<p>I know everyone is different but I wanna know how different people utilize different methods in memorizing monotonous vocabulary in a short time. Do you write it out? draw it? or just read it over and over? </p>
<p>I know reading in context is essentially the best way to memorize vocab but for the people taking the SAT in a few months, we don't quite have that luxury, do we? </p>
<p>So, in short, which method is the most effective while also being the most efficient (time-saver)?</p>
<p>It depends how comfortable i am with the vocab, usually reading them gets the job done, but re-writing them also helps as well as reciting them aloud</p>
<p>Reading in context is the best way to understand words long term, but if you want to just memorize things quickly it’s not even close to the most efficient. Basically you want to test your recall repeatedly, ideally with increasing gaps between checks. Flashcards are good for this.</p>
<p>The “Learn” feature on Quizlet. Add words progressively and keep going through them.</p>
<p>I’ve always been pretty quick with memorizing words. However, I used flashcards a lot for my french class in the beginning. So, I’d recommend using flashcards.</p>
<p>In a short amount of time - Well senior year I got pretty lazy and I didn’t even purchase a vocab book haha, so I did this for about 70% of my tests. Basically, throughout the day I’d skim over every word. Then, I’d associate each word with a person/place/situation that relates to me. Or, I’d think of words that sound like it, or look like it that have similar definitions (example: rudimentary = elementary, basic). While doing this method, I used to get atleast an 88 on the tests. All of them were 50 questions, including multiple choice, fill in the sentence, synonyms, antonyms, and part of speech. We had 20 words per week.</p>
<p>In a long period of time - I would look and read the definition 5 times. Then, I would cover the definition, then try to recite it without looking. If I still didn’t know it, then that’s 5 more times. Also, since the vocab book we used was very popular, I’d take tests online, especially on quizlet (since I didn’t have a vocab book, this was the website I frequented all the time lol). I got at least above a 95 using this method.</p>
<p>Example of memorizing a definition:</p>
<p>Insipid: uninteresting; unchallenging; lacking taste or savor</p>
<p>1.While looking at the definition, type out the word & definition five times.
2. Repeat without looking at the definition.
3. Say it out loud 5x while looking at the screen (optional)
4. Say it out loud 5x without looking at the screen.
5. Without looking at the word & definition, type it out again. If it’s right, go on to the next word. If it’s not, say it out loud while looking once, and then repeat five more times without looking.
6. Go on to the next word, repeat the process, and then type out the definition for the first word without looking. Type out the definition for the second word without looking. On to the 3rd word. et cetera.</p>
<p>It’s a little time consuming, but I’ve been able to memorize 20 words in ~30 minutes and not have to look at them again afterward until about 5 minutes before the test. The most important part is saying it out loud- active recall vs. passive.</p>
<p>I also second associating words with people/situations. For example, gaffe - a social error or faux pas. My friend, whose last name is Jaffe is incredibly awkward, so I always associate the word with her. </p>
<p>& Quizlet.</p>
<p>If it is foreign language vocab I use flash cards. If it is English words (for example studying for the ACT), I don’t really do much, I just review the words in context.</p>
<p>Flash cards!!! :)</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>all the words that i have not learned contextually (which are many - i never picked up that many contextually when i was young) I feel like i never stored quite right…</p>
<p>i always have trouble looking them up in my mind. sometimes, no matter how hard i try, i just can’t find the word i’m looking for. but then, hours or days later, i can search it out automatically, and when i do i always think - what is wrong with me, why couldn’t i do that before, and i hope it doesn’t happen again. but then it does happen again, with a different word?</p>
<p>does anyone else relate to that? writing books without having instant access to lots of words would be very hard, so i don’t think writers have this.</p>
<p>honestly, learning words in isolation (i.e not contextually) is probably unnatural and shouldn’t be done because it is fraudulent in a sense. but the sad thing is we have to be frauds in that sense to compete well on GREs and SATs, and in some writing (well most of us, at least).</p>
<p>In AP English, we had an end of the year huge vocabulary test of 550 words. With quizlet I memorized all of them in one day, in 4 hours.</p>
<p>I make up stupid sayings and notice stupid things about them.</p>
<p>Like if the first letter of the word is n and the word sounds unpleasant, i’ll think of it as ‘the negative word’ and somehow it works.</p>
<p>That…doesn’t sound helpful at all.</p>
<p>My strategy for memorizing anything(customized to vocab). I usually use this for Biology terms or concepts.</p>
<ol>
<li>Read the word</li>
<li>Focus on the word for a couple seconds, let your brain internalize it.</li>
<li>Read the definition and understand it.</li>
<li>Make a connection between the word and definition, and think of words that you know with similar meanings. Create a simplified meaning of the word that u can memorize easily.</li>
<li>Write the word down and write the definition down</li>
<li>Look at it again</li>
<li>Repeat using different words</li>
</ol>
<p>Shouldn’t take more than 20 seconds per word. Haven’t missed a single vocab question across 3 PSATs/SATs.</p>
<p>^ wow nice <em>takes notes</em></p>
<p>I make my own flashcards with the definition (in my own words if possible), the word, and the sentence is the definition is vague or ambiguous. Then I grab a friend or family member to quiz me with them until I am very comfortable with each word.</p>
<p>Stare at it.</p>
<p>Read. I find trying to memorize definitions is a bit of a waste of time; reading books with a wide range of vocabulary and understanding the context can usually do the trick.</p>
<p>I should probably qualify my answer a little bit. I haven’t missed a vocab word across 3 PSATs/SATs, but I can’t directly attribute that to my studying technique as I never studied for the Critical Reading section(760). I have always been a progidious reader and acquiring vocabulary comes naturally(often have to tone down my writing to make it less pretentious).</p>
<p>I did get a 5 on AP Biology and I was 1 of 3 people in my class to get an “A” in the course. I used a modified format of this to memorize words/concepts for the test.</p>
<p>Whenever I have to memorize something, I make notecards and read aloud. To not waste time, I tape them onto the glass door in my shower, and read them in there as well. It gets the job done. :)</p>