Vocablary Building Strategy
It is hard to memorize random sound combinations when you are learning foreign languages. When I was learning English I was always looking for some strategies to reduce cognitive burdens. Now I am introducing those strategies for my Japanese learning students.
1.Words You Already Know
- Use words you already know to expand your vocabulary.
LAKE is MIZUUMI in Japanese. If you already know みず, Water and うみ, sea, みずうみ, Lake sounds easier to memorize.
みず ＋ うみ ＝ みずうみ
みずうみ (Lake) consists of みず(Water ) andうみ(Sea).
The Chinese character lake, 湖 is not the combination of the 2 Chinese characters:水(Water)and 海(Sea).
2. Similar Pronunciation Words
Think of a word of your native language that has the similar pronunciation of a foreign word.
Gun in English sounds similar to がん(Cancer) in Japanese.
GUN =がん(CANCER)
The two words have similarity in terms of the image of fatality they carry.
If you know more of these words, let me know. I would share them on this site or with students.
*The images are from UNSPLASH:
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