I still remember the notebooks with lists of words, nouns, verbs, prepositions that we were told to copy from the blackboard as a strategy for memorization of key vocabulary. Regardless of its old-fashioned style, word lists can still play a useful role in language learning, especially if contextualized. you can create lists with translated words, with pronunciation keys, by topics, by grammar point, etc.
Last week I was talking to one of my students about the terrible wildfires in California which led me to consider key words related to that manmade or natural disaster:
Fire in California
So besides being exposed to new vocabulary the students are shown the possibility of using those words – in this case related to disasters but going beyond that.
Another tip I give my students is to try to memorize a verb with the corresponding preposition
listen to
talk to
marry to
depend on
focus on
etc… this way when they have to use that verb they’ll know which preposition would come after that.
Regarding vocabulary, memorization is key, you can’t be speaking “I did that with this” for much long. So get your notebooks out and keep on collocating.
Cheers,
Mo
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