WORKING WITH YOUR VOCAB NOTEBOOK

"We know that one of the very most important

factors in learning a word is the number of times that

the learner retrieves it."Keith S. Folse

This means that you have to organise your vocab

notebook in a way that makes it easy to retrieve the words as often as possible in

different ways.

In order to get started you need three things: a proper pen, a vocab notebook of your choice and a blank flashcard.

Note down 4 different pieces of information on every vocab item.

a translationthe original

word

a synonym, or the opposite

the word in use (not a full sentence - just a

chunk)

Cut out one corner of the flashcard, so it looks like this.

Now, you can retrieve the original word from the translation...

... or the translation from the original word.

You can retrieve the word in use

from the translation, or the other

way around.

Of course, you can also retrieve the synonym/opposite from the original word ...

... and vice versa.

Just do it as often as possible!

Reference:!!

Folse, K. (2004). Vocabulary Myths: Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching. Ann Arbor: The University of

Michigan Press.!!