Do you review any vocabulary?

[arguros]

Hi,

I am reading mainly ebooks on Lingq. However, when my understanding of a chapter/ lesson is good, around 80%, I don’t spend any time to look up and review unknown words.
Most of the time I just look up a few ones that I want to on the fly.

I am wondering wether this approach is efficient to learn new vocabulary.
For example Steve suggests to review all the lesson vocabulary in sentence mode at the end of each session.

This takes a lot of time which I could use to just read another source.

What is your experience?
What would you recommend?

Many thanks

[Obsttorte]

Personally I do look up words I don’t know, unless it is crystal clear from the context what is meant. However, not all the texts I read are comprehensible to me without lookups. I don’t add definitions to all variations of a word though. In the language I am learning syllables are attached to a word to mark its grammatical purpose, including those that in English are usually denoted using prepositions or other seperate words. It would be cumbersome to do so considering every new word comes in at least half a dozen forms. I add definitions for two to three forms and that’s it.

I don’t do reviews per se, as I consider it boring and due to the aforementioned incomprehensibility finishing a lesson already takes enough time without me going through all the sentences yet another time.

I do review old material, though, especially as it boosts motivation if I notice that I can understand something that was very hard for me to grasp a few months earlier. Today I reviewed a lesson that took me easely 15 minutes to get through the first time maybe three months ago. Today I could understand almost everything and could get through the lesson in 3-4 minutes. (Opening an old lesson and seeing almost everything beeing white already gives a rewarding feeling).

So I don’t think reviewing is necessary, at least not while still at the beginning of your language learning journey, as the words will reappear often enough for you to memorize them. However, at a more advanced level, if the vocabulary you try to memorize becomes more specific, it might get harder to find enough material containing said vocabulary, thus making reviews more worthwhile.

[arguros]

HI @Obsttorte,
Thanks for the answer. I was wondering, do you look up the world you don’t know as you go by?

I like the idea of reviewing at a later stage some old material. For example, I gave up reading a book because it was a bit too difficult for me at this stage, and I was planning to read it again in a few months.

[Samarium_Helium]

At first I didn’t do more than create LingQs and read the sentence translation at the end of a sentence only if I still couldn’t understand the sentence. I didn’t use the flash card feature, I didn’t reread the whole translated lesson, I didn’t ask ChatGPT for further clarification on things. I was absorbing the more frequent words and that was enough for me at the time.

Once I reached the point where lessons were getting too tricky and I had already done the easier ones, I redid the easier lessons to reinforce words I still hadn’t learned. It really is satisfying doing so and understanding fuller sentences from the easier exercises. I did this 2-3 times, doing harder and harder lessons after catching up again.

Afterwards I imported some My Little Pony songs I loved, but in the Ukrainian language, then used the review/flashcard feature till I could understand all the lyrics.

Only after that did I start inquiring about the nuances of certain words. If these 2 words both mean around, what’s the difference? I asked ChatGPT, turns out one had connotations of surrounding while the other meant approximate location. I began tweaking some existing LingQs to better suit me, writing some notes for some of them, and inquiring more about various things.

I wasn’t forcing myself to inquire - it was curiosity, curiosity that developed from my love of the language, from having already grasped the easier things and beginning to ask more questions when what i think i learned is challenged by new knowledge.

Hopefully you develop a style which is fun and effective for you.

[Obsttorte]

@arguros

I was wondering, do you look up the words you don’t know as you go by?

Yes. I either pick one of the suggestions if they clearly fit or open up the dictionary. The latter is especially useful for combined words, so nouns that consist out of several nouns or verbs that are formed out of several verbs. Especially for nouns it can be the case that they consist out of 3 or 4 other nouns. So by learning that word I potentially learn a few more, but only if I understand how it is formed. That’s hard without a dictionary.

When it comes to translation I follow the philosophy of if it makes sense it’s probably right. I rarely use the ai translation feature these days, as it often produces nonsense and the way the translation is displayed makes it awkward to read. UI is definetely not a strength of the LingQ team.

[arguros]

Thanks for sharing the way you are using the platform and your experience

[LeifGoodwin]

If you only see words a few times, you probably won’t remember them in the long term. So you need to get repeated exposure with intervals in between. You can do that by rereading lessons at a later date, reviewing vocabulary at the end and reading lessons with shared vocabulary. I guess it’s a case of whatever you enjoy which works for you. You should get a feel for whether or not the words are sinking in. I changed my study methods a few times until words started to stick.

I put sentences into Anki to review, and study simple lessons with shared vocabulary. I’m not saying you should do likewise.

[Pr0metheus]

At first I used to do a lot of reviewing vocabulary, but recently I’ve found that I come across many of the words I would be reviewing just by continuing to read, so that acts as a kind of review. I find I’m learning new words at a decent pace just by doing that, and by manually marking the previously unknown words as known when I feel I’ve got them in my long-term memory.

[kristenqattan]

As others have touched on, I think the value of vocabulary review really depends on one’s level. At beginning levels, your key vocabulary will all be repeated extensively in context, so you will learn quickly from comprehensible input without much active vocabulary review. At more advanced levels, you’re seeing each new vocabulary word very infrequently and with very little repetition if only using comprehensible input.

That said, vocabulary review is boring as hell, LOL.

I’m at an upper intermediate/lower advanced level in Portuguese and I compromise on the boring factor by running through vocab using the “review” function in LingQ, only when I have a few minutes to kill. For example, by running through the daily LingQs. Even then, I don’t really put any effort into recalling a word–I just answer the questions on instinct and move forward, often missing a ton of the rarer vocab words. But I assume that this gives me more exposure to them than I would get in context from comprehensible input.

I also regularly (daily) use Steve’s approach of clicking into my vocabulary list, filtering for “2” and “3” LingQs (meaning words I’ve already seen a bunch of times) and then looking to see if I can say with some confidence that I know any of them. I can usually pick out 10-20 “learned” words a day this way (at this point in my learning journey), which is pretty motivating because those are words I’ve only learned from exposure. I assume that number will go down the more advanced I become. I also assume that at some point, I’ll have to start paying more attention to “1” vocab words if I want my vocabulary to keep growing.

[Obsttorte]

Makes me wonder if at a more advanced level comprehensible output might be more effective then or at least a good addition to comprehensible input. So create a list of a few words you couldn’t memorize yet and try writing a short text using those words. If you continuosly have to think how you could use this or that word in a text that in the end has to make some sense, it might help glueing it into your mind.

[Mycroft]

I aquired a list of the 5,000 most used conversational Spanish words from Spanish Input on Youtube and if a word is on that list, I definitely make an effort (with Anki) to learn it. Sometimes it’s easier because the list may include several conjugations of a verb as several words. Also, any word that I think may be useful in further reading.

Sometimes there are words that I run into over and over, and I just have a difficult time remembering them. Like AGUANTAR, AGARRAR, ARRANCAR, and DEMORAR. I get them into Anki and nail the squishy rascals down.

[ericb100]

There’s really no wrong answer here. You’ll improve with or without review.

My preference, like some here, is to not review. Nor do I use Anki or SRS any more. I did do some in the beginning stages for first 1700 or so words and phrases.

For me, reading new material is the review (also noted by someone here). The most common words you’ll see again and again. As you get to the intermediate and later stages these are fewer and farther between but again, with enough reading you are going to see these words again if they are somewhat common. Many of the other words you may never see again in your life, or their so rare that it probably doesn’t matter. There’s still thousands and thousands of these and you may need dozens of times seeing these. It really amounts to a lot of work that I’m not sure is worth it necessarily.

Now if you have seen a particular word a lot and you really want to nail it down, maybe do some extra review with a bunch of different sentences. I still don’t do this, although I keep meaning to =D.

SOMETIMES I will review the vocabulary in the chapter, but what I do is simply go through the lesson in sentence mode looking for yellow words. When I encounter one or more in the sentence. I read the sentence and try to see if I know the word now (or check the translation of the sentence if I don’t). Then I move on to the next yellow word. This way I get a review in context…I can look a sentence forward or back maybe for additional context if I think it might help). I think this is more useful than flash cards personally. I would like to do this exercise more, but I really like to continue on with new content instead most of the time.

p.s. The past year or so, to see how frequently I see a word that I don’t know, I first set it to 1. If I see it again, I set it to 2. I’ll do this up to level 3 where I stop. So I know if I’ve seen the word 3 or more times. Maybe that is an important word. I do adjust this a little…for example, if I’m reading a book or an article on a certain topic and the word seems specific to the topic, I don’t bump it up if it shows up 3 times in the same article or lesson. So for me, the level 1 - 3 don’t represent how well I think I know the word, but how many times I’ve seen it. Once I do decide I know it (reading only), then I mark it as known.

[Obsttorte]

I guess AI like ChatGPT may also prove useful in this regard. If there is a bunch of words you come across over and over again but can’t memorize, write them down. And if the list became sufficiently long, give them to ChatGPT and let it create a text for you at your skill level using those words. Or let it create flash cards for Anki with sentences containing those words. Whatever you prefer.

[Obsttorte]

Just for illustrational purposes:

• Create a short text at B2 level in Spanish containing the words: aguantar, agarrar, arrancar and demorar. Make sure that you cover as many of their nuances or meanings as possible.

Después de mucho aguantar las dificultades del viaje, finalmente llegamos a nuestro destino. La tormenta había sido intensa y tuvimos que agarrar fuerte nuestras pertenencias para que no se volaran con el viento. En un momento, la lluvia se volvió tan fuerte que decidimos arrancar el coche para buscar un lugar donde refugiarnos. No podíamos demorar más; el clima empeoraba y necesitábamos encontrar un sitio seguro. Afortunadamente, encontramos una pequeña cabaña donde pudimos resguardarnos y descansar un poco antes de continuar nuestro viaje.

• Create a long text at B2 level in Spanish containing the words: aguantar, agarrar, arrancar and demorar. Make sure that you cover as many of their nuances or meanings as possible.

Después de mucho aguantar las dificultades del viaje, finalmente llegamos a nuestro destino. La tormenta había sido intensa y tuvimos que agarrar fuerte nuestras pertenencias para que no se volaran con el viento. Durante el trayecto, las condiciones del camino eran terribles, y el coche empezó a fallar. Decidimos parar un momento para revisar el motor, pero después de varios intentos de arrancar, nos dimos cuenta de que necesitábamos ayuda.
Mientras esperábamos a que llegara la grúa, tuvimos que aguantar el frío y la lluvia, que no dejaban de empeorar. Intenté mantener la calma, pero la situación era desesperante. Cada minuto que pasaba parecía demorar una eternidad. Finalmente, la grúa llegó, y el mecánico nos ayudó a arrancar el coche nuevamente. Nos explicó que una pieza estaba suelta y que debíamos agarrar bien todas las herramientas para asegurarnos de que no se movieran durante el viaje.
Ya de vuelta en el camino, reflexionamos sobre lo sucedido. Aunque habíamos tenido que aguantar muchas dificultades, la experiencia nos enseñó la importancia de estar preparados. Aprendimos que, a veces, es necesario demorar un poco para hacer las cosas bien y evitar problemas mayores en el futuro.
Al final, logramos llegar a nuestro destino sanos y salvos, y a pesar de todos los contratiempos, nos sentimos orgullosos de haber superado las adversidades. La aventura nos dejó lecciones valiosas sobre la paciencia, la preparación y la capacidad de aguantar situaciones difíciles sin perder la esperanza.

I haven’t translated those, so can’t judge on the quality.

• Create a set of 100 Anki cards containing sentences with commonly used Spanish words and phrases and their translation to English at A2 level. Provide them in a format I can directly import to Anki.

Sure! Here is a set of 100 Anki cards containing sentences with commonly used Spanish words and phrases and their English translations at the A2 level. The format is ready for direct import into Anki, with each card’s front and back text separated by a tab.

Hola, ¿cómo estás?	Hello, how are you?
Estoy bien, gracias.	I'm fine, thank you.
¿Dónde está el baño?	Where is the bathroom?
Me gusta mucho la comida italiana.	I really like Italian food.
Tengo dos hermanos y una hermana.	I have two brothers and one sister.
Hoy hace mucho calor.	It is very hot today.
¿A qué hora empieza la película?	What time does the movie start?
Quiero aprender a bailar salsa.	I want to learn how to dance salsa.
El libro está sobre la mesa.	The book is on the table.
¿Puedes ayudarme con mi tarea?	Can you help me with my homework?
Vamos al parque después de la escuela.	We go to the park after school.
Ella tiene una gata llamada Luna.	She has a cat named Luna.
Mi casa está cerca del supermercado.	My house is near the supermarket.
Necesito comprar frutas y verduras.	I need to buy fruits and vegetables.
¿Dónde vives?	Where do you live?
Vivo en un apartamento en el centro.	I live in an apartment downtown.
¿Cuántos años tienes?	How old are you?
Tengo veinte años.	I'm twenty years old.
¿Qué te gusta hacer en tu tiempo libre?	What do you like to do in your free time?
Me gusta leer libros y escuchar música.	I like to read books and listen to music.
¿Cómo se llama tu mejor amigo?	What is your best friend's name?
Mi mejor amigo se llama Carlos.	My best friend's name is Carlos.
¿Te gusta el deporte?	Do you like sports?
Sí, me gusta jugar al fútbol.	Yes, I like to play soccer.
¿A qué hora es la clase de español?	What time is the Spanish class?
La clase de español es a las dos.	The Spanish class is at two.
¿Qué día es hoy?	What day is today?
Hoy es miércoles.	Today is Wednesday.
Mañana tenemos un examen.	We have a test tomorrow.
Ayer fui al cine con mis amigos.	Yesterday I went to the movies with my friends.
¿Dónde está la estación de tren?	Where is the train station?
La estación de tren está al final de esta calle.	The train station is at the end of this street.
Voy al supermercado a comprar pan.	I'm going to the supermarket to buy bread.
Necesito una nueva mochila para la escuela.	I need a new backpack for school.
¿Qué quieres hacer este fin de semana?	What do you want to do this weekend?
Quiero ir a la playa y nadar en el mar.	I want to go to the beach and swim in the sea.
No entiendo la pregunta.	I don't understand the question.
Por favor, repite la última frase.	Please repeat the last sentence.
Voy a visitar a mis abuelos el sábado.	I'm going to visit my grandparents on Saturday.
Hoy es el cumpleaños de mi hermana.	Today is my sister's birthday.
¿Cuál es tu color favorito?	What is your favorite color?
Mi color favorito es el azul.	My favorite color is blue.
¿Qué quieres comer para el almuerzo?	What do you want to eat for lunch?
Quiero una ensalada y un sándwich.	I want a salad and a sandwich.
¿A qué hora te levantas?	What time do you get up?
Me levanto a las siete de la mañana.	I get up at seven in the morning.
Hace frío afuera, lleva tu abrigo.	It is cold outside, take your coat.
Me encanta la música clásica.	I love classical music.
¿Dónde puedo comprar boletos para el concierto?	Where can I buy tickets for the concert?
Voy a estudiar en la biblioteca esta tarde.	I'm going to study in the library this afternoon.
¿Cuándo es el próximo tren a Madrid?	When is the next train to Madrid?
El próximo tren sale en media hora.	The next train leaves in half an hour.
Estoy cansado, voy a dormir temprano.	I'm tired, I'm going to sleep early.
¿Cómo estuvo tu día?	How was your day?
Mi día estuvo muy ocupado pero productivo.	My day was very busy but productive.
¿Cuál es tu estación favorita del año?	What is your favorite season of the year?
Mi estación favorita es el verano.	My favorite season is summer.
¿Dónde trabajas?	Where do you work?
Trabajo en una oficina en el centro.	I work in an office downtown.
Voy a tomar un café con mis amigos.	I'm going to have a coffee with my friends.
La tienda cierra a las ocho de la noche.	The store closes at eight in the evening.
Me gusta mucho viajar y conocer nuevos lugares.	I really like to travel and visit new places.
Estoy aprendiendo español en línea.	I'm learning Spanish online.
¿Puedes recomendarme un buen restaurante?	Can you recommend a good restaurant to me?
Sí, hay uno muy bueno en esta calle.	Yes, there is a very good one on this street.
¿Cuál es tu película favorita?	What is your favorite movie?
Mi película favorita es El Rey León.	My favorite movie is The Lion King.
Hoy vamos a cocinar una cena especial.	Today we are going to cook a special dinner.
¿Te gusta la comida mexicana?	Do you like Mexican food?
Sí, me encanta la comida picante.	Yes, I love spicy food.
Voy a comprar regalos para mi familia.	I'm going to buy gifts for my family.
¿Cuántos idiomas hablas?	How many languages do you speak?
Hablo español e inglés.	I speak Spanish and English.
Me gusta ver la televisión por la noche.	I like to watch TV at night.
¿Cuál es tu libro favorito?	What is your favorite book?
Mi libro favorito es Cien Años de Soledad.	My favorite book is One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Voy a correr en el parque esta tarde.	I'm going to run in the park this afternoon.
Hace mucho viento hoy.	It is very windy today.
Voy a lavar la ropa ahora.	I'm going to do the laundry now.
Nos vemos mañana en la escuela.	See you tomorrow at school.
La clase empieza a las nueve de la mañana.	The class starts at nine in the morning.
Voy a visitar un museo este fin de semana.	I'm going to visit a museum this weekend.
Necesito comprar un regalo para mi amigo.	I need to buy a gift for my friend.
El tren llega a las diez y media.	The train arrives at ten thirty.
¿Cuándo es tu próxima clase?	When is your next class?
Mi próxima clase es a las once.	My next class is at eleven.
¿Cuál es tu animal favorito?	What is your favorite animal?
Mi animal favorito es el perro.	My favorite animal is the dog.
Voy a tomar un autobús al centro.	I'm going to take a bus to the center.
Hoy es un día perfecto para un picnic.	Today is a perfect day for a picnic.
¿Cuánto cuesta esta camiseta?	How much does this t-shirt cost?
La camiseta cuesta veinte euros.	The t-shirt costs twenty euros.
Tengo una reunión importante mañana.	I have an important meeting tomorrow.
Vamos a la playa el próximo fin de semana.	We're going to the beach next weekend.
Me gusta pintar en mi tiempo libre.	I like to paint in my free time.
¿Qué planes tienes para las vacaciones?	What are your plans for the holidays?
Voy a visitar a mi familia en el campo.	I'm going to visit my family in the countryside.
¿Cuándo es el partido de fútbol?	When is the soccer game?
El partido es el sábado por la tarde.	The game is on Saturday afternoon.
Me gusta caminar por el parque.	I like to walk in the park.
Voy a comprar entradas para el teatro.	I'm going to buy tickets for the theater.

To import this into Anki:

1. Copy the text above into a plain text file (e.g., anki_sentences.txt).
2. Open Anki and go to File > Import.
3. Select the file you saved (anki_sentences.txt).
4. In the import dialog, make sure the fields are separated by tabs.
5. Map the first field to “Front” and the second field to “Back”.
6. Click Import.

This will create 100 Anki cards with the provided sentences and their translations.

[arguros]

Hi @Obsttorte,
Thans for the tips on the prompts. I have been doing something similar but in a more complex way for Clozemaster.

[gaoli]

I don’t review vocabulary. I doubt that it would help me at all. I don’t memorize vocabulary. It isn’t part of my learning method.

In my experience, Steve says what he does but does not tell others what they should do. Everyone has different goals, and everyone uses different learning methods (even polyglots).

Maybe Steve was talking about LingQ, which is a collection of tools that students can choose to use. He was pointing out a feature of LingQ that would be useful to some learners. Steve was not saying you should use a specific study method. Steve knows better.

[rokkvi]

I am a polyglot who spoke 5 languages fluently before starting LingQ, now I am at least conversational in 4 more languages, and at least semi-literate in 2 more, after having used LingQ to help me.

I have not used the Vocabulary section that much. I sometimes do it when I’m tired (or just bored of reading) and my powers of attention are below the point of being able to create context out of the material that I read.

I have also done it quite a lot more when trying to learn Polish, a language completely new to me and pretty unrelated to the languages I had learned previously. I generally think seeing words in context is more likely to make you remember their meaning, but when you understanding of a language is very limited, you don’t get the context that well anyway. I feel with Polish, just reviewing the vocabulary has sometimes helped me retain the meaning of words. I usually just review the words that I have marked at 3, not at 1 or 2. I feel it would be ineffective to review all the unknown words and better to review the ones I’m on the brink of having learned.