Tools For Spanish Language Learning - Vocabulary
Process Option 01 - "Focus on the core words "
- Every language has a mix of frequently used words and
special ones. Focus on the core. English uses 1000 words for
85% of messaging, and 3000 for 98% (Lewis, )
- Bodmer notes that it is more than just
the top several thousand words theat need attention and goes
to great length showing how to select teh best ones, 1700
being sufficient for most purposes when connected to a proper
understanding of relevant grammar rules (re how to use them)
(Bodmer, especially pp 10-20, where he refers to other parts
of the book.)
- frequency
listNew Zealand
- multi
language spreadsheet of first 625 wordsWyner's material
on googlesheets
Process Option 02 - Develop your tool box quickly and put it
to work
- What is this? (Lonsdale)
- How do you say? (Lonsdale)
- I don't understand(Lonsdale)
- Repeat that please (Lonsdale)
- What does that mean?(Lonsdale)
- By week two - me, you, give, this, that, hot etc. (Lonsdale)
- By week three glew words - but, and, even though, although,
therefore, etc. (Lonsdale)
Process Option 03 - Use Cognates to Turbo boost
- Watch that it not only looks and sounds the same as the one
we know but also means the same thing (Lewis)
- Proper Names(Lewis)
- Brand Names (Lewis)
- Shifts in pronounciation are often useful cues about how
the languages differ(Lewis)
- The big political economic and social and financial words
often are international(Lewis)
- Jargon, terminology, professional words(Lewis)
- lots go between non-English languages(Lewis)
- google them and highlight them in your dictionary (both
directions)(Lewis)( )
- Romance languages (latin based) have lots, because of
French occupation of England(Lewis)
- Monosylable 4 letter words are usually Anglo Saxon
origin...earthy non sophisticated and "heathen" = from the
heath/boonies)(Lewis)( )
- Multi syllable wds from the court and civil
service..."learn french if you want a job" (Lewis)
- endings - tion; sion; ment; age; etc. (Lewis)
- often there are clusters of words arising from such cognates
(Lewis)
- many words do not require spelling changes, just
pronounciation (Lewis)
Process Option 04 - Check Out How many Words Do You really
need?
- Top
words in Spanish This blog post (from Andrew-the-Odd's
site on learning Spanish) was recommended on a French site, as
it is good for any language being studied, as it relates to
the concepts underlying the use of lists of "top words".
- Academic Word
Lists Even a quick look at the opening summary paragraph
of this article is of interest. It notes that English needs
twice the number of academic words as French because English
has two feeder streams (germanic and romance) whereas the
French word lists work pretty well for both general use in
society and in academic circles. This squares with a comment
made by a professor I had who said that in English scientists
needed to define a great deal of vocabulary because English
words have multiple meanings...so it was necessary to spell
out exactly which meaning would be used in that particular
article or research report.
- Word
listsThis site has links to a lot of word list
sub-collections and source streams of vocabulary. A
fascinating picture of word borrowings between languages.
Process Option 05 - Really Put Your Dictionary To Work - Make
it your Core Tool
Process Option 06 - Notice That Key Words Have Clusters Of
Word Families Around Them
- Use
mindmaps for vocabulary and word family cluster
diagramming to see how they relate within each cluster.
- Freemind
Open Source Mind Mapping ToolThere are a number of good
mind mapping or conceptual mapping tools available. This one
is pretty intuitive, and good for basic purposes like
clustering of word families...and it is free. Google
"Mindmapping tools" for others.
- Visual
Thesaurus Mind Map software - Beta version -
International version with 5 languages which interplay with
each other
- Visual
Thesaurus Spanish - English Mind Map software
Process Option 07 - Notice That Spelling Is A (Slowly
Moving) Target
Process Option 07 - Crossword Games
Process Option 07 - Take Note of Ogden's book Basic English,
in which he strips the language down to
Process Option 8 - Use Picture Dictionaries
Process Option 9 - Consider the Impact of Your mother tongue
on learning Vocabulary
Process Option 10 - Check out Lane's English As a Second
Language system
- Resources
re Lane's ESL systeman update of Basic English by
Ogden, with a more focused and systematic approach he feels,
using 1200 words, and giving people a way to shift into
English thinking much earier with less reversion to fist
language. Good TOFEL prep he says.
- Lane's booksESL
online site
- book
3pdf - ESL online site
Process Option 11 - Make and use flashcards or use online
flashcard sites
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