Studying vocabulary is like drinking ice water.
nial
December 24, 2008, 12:21 AM posted in General DiscussionI don't know if anyone will read this, but it's an analogy I've frequently used when describing vocabulary learning; a glass of ice water.
First, think of your brain as the glass. It's an empty glass until you start to drop in ice cubes. The ice cubes are vocabulary. Now, over time the ice cubes will melt into water... we can think of the water as learned vocabulary. Now, if you want to learn the vocabulary, you need to wait for the new vocab words to melt before you can drink it. What this means is you need time for each word to melt... that is familiarity. Only by spending time with words, using them and allowing them to sink in, do we eventually learn them.
Now, a glass is a container and can only hold a finite amount of liquid. So, to, is our brain. You can't simply throw in 900 new words, or in the case of our analogy... toss 900 ice cubes into the glass. If you do that, only a handful will even make it in. So, we have to go slowly, 慢慢来, in order for our words to 'melt'. If you toss in more words while you're still learning others, then your glass is going to overflow and you're going to lose vocabulary. The only thing you can do to learn faster, or make the cubes melt quicker, is to use the words in a variety of ways... be that in speaking, writing or in listening. Anything but rote memorization. The size of everyone's glass is different, of course. Some can only handle 1 new word a week, some 1 a day, and some 30 a day.
I submit that learning vocabulary is a process, one that must be adhered to to ensure long-term retention. I think we can all agree that short-term vocabulary retention is a real thing. We've all probably had an event, test orsituation to prepare for in Chinese and have crammed some last-minute vocabulary. Chances are, you forgot them. But chances also are that if you used that vocabulary, you had a higher chance of retaining it.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's no quick way to learn vocabulary, just better ways. There are exceptions of course --I call them robots -- those who can memorize vocabulary after the first time they hear it. If there was a way to become one of these, I already would have!
Here's hoping your glasses are full this Holiday season :)
nial
December 24, 2008, 03:46 AMWell if you've already drank it, then it's already in your body and ... well, I don't think we can go there on these forums! haha.
jayavermin
December 24, 2008, 06:31 AM<quote>
So what happens when you forgot a word? A piece of the water freezes and jumps out of the glass? (I kid... :)
</quote>
hehe. no the water evaporating would be more feasible according to the laws of physics.
but great analogy.
As an English teacher I have read a great book "How to Teach Vocabulary" : http://www.amazon.com/How-Teach-Vocabulary-Jeremy-Harmer/dp/0582429668 where he goes into some great practical detail on this and related issues. (Search online for a copy ;-)>
nial
December 24, 2008, 08:41 PMYeah I've taken quite a few classes on the same subject. My classmates teach various other languages and the core ideas of teaching vocabulary stretch out across languages.
urbandweller
December 24, 2008, 09:15 PM@ nial
非常有趣！
I'm gonna think about your analogy for awhile and let it melt into my brain....
xiaohu
December 24, 2008, 10:58 PM我百分之百同意！
Here's my addendum, the way to help the ice cubes melt at a much accelerated rate, to apply heat, if you will. In fact, if you follow this method you will turn the blast furnace up at least a notch or two!
1- USE WHAT YOU KNOW, Don't be shy! This is an absolute, fundamental truth to learning a new language. I know this is the hardest thing to do, but we MUST use it in every way we possibly can, speaking, hearing, rehearsing in front of a mirror, writing a letter in Chinese, chatting online with a Chinese friend, watching Chinese movies, ANYTHING that challenges the brain to work on the problem, thereby making impressions in our mind.
Most importantly, speak with people in Chinese, even in broken, pre-school Chinese! If you do this, you will all the sooner pass through the Pre-School phase and into the "Masters Course" phase.
Without this vital part of the process, I can guarantee you will be doomed to repeat Pre-School forever.
2- Make connections:
Create associations in the mind for every word, sound, concept, grammatical structure and character that you come across with. Connecting a new concept with a learned concept is like creating a new road that connects to the main highway, thereby increasing the efficiency of information (traffic flow) in your mind, greatly increasing your absorption rate of new information.
3- Apply this rule, 10 minutes of thought to every 1 minute of action.
Simply trying to memorize by rote technique is the LEAST EFFICIENT way to memorize. After a few times in one sitting, trying to cram the same piece of information in, the mind will inevitably begin to wander, thereby slamming the lid down on the glass, not allowing in any new ice-cubes.
Take time to think about what you're learning, apply it to your life, practice it within the context of what you already know. Explore every possible angle of how this can relate to what you know, your interests, and become useful in your life.
Make what you have learned personal to you!
4- Learn and accept your limitations:
Be humble, and at the same time hungry on your journey. Accept that you're physically not going to be able to learn 100 new words per day, but that any reasonably intelligent person can easily learn 8 new words per day. Once you have a method to learn and remember them, you can work on increasing the speed and efficiency of the learning process.
5- Dissolve your knowledge ego:
Not to sound existential, but you MUST accept that the ratio of what you know versus what you don't know is like the difference between the nucleus of an atom and the Milky Way Galaxy. When you come from a place of acceptance of this fact, coupled with a desire to learn new things and perfect what you already do know is the only way.
The bottom line is, the ego tells you, "I already know this, I don't need to learn". And that's when you shut yourself off from learning.
Realize that you always need to learn!
Realize that you always need to exercise what you have already learned!
Realize that you always need to apply and re-apply what you have learned!
Realize that always learning new things is the key to living a high-quality life!
We have to face facts, we may already know something, but review is always a benefit, and there are more ways to use words that we have learned, it we but open our minds to it, and let the knowledge in.
The second the ego begins to act up, that's when the part of the brain that lets in knowledge begins to shut down.
6- Be realistic in our goals:
How much time per day can we reasonably devote to learning?
A balanced life is also a support to learning, 1 hour per day spent studying Chinese is enough.
7- Keep in touch with what you've learned:
Consistency is the absolute key, and mini-review throughout the day is vital! Take a few new words that you want to learn, and maybe once an hour, just do a quick exercise which could be 30 seconds just to speak a sentence that includes some of the words you are learning a few times, then get back to doing other things, it's not as good as total immersion, but it's the next best thing.
8 - Create new learning techniques for yourself:
I have listed off 7 techniques to improving the efficiency of the learning process, and there are still at least 7 billion other ways to improve the learning process that I DON'T know.
Find things out for yourself by trial and error. Find what works, improve on what works, have as much fun as you can in learning and applying what works and you will grow.
As a community of learners, we have the opportunity to, in real time receive the benefit of thousands of other learners knowledge. The Chinesepod community is a rich and fertile field that we can sow together and as a community partake in the fruits of our labor.
Let's face it, it's a Wiki world we live in, let's use the knowledge and experience of thousands of others to our ultimate benefit!
圣诞节快乐！
小虎
urbandweller
December 24, 2008, 11:17 PM加油小虎！加油！
nial
December 24, 2008, 11:23 PMWow what a great post! I should be replying to yours! I also agree 100%!
I encourage people to make up stories for each vocabulary word and/or sentence structure. Even if it's goofy... whatever it takes to remember it and "make it your own".
I also agree with the ego part. People always say 'wow, you learned Chinese!?' and I quickly correct them saying 'I'll never have learned Chinese, it's a neverending process."
圣诞节快乐！
jayavermin
December 25, 2008, 08:50 AMgreat insights.
and in response to the idea of using the technology to enhance and accelerate learning I see a web application tool such as chinesepod.com to be like the calculator that we use to expand our mathematical language abiities.
I have several very interesting ebooks related to the subject which I can share with anyone who is interested. Let me know by private message.
RJ
December 25, 2008, 04:07 PMyou guys are making me thirsty. Hard work = learn.
John
December 24, 2008, 01:56 AMVery interesting.
So what happens when you forgot a word? A piece of the water freezes and jumps out of the glass? (I kid... :)
A very apt metaphor in many ways.