main interface. It gives you a sentence and you have to fill in the blank. The missing word will sometimes be conjugated in different ways, so it forces you to get creative with your word choice in your target language.
And the app’s power lies in the sheer size of the vocabulary you’ll be able to learn with it. While the number of new vocabulary words available to learn differs depending on your target language, no matter which language you choose to study, you’ll get a lot more than most other software programs.
Languages currently available are Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, and Russian.
2. Graded Readers
Graded readers are books that are usually written almost entirely in the target language. The goal is full immersion. The point is, you want to spend as little time in your native language as possible, as anyone knows the best way to learn a new language is to go move to somewhere it’s spoken so you can’t avoid it.
Graded readers are like the book version of this same principle (Rosetta Stone operates this way too, with total immersion).
Graded readers will often have additional vocabulary words that you wouldn’t find in your usual software, so you can use them to learn new words. And they’re especially powerful for helping you drill home the old vocabulary words you’ve learned already.
My Graded Spanish Reader fetches for next to nothing on Amazon, meaning it’s an affordable investment in your vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. There are boxed sets that contain novels that will help you read along and expand your vocabulary as well.
Keep in mind, it helps to read aloud! That way you get practice verbalizing your sentences as well, which will lead to better conversations down the road.
3. TinyCards and Podcasts
Duolingo has built a pretty big brand around language learning and has now positioned itself as one of the top language learning brands in the world. As they often advertise, more people are learning languages on Duolingo than in entire first-world countries.
But they also have a continued learning app called TinyCards, a place where users can make and use flashcards for learning languages. While I’m more inclined to recommend the first two options, Graded Readers and Lingvist, TinyCards isn’t all that bad of an app and it’s provided the groundwork for a massive amount of learning where users can study almost anything with digital flashcards.
And did you know Duolingo also has podcasts available? They do.
The podcast is available in both French and Spanish learners, and it’s a great way to brush up on your vocabulary in contextualized situations.
Remember during your process of language learning, that studying is forever. It’s a journey, not a destination, and most people will be happy you took the time to study their language. Language learning can open up a lot of doors in life and near-infinite possibilities for those of us willing to put in the time.
Thanks for reading. This story contains affiliate links (to books) and I make a small commission off of these links. Good luck on your language learning voyage.
