Memorization is a big part of not only language acquisition but also learning new things in general. In particular, it is inevitable to learn new words and expressions when learning a foreign language. This is because even if you acquire a lot of information through class, it is almost impossible to understand or speak a language in real life unless you memorize it by heart.
However, memorizing is also the biggest challenge for many learners. If you can't get to remember the word that you see on a daily basis or the number of words you know is significantly smaller than other learners at the same level, you may get frustrated and sometimes just want to give up learning a language.
In order to prevent this tragedy, I summarized four tips that I am frequently asked by my students.
1. Comparing between languages is meaningless
English speakers who had already learned a foreign language, such as Spanish or German, may have felt that Korean words are more difficult to memorize. It can easily be explained by examining the relationship between your native language and the learning language, which means, their similarity.
For a native English speaker, and many other Latin/German-based languages, including most European languages, it is said that it takes about one to two years for adults to study French to reach a certain fluency level where you can make conversations in general situations. However, it is generally expected to take about four to five years to reach this stage in Korean.
This is because there are many words and expressions that are the same in French and English, and the two languages share many parts of the pronunciation system, writing system, syntax and even, culture.
As such, it is relative that a certain language is easier or more difficult to memorize, and there is no need to be frustrated because your Korean skills do not improve as fast as when you learned Spanish.
2. Find the method that does and doesn't fit you well.
There are also different opinions among learners on how to memorize vocabulary. Some write a word down over and over, and others seem to memorize words easily just by looking at them a few times. In some countries, everyone is obsessed with flash cards.
In order to find an easier way for you to memorize, it's good to know what senses you usually use. People who are good at hearing feel easier to memorize words by listening to and repeating audio several times, and visual people feel more efficient to read and rewrite words.
However, there is something that should not be overlooked even if you found a way that fits me. Because the very opposite aspect, your weakness, should not be neglected either.
Audible people easily understand newly learned words and use them in conversation, but they often don't get the meaning when they read them written or they find it hard to spell when they have to write them down.
On the contrary, visual people can easily read or write, but they may not understand or have difficulty speaking words in conversations.
In the end, if you are an auditory person, you should focus more on reading and writing, and if you are a visual person, you should spend more time on listening and speaking.
3. How to increase the number of words I can memorize in a day.
You may have heard that studying is a habit. It is difficult for people who start studying for the first time to concentrate for an hour and they often can't remember a single word they studied the day before. But those who have studied steadily for a long time can focus more than 10 hours a day and memorize dozens or hundreds of words without difficulty.
This is not only because you get used to the memorization process itself but also because you become familiar with the language and become better at handling new words. As we talked about the similarities between languages above, Korean, which initially felt very far away from your native language, is gradually becoming "your language."
Trying to memorize dozens of words as a beginner is time-consuming and not very efficient. Why not start with a small amount and increase it gradually?
4. Factors that decrease memorization ability
Most of the problems that come from memorization are solved naturally as you become familiar with the new language, find a learning method that suits you well, and gradually increase your learning time.
However, there are several factors that consistently degrade language learning, especially word and expression acquisition, regardless of familiarity with the language.
The most representative factor is dyslexia. Approximately 10% of the population is said to have dyslexia, and many of them have mild symptoms, so there is no serious difficulty in reading and writing in their native language. However, many dyslexic learners have great difficulty learning foreign languages. Especially if you have both phonetic and visual dyslexia, you may have trouble with both listening and reading, and you often make mistakes that are far greater than the common spelling or syntax errors.
The second factor is disorders such as ADHD. Students with these problems have difficulty concentrating and organizing, such as not being able to focus on the words or expressions they are learning, or randomly mixing several unrelated notions in their minds. Most people think ADHD is a disorder that is detected and treated at an early age, but in reality, adults also often suffer from the symptoms.
If you have disorders that can trouble acquiring a foreign language, such as dyslexia or ADHD, it will be very helpful to find a suitable study method and find an instructor who has professional experience.
Memorizing words is one of the biggest barriers to language learners. However, if you overcome this, you will surely win on the long journey of learning a foreign language.
* This article is also included in the book <Bien prononcer le coréen 2023 Volume 1>
The book will be available to order from January 2023.
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