Category Archives: Vocabulary

7 myths about vocabulary acquisition

Posted on April 28, 2010 by Josh

At the HTLAL forums, someone linked to an interesting PDF dealing with myths about vocabulary acquisition. The myths: Knowing a relatively small number of words takes you far. Word lists are of limited value. Words learned in semantic sets are … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning Methods, Vocabulary | 4 Comments

Another Attempt with Word Lists

Posted on April 23, 2008 by Josh

I’ve written in the past about my attempt at using word lists, and if you’ve kept up with those posts, after reading this one, you’ll probably think I suffer from split personality syndrome. But, I can at least say I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in All Entries, German, Language Journal, Language Learning, Learning Methods, Vocabulary | 9 Comments

Word Lists Don’t Work (For Me)

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Josh

I wanted to add a little bit more to my previous post about words in context vs. word lists. I said in my last post that going through and adding word lists to your SRS application, like Anki, could be … Continue reading →

Posted in All Entries, Language Learning, Vocabulary | 6 Comments

Words In Context Vs. Word Lists, Part 2

Posted on February 25, 2008 by Josh

I wrote previously about word lists vs. words in context, and said that I thought for a lot of words, context just wasn’t needed much. This is especially true of concrete nouns. A bakery is a bakery, whether you say … Continue reading →

Posted in All Entries, German, Language Journal, Language Learning, Vocabulary | 8 Comments

Anki now supports changing of text color

Posted on January 22, 2008 by Josh

I forgot to write a quick post on this at the time of it happening, so here’s that post a bit late: Damien, the maker of Anki, has put out a number of updates over the past weeks. I wrote … Continue reading →

Posted in Language Learning, Software, Vocabulary | 4 Comments

A couple of charming German words

Posted on January 18, 2008 by Josh

I sat down a few minutes ago and flipped through a few pages of Using German Vocabulary, not really looking for anything in particular – just enjoying seeing new words, really. I landed in a section on the animal word. … Continue reading →

Posted in German, Language Journal, Vocabulary | 3 Comments

Words in context vs. word lists

Posted on January 5, 2008 by Josh

In poking around at the How to Learn Any Language forums, I’ve come across many good discussions on vocabulary acquisition. One of the things that the discussions usually revolve around is whether one should avoid using word lists, relying solely … Continue reading →

Posted in German, Language Learning, Vocabulary | 4 Comments

Farewell, SuperMemo; Hello, Anki.

Posted on November 3, 2007 by Josh

I’ve finally given up on SuperMemo, the beefed up flashcard program I’ve been using for vocabulary acquisition. After having used it for a few months, I had become accustomed to its idiosyncrasies, if not having fallen in love with them. … Continue reading →

Posted in Language Learning, Software, Vocabulary | 54 Comments

Take the con.

Posted on July 5, 2007 by Josh

I’m in the middle of reading The Mote in God’s Eye, a science fiction novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. A lot of the action takes place abord the ship MacArthur. I’m around page 100 at this point, and … Continue reading →

Posted in English, Vocabulary | 2 Comments

What in the tarnation are you doing?

Posted on July 3, 2007 by Josh

I’m from southern Ohio. Throughout my growing up here, I’ve heard the word tarnation slung around, as well as used it quite a lot myself. For example (or e.g., now that I know how to use the abbreviation correctly): Just … Continue reading →

Posted in English, Vocabulary | Leave a comment