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What is we can in french?

Practice, practice & practice! 

Speak to others in the language you are learning as much as possible. 

Record yourself and listen back to this whilst doing mundane tasks (e.g cleaning or driving) 

Use apps like Quizlet to create flash cards and revisit these every night before sleeping or early in the morning 

Write one word with its translation on a sticky note (Post-It) and stick it to the frame of the mirror; to the cupboard door, to the laptop screen edge. 

Stick it to the places you see all the time.

Remove when it looks too obvious - that's how you know you've got it. 

In my experience, it's even better than flash cards, because the brain starts the remembering process while YOU are writing it down yourself... Writing by hand increases your brain engagement.

I would recommend using flashcards and a spaced repetition system, as this will ensure that you learn the vocab thoroughly while removing any words that you are already confident in from the cycle. 

I would recommend quizlet, they have lots of different modes for learning and also can speak the words on the flash cards so there will definitely be something for you. My personal favourite is gravity mode where asteroids with the words to translate fall and you have to enter the correct translation before it reaches the bottom of the screen. It really helps with speed 

As an avid language learner myself it really depends on what kind of learner you are. Whilst studying languages I was unsure what type of learner I was so I did the following methods:
 Auditory - these are who people who absorb information most efficiently when it is in an auditory form. 
      a. Actively reciting these new words out loud or having 
          other people test you. 
     b. Recording yourself saying the different words and their 
         meaning and then listening back to this when completing 
         menial tasks or just before bed.
Visual Learner - some people learn best when the information is in a visual form, so visualising these new words and linking that to their meaning may be more efficient. 
    a. flash cards with illustrative representations of the 
        definitions of the words. This could be done by hand or through various resources including memrise, quizlet etc. 
Reading & Writing - 
   a. Copying out the words and their definitions by hand, and 
      doing this using spaced repetition. After a few days do the 
      same thing and note which words you were unable to 
      recall. 
Kinesthetic learners - individuals who are able to learn more efficiently while being active. 
   a. Flash cards are can also be useful for this type of learner.
   b. Studying with other people, or having other people quiz 
      you on the words. 
These are only a few examples that I have tried personally but of course there are many other ways not only to learn new words but information in general. 
Something else that I have found particularly useful is writing as many sentences as you can using this word, seeing the word in context can also help solidify its meaning!

Some of the best websites I have used, including at undergraduate level, are memorise, Quizlet and Anki. Spending an hour a day reading through flashcards and refreshing vocab really helps!

Flash cards or in my teaching experience over the years a song or rhyme often helps to memorise words and the associations with them 

Memrise is a brilliant way to learn new words in a new language. The website (and app) helps you learn quickly by getting you to repeat the words many times, firstly through multiple choice and then by spelling the word. It also reads the word out to you each time it comes up on the screen!
Once you’ve learnt words, you can go back in a few hours to review, which ensures the words stay in your long term memory.

Flash cards/songs/drawing the words as pictures 

I would recommend using a whiteboard to write the words down and draw pictures to help you take them in, then try repeat all of the ones on the board when you practise until you get them all

Flash cards 
Ask someone to test you
YouTube - watching with sign language can help too

Are you artistic? If so, I recommend drawing pictures that display your new vocab. Whilst you are busy drawing the image, keep repeating the word that you are memorising or thinking it over and over in your head. You could draw these out on flashcards and then practice teaching this new vocab to somebody else. Speak with a native speaker of the language if possible in your target language. I believe putting language to use in real life situations is how to really build confidence and become fluent. 

Everyone remembers things and learns things in different ways so it’s a good idea to try various techniques and see what works best for you. I would recommend apps like quizlet, where you can make your own flash cards and play fun games to memorise them. Quizlet is also good because it focuses on the words you got wrong and makes sure to re test you on those. I also find righting them on post it notes and sticking them on walls or the fridge and saying it to yourself each time you look at it, soon you’ll remember without even realising. Colours and colour coding also tend to help. Whenever I’m revising topics I tend to listen to a certain genre or song or album and change it with each topic. That way you can associate certain words with a song and that has proven very useful to me. I hope this helps! 

The best way I found is to listen to them over and over again, make small flash cards and do vocabulary tests as well :) another good method is to try and explain that word in your target language 

You can write them on paper or use visual cards 

Firstly know the meaning and understand it. Maybe relate it to word you already know.
Then memorise by rote. 

Use Quizlet and make a study set for each topic etc and write down all the words and the meanings. Then you will go through the flash cards interactively and hopefully you can learn. It’s also to associate the word with familiar things so it’s easier to remember and more familiar 

Vocabulary notebook
Spider diagram/ mind map
Create sentences or phrases you can remember 
Flashcards- words on one side and the meaning or picture on the other 
Create a word box, pull out one word and test yourself with a description or use it in a sentence 

What helped me memorise new words is to break the word down. If you’re interested in etymology, consider the history of the word. You can also make associations, which I have found to be the fastest way to memorise new words. It helps to also contextualise the words you’re learning in sentences so that way you are not just learning one word but a whole sentence and know the meaning of it and how to use it too!

Before memorising you need to understand what it means.
Spell it correctly.
Regularly, write different sentences with the new word. 
This will be smart working: As you are learning the new word, you also preparing for your speaking exam. 

Regularly writing the words and their meanings on paper and then speaking them out loud is a basic but very effective technique to memorise the words.

Linking words in a story or alternatively to words which sound similar or hold some significance to you in your mother tongue is a great way to retain knowledge of words in a foreign language. Long term it’s also great to maintain this knowledge by constant repetition, just 5-10 minutes will do. 

Continuously testing yourself really helps! 

I usually write the words out in English on one side and in the other language on the opposite. I then cover the word in the language I’m learning and see if I know it, continuing until I’ve memorized what I need to :) 


You can write the words on a piece of paper and read them frequently. Record your voice when you pronounce them and listen it. Search on YouTube the word pronunciation and try every-time to associate the word with something special for you/ with something you can associate easily! Good luck!

I found that a few ways have worked well. 
First, is flash cards - I use Quizlet and Anki to remember new words and carry out the method of spaced repetition.
You can also try to colour code words and their conjugations. I’ve found this to be helpful for languages like German and French, where there is an article indicating the gender of the word. 
You can also cluster words together in order to remember them in groups (I.e. all feminine, masculine, neuter verbs or any other group). 

In addition to what you all said, which is very interesting, when learning a new language, you should immurse yourself in its culture. You need to love it, as the brain responds better to what we enjoy. If you are learning French for example, watch French movies, listen to French music... your brain will absorbe tons of information without even you noticing it! One new word is useless to the brain if you don't put it in a context and if you don't hear it or say it at least a few times in a few circomstances. 

Think about an important memory or moment and write a couple of paragraphs describing this using as many of your new words as possible.

Utilising this technique allows one to build connections between long established parts of your memory and the new words that you want to learn. This creates a complex neurological bond. 

A really helpful way to memorize fast words in a new language is to create word association webs. Our brain takes what we read and makes it into images, ideas, and feelings... We then make connections between what we knew before and the new information (words and ideas), and this is how we remember information. Firstly. start with the thing you want to remember (words, ideas, sentences) in the middle of a piece of paper. Then draw lines from it like a spider’s web. At the end of the line write down any ideas or words or even pictures that you think of when you say the word or idea in the middle of the page, anything you think of is ok. 
After having remembered the new vocabulary, try and use those new words almost immediately. According to psychologists who study how we remember information, there is a better way to learn things quickly and permanently. Use the new word immediately. Use it 10 minutes later. Use it 1 hour later. Use it 1 day later. Use it 1 week later. That new adjective/ verb will then be guaranteed to stay in your memory for a very long time. 

Many learners swear by flashcard systems, which involve studying words or sentences in the language you’re learning on one side of a card with a translation or picture on the other. Nowadays, people use apps like Memrise and Anki which show flashcards at specific intervals to optimise learning. This technique, known as spaced repetition, is based on observations by memory researcher Hermann Ebbinghaus, who noticed that we’re better at remembering information learned a few times over a longer period of time compared to many times within a short space of time. This means that we can learn more vocabulary with less effort, by spreading out our study sessions.

One of the best ways to memorise words is to use a grouping technique called mind mapping. Your brain remembers better when it has clear associations it can make and groups are a great way to do this with words. Start with a central topic or theme and expand your mind map outwardly.

For example: animals -> horse -> pony
-> cow -> calf
-> dog -> puppy

I also agree with the other colleagues, Flash cards are very good for this purpose, however, the trick is how and what to write on each flash card. And of course you must be assiduity in  practising and enthusiastic about learning new words or expressions.
I also found Duolinguo a useful tool. 
I also like an Android app called: Simple Flashcards Plus - Learning and Study Help, but it is not free.

Watch cartoons in the language. Try and practice it with friends who speak such language 

Of course using flashcards and activities on sites and apps such as Quizlet, Memrise, Duolinguo are a great and fun way to learn vocabulary (and also spelling). However to me the most efficient way is actually to use the words by making sentences with one or several of them. This will also help you master the right contexts in which to use these words. 

Flashcards are very useful, and online services and apps like Quizlet are great for quickly creating and sharing sets of flashcards as well as testing yourself.

As an experienced French tutor (over 40 years experience) my advice is to use these vocabulary words again and again : write sentences including one or several of them and use them as many times as possible in speaking. In other words practice makes perfect !!  :) 

Many of my students also like Duolingo. :) 

Lookup SAFMEDS. It increases your fluency and allows you learn accurately consistently. 

Flashcards with the word in the new language on one side and translation on the other side.

An alternative to flash cards, would be using sticky notes. Create three new words a using three flash cards per day. I used this method for my German qualification.

You could also consider Quizlet which is a website whereby you can search for the topics you want to find and play match up games, in addition to other fun games designed to help you memorise things. 

Free online mind mapping tools such as MindMup mean that you could also copy and paste images next to the words so that you can learn through association. 

Yes, Quizlet is an excellent site for flashcards as well as other activities and even games. You can also print your flashcards twice and use them as a memory game or you could make your own loto game. Apart from that you can play games like the hangman. The possibilities are endless. :)

Katie Hillier

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Katie Hillier