Associative English Dictionary online. Secrets of our memory

The feeling of a lack of words to express thoughts visits us even when communicating in our native language. What can we say about .

A large vocabulary is the key to successful communication, which is why it needs to be constantly replenished. Learning English is the most difficult for beginners: to speak on the simplest topics, you need to know at least 1,500 words.

To the question “How many words do you need to know for full communication? “Scientists and English teachers give different numbers. They agree on one thing: the more, the better.

The easiest and most effective way to memorize new words is through associations. We offer three techniques that can help you significantly expand your vocabulary.

1. Reception Vladislav - Baby don’t hurt me

In scientific circles it is known as the phonetic association technique. Foreigners who are eager to learn Russian take full advantage of it. The essence of the method is to choose a word from your native language that is consonant with the foreign word you need to learn. How to remember the words of a song What is love - Baby don’t hurt me? Replace the English phrase with the familiar and native “Vladislav”.

With this method, kids remember difficult words in early childhood. For example, how can a young man of seven years of age fix in his memory the name of the great fighter against the mills (assuming that such a need arose for him)? “Don Quixote” doesn’t mean anything to him, but “thin cat” is a familiar and funny phrase.

• True Bar- pipe.
• Serve Coffee- church.
• Horror Show- Fine.
• Our device is Korea- get dressed quickly.
• Pale Man- dumpling.
• Meaty or eat- meteorite.

The method of phonetic associations helps not only, but also to learn the rules of pronunciation. English-speaking inventors even came up with an association for the pronunciation of the most romantic words on the planet yellow blue tea bear.

What prevents you from making associations with English words?

• Keep it- boils.
• Afraid- uh, Freud!
• Necessary- carries a sari.
• What can i do- I'll find some vodka.

The pronunciation of the word “pedestrian” in English is not difficult to remember, although the associative series is on the verge of a foul (pedestrian - pedestrian). And the associations, in addition to sound ones, are also semantic. By the way necessary It’s also easy to connect a lexical (semantic) association: necessary(necessary, necessary) - “carries a sari”, because a sari is a necessary thing in India.

2. Brad Pitt's move

This technique can also be called the technique of lexical associations. To memorize, you select a word that is similar in pronunciation and at least remotely related to the word being studied in meaning. If there is no even distant connection, then you can try to create it.

Let's look at an example. To remember a word heel- “heel”, you just need to remember the name of the hero, famous for his death because of this part of the body. That's right, we're talking about Achilles. Now just repeat several times: “ Heel- “heel”, because Achilles.” For better memory, you can also imagine Brad Pitt in the movie “Troy”.

In the same way, it is easy to draw parallels with other words:

• Palm- “palm” (think of a palm tree and its leaves open like a palm).
• Skull- “skull” (you can represent the Indians, whose favorite pastime was scalping).
• To look- “watch” (think about how difficult it is to watch someone cut an onion).

You can find an association for a variety of words - you just need to use a little imagination.

3. Technique of falling into a puddle

This technique is also known as the “technique of autobiographical associations.” To remember a word, you need to associate it with some event in life. For example, have you ever fallen into a puddle? Do you remember the unpleasant sensations? Now repeat the word several times puddle- “dirt”, “puddle”. It won't be difficult for you to remember it.

Word court, meaning "court", is easy to remember by imagining a tennis court. Have you played tennis? Did you imagine yourself going onto the court? Now think about the fact that courts used to be held in wide squares where a crowd of onlookers could accommodate, and the word will be remembered.

Word inception- “beginning” is easy to remember, because you most likely watched the film of the same name with Leo DiCaprio. To remember new words, you just need to pay attention to the original movie titles.

Many words are easy to remember because they have already become part of your professional slang. For example, the slang of IT specialists is almost 90% filled with words of English origin:

• Fix - from to fix(fix, mend).
• Bug (debug) - from bug(error).
• Connect - from to connect(unite).
• Use - from to use(use).

In many professions and in everyday life, we often use a huge number of words of English origin. It is enough for us to remember (or) the words from which they came:

• Shake- “shake” (here you just need to think about a bartender with a shaker).
• Roll- “roll”, “roll” (all thoughts about sushi and Japanese cuisine).
• Escape- “run away” (remember the Esc button on the keyboard and how often you had to press it).

To increase the efficiency of learning, all techniques can be actively combined. The main rule of learning English: do not torment yourself with memorization.

It is known that it is easier to learn English words if you do it with the help of associations. Due to the functionality of our brain, the association method is suitable for learning words as it is as close as possible to natural memorization processes. But this is all theory; it is interesting to see how to apply the association method in practice to study foreign words.

A little about the method

The association method is one of the main methods for memory development. It is necessary to know about it, since it is very useful in itself, and is also an integral part of most memorization methods, including for learning foreign words. It’s hard to imagine any memorization technique at all without this method.

What exactly is an association? Association is an attempt to connect something with something else in the broadest sense. That is, an association is a kind of virtual connection between two or more phenomena. These can be objects, feelings, thoughts, words, and so on, in which remembering one of them entails the appearance of another in our imagination.

For example, you see a man walking around the city with a fishing rod, and you remember the river, green banks, coolness, current - everything that you associate with relaxing on the river bank and fishing. Each person's associations will be very different from each other. If you ask everyone to answer what comes to their mind when the word “yellow” is mentioned, you can get the following answers - “sunflower”, “sun”, “yolk”, etc. This depends on the individual experience of each interviewee. All these associations are formed in the mind and are called free. To master the association method, you just need to practice creating associative connections between any elements. In order to further enhance the effect of the association method, try to come up with the most unusual, non-standard and even incredible associations. Let's look at the methods of associations, which, for example, make it easy to learn various English words.

Types of associations

We should talk in a little more detail about the association method, namely how to choose the right associations for learning words. Indeed, in this case you also need to have some technique. Words can be associated according to several characteristics.

First sign of association

Sounds similar to the Russian word. For example, the English word “clever” (smart) can be compared with the Russian word “clover”, the English word “ditch” (pit) - with the Russian word “game”, the English “ship” (ship) - with the Russian word “thorn”, etc. .d.

In this case, we are associated by the sound of the Russian word that we know. Firstly, this way you can easily learn pronunciation and spelling. In order to easily remember the translation of the word, it is better to imagine “smart clover”, “game in a hole”, “ship with spikes”, etc. etc. It depends on who has enough imagination. This method is especially suitable for children, since their imagination is fine, and they can also come up with a whole story with such, at first glance, unrealistic phrases. In any case, this way the word will be remembered more effectively, so it’s worth it.

Second sign

Words can also be associated with a situation. For example, the word “embarrassed” can be remembered by remembering a situation when you felt really awkward. This is where emotions also begin to play a role in memorization. You remember emotions and feelings you have experienced in the past and try to put a word on them. Emotionally, our brain remembers words more effectively. Next time it will be much easier to remember the word learned in this way. Another example is the word “demand” (demand, demand), I remember this word perfectly, because my English teacher was very demanding. Thus, you can try to attach an emotional connotation to any words that you learn, thereby greatly increasing the chances of remembering them.

Third sign

Associations of a word with a person. This is especially effective when words are studied to describe a person’s appearance or character. For example, we will describe the old woman Shapoklyak. Let's introduce her well. Associatively, it will be possible to quickly learn such words as hat, nose, thin, evil, bad, sly. Any words that relate to such a prominent personality will be learned associatively more easily. This happens because to what we see - namely the translation and the word itself - we add a picture that we reproduce in our visual memory. We pronounce a word, put a picture on it (imagine it), see the spelling of the word itself, as well as its translation. All this together gives a very strong effect - easy memorization of words. Moreover, these words enter the active vocabulary (remembered subconsciously), which means that the likelihood that we will forget them is greatly reduced.

Fourth sign

Associations of a word with the sound it denotes. Just try to reproduce the sound in your mind, the sound whose meaning you want to learn. For example, take the English word for knocking - “bang”. In English, as well as in Russian, it turns out that many words denoting sound are even similar to the sound itself, if you imagine it. Imagine, for example, that a monk is banging a huge brass gong, causing you to hear “bang, bang, bang.” This sound association greatly helps to remember the word. The same can be done with the nightingale “bark” - bark (imagining a barking dog of a huge St. Bernard, for example). The word “mew” (meow) will help you learn the association of a small helpless kitten. And so on.

Fifth sign

Rhyme. Rhymes are often made for children so that they can learn irregular verbs (bring - brought - brought - I’m bringing a sandwich to the brigade). That is, they come up with a rhyme for a number of irregular verbs. Rhyming lines are easy to learn and hard to forget, especially if they are also funny. This method is suitable for both children and adults.

Thus, we examined the signs of associative learning of English words. The association method is considered one of the most effective and is actively used in English classes via Skype. We recommend using it so that you never have any difficulties while learning words, and the learning itself becomes easy, fun and enjoyable.

Big and friendly EnglishDom family

When learning a foreign language, it is very important to constantly replenish your vocabulary - to remember new and new words in English. However, not everyone is able to do this successfully. We offer you seven tips to help you remember new words in English more effectively.

Create associative networks

Our brains take what we read and transform it into images, ideas and feelings, and then form connections between the new information and what we already know. This is how memorization occurs - the new is united with the old.

Imagine a tree. Isn’t it easier to see a large spreading tree with many branches and leaves than a small tree with a few branches? The same is true for the brain. When you connect a new word or concept with something you already know, it is easier for your brain to find it and remember it at the right time.

How to do it? Very simple. Draw a network of concepts. Take what you want to remember (a word, an idea, a sentence) and write it in the center of the paper. Then draw lines from it in all directions, like a web.

At the end of each line, write down any English words or even draw pictures that come to mind when you think of the word written in the center. It doesn't matter what the associations are, just write down everything you come up with.

It only takes a couple of minutes and now all the words or concepts will be interconnected in your brain. If you see or hear one of them, it will be easier for you to remember the others.

To make this work even better, pronounce how this or that word in English is connected to others. The more often you do this, the more connections are formed. And the more connections, the easier it is for your brain to “see” the word you want to remember.

Remember phrases (word combinations)

Memorizing a word is important, but English, like any other language, is not just a set of concepts, it is a tool that people use to communicate and express their thoughts. Find examples of how this or that word is used in the text.

Write down not only the word itself, but also the neighboring ones. For example, if you need to remember the English word “arrogant,” you could write “the tall, arrogant man.”

This will help you remember that "arrogant" is an adjective used to describe people. Then try writing three complete sentences to practice using it.

Use pictures

Draw little pictures to remember the meaning of a word. Don't know how to draw? It's not scary, it's even better. Our brain receives so much monotonous information that a strange picture is a kind of surprise, and we always remember surprises.

Our brain reads visual information better. Draw a funny picture to illustrate the meaning of a word and you will remember it much faster.

Make up stories

English learners often complain that there are too many new words and it is difficult to remember them. There is one trick you can use to learn words quickly. Compose any story, even a ridiculous one, that uses all the words in English. Imagine it in detail.

We remember stories easily, especially strange ones, if we can recreate them in our imagination. Feel free to combine words in funny and awkward ways. Let's say you need to remember the following 20 English words:

shoes, piano, tree, pencil, bird, bus, books, driver, dog, pizza, flower, door, TV set, spoons, chair, jump, dance, throw, computer, stone

(shoes, piano, tree, pencil, bird, bus, books, driver, dog, pizza, flower, door, TV, spoons, chair, jump, dance, throw, computer, stone)

You can make up this incredible story from them:

Give it a try. You will surprise yourself!

Remember opposites

Memorize words with opposite meanings (antonyms) and words with similar meanings (synonyms) in pairs. For example, memorize the pairs angry/happy and angry/cross at the same time. We remember similar and opposite things faster because the brain creates connections between them.

Parse the word according to its composition

Use roots, prefixes and suffixes to guess what a word means.

For example: even if you don't know the word "microbiology", you can guess what it means. First, take a look at the prefix "micro". Micro means something very small. You may know that the "-logy" part means science, the study of something.

So, we can already say that we are talking about learning something small. You may also remember that "bio" means life, living things. Thus, we can come to the conclusion that “microbiology” is the science of microscopic living organisms.

Vocabulary is the alpha and omega of the English language, and memorizing new words is the fastest and most effective way to improve your English.Is it difficult to remember English words?

We know that each person has his own preferred system for receiving and storinginformation: visual (visual), auditory (auditory) or kinesthetic (tactile). It is called the leading representative system. (R. Bandler and D. Grinder “Introductory course of NLP training”)Depending on which system is dominant, people are conventionally divided into visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners. These types are rarely found in their pure form; more often they are mixed: visual-kinesthetic or visual-auditory, etc. However, knowing what type you are, you can choose the most effective way for you to memorize new words.

Visuals (35% of the population)These people have a great

Auditory learners (25% of the population)

These people perceive the world through sounds. It is advisable for auditory learners to listen to audio and video recordings more often. It is better for them to say out loud what they read or write.

Kinesthetic (40% of the population)

These people perceive information through feelings, emotions, instinctive sensations, and touch. It is very good to write down new words by hand or type on a computer - in order to feel the memorized vocabulary through the movements and texture of tools (notebooks, pens, markers).

So, let's reveal some secrets to memorizing English words:

1. Label all the objects around you.

Do you know the names of the simplest things in your home? They are the most commonly used vocabulary! Take bright green pieces of paper and a thick marker. Stick bright pieces of paper with English words on everything in the apartment: from the socket to the chest of drawers. After a week, you will remember the names of the signed items.If you are not new to learning a language, then the task can be complicated. For example, stick a sticker hint “to fold a chair” on a folding chair (“a chair”), “to pull” on a desk drawer, “to leaf through” on a book, “to watch one’s weight” on a scale. Unlimited field for creativity! Visuals, this is the way for you.

2. Make cards.
For kinesthetic learners, it is important not to see or hear a word, but to “hold it in their hands” and feel it.Buy a block of notes, write the word on one side, and the translation and example of the word on the other. Carry the cards with you, and when you have a free minute, look through them (in transport, in line, etc.). Look at the word and remember its meaning. If you can’t remember, turn the card over and read the translation and example again. This method is also suitable for visual learners.Draw pictures for words and expressions that you don’t want to remember. Are you not an artist? No problem, this is the picture for you.

3. Make mind maps.

Another way for visual learners is using mind maps (Mind Maps) (Tony Buzan “The Mind Map Book”). These are block diagrams that help you learn words by topic. We take a large sheet of paper and write a topic in the center, for example, “Travel.” From this word we draw arrows - smaller topics - transport, hotel, excursions. The next layer is even more specific: plane, breakfast, monument. You can make a fourth and even a fifth layer. As a result, we get a logical and detailed diagram. You will remember some of the words already in the process of drawing the diagram. The rest - reproducing it from memory several times.

4. Use mnemonics to remember.(from the Greek “mnemonikon” - the art of memorization)One of these techniques is the method of direct associations. You associate a new word with some image - funny, bright or unexpected. Mnemonics suggests finding words in your native language that sound similar to English. For example, the word “puddle” means puddle. To remember this word, you can use the mnemonic phrase: “I kept falling and falling into a puddle” (from Wikipedia). Or another example: the word “garden” means garden. The mnemonic phrase will help here: “There are all sorts of nasty things in this garden.” “In this garden...” The main thing is to find a successful association.
English-Russian rhymes are another great mnemonic device for children and adults:

“One eccentric was looking for the treasure

A whole month of dig-dug-dug

Find-found-found at last

Metal casket"

(A.A. Pyltsyn “English in the family circle”)

Or:

“The claw is sharp as glass, claw in English is claw.”

Mnemonic devices are suitable for any type. Visual learners draw a picture before their eyes, auditory learners remember by sound associations (garden-bastards), and kinesthetic learners will be able to feel words, emotionally passing through one or another meaning.

5. Sing new words.

Yes Yes! Choose your favorite tune and sing the words you want to learn to it. You will be surprised. Words will be remembered much faster. Are you not a professional singer? Voice and hearing are not required. You just want to remember the words. This method is good for auditory learners.

6. Make an accordion.

Take a piece of paper and write in a column 10 English words that you want to remember (in the singular, verbs in the infinitive), draw a line and write the Russian translation. Then you bend the sheet so that the English version is not visible and write these words in English from memory. And so on until the sheet runs out. Don't peek. If you don’t remember everything firmly, make another “accordion”.
7. Make up short stories.
One of the most interesting techniques. Take ten new words, write them down on a piece of paper, and make up a funny story in English from them. Helps you remember new words and translate words from your passive vocabulary into an active one. The funnier and more unexpected your story, the better the words will be remembered.

8. Solve crossword puzzles.

Another fun way to memorize words. It’s better to start with educational crossword puzzles, which are designed specifically for language learning. Crossword puzzles can become increasingly difficult over time.

9. Learn the most common words that suit your level.

In the English language there is a so-called frequency vocabulary, that is, the most commonly used vocabulary. You should start by studying it.Don't be tempted to immediately learn words like "relatively", "skilfully" or "to justify" in order to impress others with the beauty of your English speech. Do this when your level gets higher. Is it worth learning the words “huge” (huge) and “tiny” (tiny) if you don’t already know such simple words as “big” (large) and “small” (small)?

10. Learn words in context.

Remember the specific, narrow meaning of the word. If you come across, for example, the word “fine”, you find that it means “beautiful” and it fits the context, then stop there. There is no need to memorize all the meanings of this word in the dictionary. At the moment, it doesn’t matter to you that it is also “fine”, “very thin or narrow”, “refined, elegant” and so on. And if you ever come across “fine” in another text and with a different meaning, learn this word as if it were completely new.

11. Remember: the unit of memorized information should be as long as possible (a block of words or a phrase).

Always learn a word with the words surrounding it: a verb with its inherent preposition: “to listen to”, an adjective with a noun: “a fluffy cat”, an entire expression: “You are kidding!”For each new word, try to remember a synonym or antonym in order to link the word to the one that you successfully memorized before. For example, “reduce” means to reduce, and “increase” means to increase. It will be easier for you to retrieve them from memory when you need one of them.

12. Memorizing words should not be the goal.

Memorization should only be an action leading to the achievement of some goal.When starting to learn new words, tell yourself that you are learning a language to remember for the rest of your life. Inspire yourself: “I will remember these words for a long time.” This setup will allow you to remember words more firmly.

13. Repeat new words rationally.

Transfer new vocabulary from short-term memory to long-term memory. The likelihood of information loss is greatest in the early stages of imprinting. The time intervals between repetitions should be gradually increased. Repeat each portion of words on the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 7th day. The information will be remembered much better than if all five repetitions are completed during the first day. (Franz Loeser "Memory Training").

Try as many methods of memorizing words as possible, experiment and determine which methods are right for you. Go for it!

Veselova Natalia Stepanovna

Methodist of the ALIBRA network of foreign language schools SCHOOL

The feeling of a lack of words to express thoughts visits us even when communicating in our native language. What can we say about .

A large vocabulary is the key to successful communication, which is why it needs to be constantly replenished. Learning English is the most difficult for beginners: to speak on the simplest topics, you need to know at least 1,500 words.

To the question “How many words do you need to know for full communication? “Scientists and English teachers give different numbers. They agree on one thing: the more, the better.

The easiest and most effective way to memorize new words is through associations. We offer three techniques that can help you significantly expand your vocabulary.

1. Reception Vladislav - Baby don’t hurt me

In scientific circles it is known as the phonetic association technique. Foreigners who are eager to learn Russian take full advantage of it. The essence of the method is to choose a word from your native language that is consonant with the foreign word you need to learn. How to remember the words of a song What is love - Baby don’t hurt me? Replace the English phrase with the familiar and native “Vladislav”.

With this method, kids remember difficult words in early childhood. For example, how can a young man of seven years of age fix in his memory the name of the great fighter against the mills (assuming that such a need arose for him)? “Don Quixote” doesn’t mean anything to him, but “thin cat” is a familiar and funny phrase.

• True Bar- pipe.
• Serve Coffee- church.
• Horror Show- Fine.
• Our device is Korea- get dressed quickly.
• Pale Man- dumpling.
• Meaty or eat- meteorite.

The method of phonetic associations helps not only, but also to learn the rules of pronunciation. English-speaking inventors even came up with an association for the pronunciation of the most romantic words on the planet yellow blue tea bear.

What prevents you from making associations with English words?

• Keep it- boils.
• Afraid- uh, Freud!
• Necessary- carries a sari.
• What can i do- I'll find some vodka.

The pronunciation of the word “pedestrian” in English is not difficult to remember, although the associative series is on the verge of a foul (pedestrian - pedestrian). And the associations, in addition to sound ones, are also semantic. By the way necessary It’s also easy to connect a lexical (semantic) association: necessary(necessary, necessary) - “carries a sari”, because a sari is a necessary thing in India.

2. Brad Pitt's move

This technique can also be called the technique of lexical associations. To memorize, you select a word that is similar in pronunciation and at least remotely related to the word being studied in meaning. If there is no even distant connection, then you can try to create it.

Let's look at an example. To remember a word heel- “heel”, you just need to remember the name of the hero, famous for his death because of this part of the body. That's right, we're talking about Achilles. Now just repeat several times: “ Heel- “heel”, because Achilles.” For better memory, you can also imagine Brad Pitt in the movie “Troy”.

In the same way, it is easy to draw parallels with other words:

• Palm- “palm” (think of a palm tree and its leaves open like a palm).
• Skull- “skull” (you can represent the Indians, whose favorite pastime was scalping).
• To look- “watch” (think about how difficult it is to watch someone cut an onion).

You can find an association for a variety of words - you just need to use a little imagination.

3. Technique of falling into a puddle

This technique is also known as the “technique of autobiographical associations.” To remember a word, you need to associate it with some event in life. For example, have you ever fallen into a puddle? Do you remember the unpleasant sensations? Now repeat the word several times puddle- “dirt”, “puddle”. It won't be difficult for you to remember it.

Word court, meaning "court", is easy to remember by imagining a tennis court. Have you played tennis? Did you imagine yourself going onto the court? Now think about the fact that courts used to be held in wide squares where a crowd of onlookers could accommodate, and the word will be remembered.

Word inception- “beginning” is easy to remember, because you most likely watched the film of the same name with Leo DiCaprio. To remember new words, you just need to pay attention to the original movie titles.

Many words are easy to remember because they have already become part of your professional slang. For example, the slang of IT specialists is almost 90% filled with words of English origin:

• Fix - from to fix(fix, mend).
• Bug (debug) - from bug(error).
• Connect - from to connect(unite).
• Use - from to use(use).

In many professions and in everyday life, we often use a huge number of words of English origin. It is enough for us to remember (or) the words from which they came:

• Shake- “shake” (here you just need to think about a bartender with a shaker).
• Roll- “roll”, “roll” (all thoughts about sushi and Japanese cuisine).
• Escape- “run away” (remember the Esc button on the keyboard and how often you had to press it).

To increase the efficiency of learning, all techniques can be actively combined. The main rule of learning English: do not torment yourself with memorization.