Whether you are a student who is learning new words for an exam, or a teacher, introducing new vocabulary in your lessons, having a variety of strategies can be very useful and helpful.
Some of us are visual learners, and need to 'see' words, maybe as a list, as part of an image, or even as a short film or slide.
In this case, you can use 'Post-It' notes around the house. Write one word on each note and stick them on specific items, such as fridge, cupboards, walls, doors etc (especially if you are learning vocabulary about household items).
You can also use 'colour-coded learning'. For this, you need coloured stickers. Arrange them by category, whichever one is useful at the time. For instance, green stickers can have food items, yellow stickers for places in a town, and so on.
Make a list of opposites or pairs. For example, when learning adjectives, learn them as opposites:
friendly - unfriendly
expensive - cheap
easy - difficult
dark - light
traditional - modern
In primary schools, we often use the Look - Say - Cover - Write - Check method. Look at the word, pronounce it, cover it, write it down and then check. Instead of writing it, you could spell it out loud, if you are working with a friend, or another student.
Do this over and over again, with various words, and taking it in turn, if you are with a friend. You could keep score to see who gets the most words correctly.
Of course, the traditional method still works for many: write the words as many times as required; and test yourself.
Using games can be very effective too. Many games can be used to learn or practise the spelling of words.
Try the following in the classroom, if you are a teacher, or at home with friends.
The Hangman - if you don't know this game, the rule is as follows:
Choose a category. For example, transport. Then choose a word and draw dashes on a board or paper. Each dash represents a letter:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Ask the players to choose a letter. If the letter is in the word, write it in the correct place. If the word is not in the word, start drawing the hangman like this:
 |
| (source: oxforddictionaries.com) |
One line to be drawn for each wrong letter.
For example, if the letter A is given and is correct, write it in the right place:
a _ _ _ _ _ a _ _
And so on, until the player finds all the letters, or ends up with a hung man…!
(The word above is: aeroplane)
Memory games in class can also work for some students, especially if you link them to a specific subject.
To revise a topic you are learning, prepare a PowerPoint presentation, with all the words to learn on the first slide. The consequent slides will have one of the words missing each time. The students will have to guess, and spell, the missing word.
You can also create a Word Search or ask students to create their own, using words from the studied topic. They could use the other students' Word Search to test themselves.
These are a few ways of learning new vocabulary and testing the spelling too. So, why not give it a go…?
Eva Ruiz
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