How to learn vocabulary for IELTS

Teacher - Richard

How to learn vocabulary for IELTS

First, write a list with English on one side and your native language on the other - about ten words at a time 

Hola                     Hello

Chow                     Goodbye             

1- Recognition

First start just reading the list & getting familiar with the words. Create a few example sentences speaking out loud.

NOTE - this explanation is just for learning individual words. But, you can do the same exercise with phrases/collocations, etc. 

2 - Recall

Then, cover your native language and then try to guess the English word meaning in your language. Go through the list one at a time. If you make a mistake, start at the beginning again.

Try this multiple times throughout the day. Don’t spend 20mins doing it as it is quite boring, the key here is to do it often. I personally used to like doing this at the gym in between repetitions while I was recovering.

Try to do it for about 2-3 days a couple of times a day.

Then when it is easy, do the opposite and this time cover the English word and try to guess what it is from your native language.

When you can complete the challenge in both languages you can then also change the order of the list.  E.g. from the top to the bottom ---->>> the bottom to the top

NOTE - sleep is important to memory retention, you will find that you improve after a good night’s sleep. You won’t see a big difference on day one but after 2-3 days doing this, you will remember them a lot better.

The reason it works is that you are RECALLING information. Memorization of vocabulary happens in two stages. First, you must be able to recognize the word, then at a deeper level, you need to be able to recall it.

 3 - Meaning and context

Finally, choose a fictional/academic topic for writing and try to use as many of the words from your list as possible in a short essay/ story (200 words).  Once you have finished the story, record yourself reading the story on an audio message. If you want something more authentic, you can also get your teacher to read the story for you. You can then re-listen to the message multiple times and this will allow you to quickly revise the words in a context that is meaningful to you.

Eventually, you will have a collection of short audio stories that you have created allowing you to hear content that is rich in the new vocabulary that you are trying to learn. 

This is particularly useful when learning new words that do not appear with high frequency in conversation.

Most of the time we use the same 10,000 most common words in English. That means when learning unusual or more advanced vocabulary we might only hear those words once every 2-3months in natural conversation. Whereas with the common vocabulary items, we hear them in almost every conversation.

Polyglots and people with high levels of vocabulary don’t wait for materials with those new words to appear from the sky- they create their own materials!!!!

By using this method you can create materials that are rich with the words you need to learn. In addition, it will provide you with the most essential of all ingredients - context.

VOCABULARY LEARNING PROCESS  BREAKDOWN

Recognition ---> recall -→ meaning and context

NEXT STEPS?

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this blog.  If you have any questions regarding the test or would like to inquire about my writing correction services or IELTS online classes please email me at info@lovetolearnenglish.com.