Remembering vocab.... How the fudge do you squish it in? (1 Viewer)

[writer'sblock]

I've been attempting to rember my kanji, katakana, grammar and vocab. but it's too much in Wakatta for my brain to cope! Does anyone know a way to remember vocabulary easily by yourself?

 

[watatank]

you remember vocab by using it as much as you can. so use them in your speaking and writing tasks all the time and then you won't forget it easily.

 

[writer'sblock]

Easy to say. Any tips for private study?

 

[uhawww]

Just write. Write as much as you can about anything. Not only will this help you to remember vocab, but it'll help you remember grammar, increase your writing skills and help you start to 'think' in Japanese.

If you're still learning katakana though you must be new. But just write as much as you possibly can, ie: I am Mike. I go to a school. I study this and that.

Try reading over some vocab each night before you sleep also, for some reason.. this has always worked really well for me.

 

[gcchick]

I try to write all the grammatical patterns we learn in one place for easy reference if and when I revise. Then I look at our prescribed kanji and read excerpts from my textbook (Mirai 6) and try to understand the kanji and sentence structures. But I've been doing Japanese since Year 6, so I'm pretty used to it, like Maths. =]

 

[writer'sblock]

Thanks everyone,
btw; I know my katakana but if just sometimes for get it, like tsu and shi. also so that you never use like ke execpt for in the word for cake...

 

[gcchick]

Thanks everyone,
btw; I know my katakana but if just sometimes for get it, like tsu and shi.

I used to always get those mixed up! Just remember that one is written one way, and the other is written in the opposite direction. Same thing goes for n and so.

 

[Doctor Jolly]

What I usually do to remember crazy vocab is to make up crazy ways to remember them that relate to your life. For example, talkative in Japanese is おしゃべりな (osyaberina). I tried to relate this to my life, because I have a friend called Laurina who loves to talk and talk. So when I say, 'oshyberina' is kinda sounds like, 'Oh shut up Laurina' and I know that I will never forget the word because it reminds me of a talkative Laurina.

 

[-aishit3ru-]

i remember my vocab by writing it on pieces of paper and sticking them all around the house, so you see them everywhere you go.
and i try and use them in everyday speaking as well.
with kanji, i do the practice sheets and use it in all my writing, until im confident that i'll never forget it.

good luck

=]

 

[chrasy]

I make flash cards and make all my friends "flash" me during free periods and at lunch or on the bus. I also make notes on sentence structures and big vocab lists.

I think it helps to attach a word to an image. Say... inu, with a picture of a dog, etc.

 

[Doctor Jolly]

I make flash cards and make all my friends "flash" me during free periods and at lunch or on the bus. I also make notes on sentence structures and big vocab lists.

I think it helps to attach a word to an image. Say... inu, with a picture of a dog, etc.

that's also quite an effective way to remember vocab. You tend to remember things better with colour and visual stimulus. Also, studying with friends can really help

 

[SwampHen]

I write out all the vocab in a book and then try to test my self at least once a week. But I'm really horrible at kanji- I tend to remember it for an exam and then kind of forget it almost right after and have to relearn it again and again - it just doesn't stick in my head.

flash cards are also good if you can be bothered making them.

 

[summerain]

get a japanese revision book or a textbook and just read and read. if you dont really write in the vocab translations for the ones you dont know, it forces you to rememer them or look them up when they appear again. if you read out loud, it will also improve your fluency when you do speaking exams.

 

[super-shinobi]

If you got time, I recommend regularly watching Japanese tv like anime and drama [with subs of course]. I've watched for a couple of years and I know heaps of vocab before looking at the Wakatta book, and that way it actually sticks in your head permanently since the language is exposed to you over and over again, not just a list of words you cram the week before your exam and forget afterwards. It helps if you enjoy Japanese too. Japanese songs might be good too. You might be able to pick out random vocabs from it.

Another way would be to get a whole stack of palm sized paper and write the japanese word on one side and the english translation on the other. Do this to all your word and punch a whole through the paper and put the paper around a keyring. Then when you're travelling to school or got a spare 3 minutes or whatever, you can just easily test yourself and its quite small and portable