What do you do if you are in a foreign country and you want to order a drink in a café or you need to buy some soap or potatoes? You will probably reach for your smartphone or (if you still use one) your dictionary and look for a translation of the words you need. You probably won't reach for your grammar book!
如果你到了國外，想要在咖啡店點一杯飲料，或者你要買肥皂盒土豆，你會怎么做？你可能回掏出手機（如果你有的話），打開詞典，查查你想要的東西的翻譯。你絕不會查語法書吧！
Grammar is important, I'm not saying it isn't, but if you don't have the correct words (vocabulary) you can't say anything! No amount of grammar is going to help you get a coffee if you don't know the word for ‘coffee’ in the local language. An IELTS essay might be grammatically perfect but without a good variety of words, it will not score well.
語法很重要，這里我沒有說它不重要，但如果你不知道要說的單詞，你話都說不出！即便懂得語法再多，不知道“咖啡”怎么說也白搭。就算你雅思作文語法無懈可擊，詞匯量不豐富，也拿不到高分。
So, how can you remember words? There are thousands of words, right? ‘It's impossible!’ I hear you shout! Well, here are a few ideas to help you remember all the new words you meet. Try them out and see which ones work for you.
那要怎樣記單詞呢？有成千上萬個單詞對不對？全記住根本不可能??！我可以聽見你內(nèi)心的吶喊了！接下來我就告訴大家記住碰到單詞的幾個方法。試試看哪一款適合你喲。
1. Word families – why learn one new word when you can easily learn six?
詞群記憶：為什么可以學6個單詞的時候你只學1個呢？
Word families are words which are related. Take the word ‘happy’ (because you will be happy after you have read this!). If this is a new word to you, you look it up in your dictionary. But don't stop there. Ask yourself some questions:
詞群表示那些相關的詞。就拿happy（開心）這個詞來說（因為你學了這個方法后一定很happy吧）。如果這對于你來說是一個新詞，你就要查字典。但不僅僅如此，捫心自問以下問題
‘What kind of word is it?’ – adjective.
這個詞的詞性是什么？形容詞
‘
What is the opposite?’ – unhappy.
這個詞的反義詞時什么？unhappy
‘What about the adverb?’ – happily. - (Note the change in spelling ‘y’ to ‘i’).
這個詞的副詞是什么？happily
‘And is there an opposite adverb?’ – Yes! – unhappily.
副詞的反義詞是什么？對！unhappily.
‘Is there a noun from this word?’ – Yes!! – happiness.
詞的名詞是什么？happiness.
‘Can we say ‘unhappiness’ – Yes!
Unhappiness是一個詞嗎？是的！
‘Is there a verb?’ – no! But we can say ‘to be happy’.
有動詞嗎？沒有，但我們可以說to be happy.
So from one new word, you suddenly have six!! And they are all in the same family so you are more likely to remember them. You just need to do a little bit of work with the new word that you meet. And by doing that work you have a greater chance of remembering those words – your brain has ‘played’ with the words and so will remember them better.
所以從一個新單詞你一下子學了6個詞??！而且他們都屬于同一個詞根，你更容易記住他們。這樣做你就記得更牢，你的腦子已經(jīng)和這些詞做過了問答游戲，記起來當然更容易。
2. Mind maps
思維導圖記單詞
Learning in topic areas is another good way to remember new words. I'm sure your teacher has told you this. Great! But now that you have written down all the words related to ‘The environment’ how will you remember them? Making a list with a translation is one way, but it's not very effective. Your brain does not work in lists. It works in patterns.
把單詞放到話題情景中記憶是個好方法?？隙銈兊睦蠋熞彩沁@么教你的。好極了！既然你寫下所有相關聯(lián)的單詞放到“語言環(huán)境”中去，你要怎么記憶呢？每一個單詞翻譯一遍是一種方法，不過不是很有效。你的頭腦可不是根據(jù)單詞列來記憶的。你的腦子是根據(jù)規(guī)律來記憶的。
Collect together at least 4 different coloured pens. Take a big sheet of paper and write ‘The environment’ in the middle. Put a circle or a pretty cloud shape around the words. Take another colour and draw a line from the cloud and write the word ‘verbs’ along it. Now, from that line write any verbs you know that collocate with ‘environment’, e.g. ‘pollute’, ‘protect’, ‘save’. Here is mine:
至少有四種不同顏色的彩色筆。拿一張大的白紙在中間寫上“environment”。在詞的周圍畫上圓圈或者漂亮的云的形狀。再拿一只不同顏色的筆從云這邊畫一條線，在旁邊寫上“動詞”。從那條線邊上寫上任何與環(huán)境environment相關的動詞，比如pollute污染，protect保護，save節(jié)省。下面是我的思維導圖：
Now choose another colour and draw another line coming out from the cloud. This time write the word ‘rubbish’ along it. What words do you know (or can you find) that collocate with ‘rubbish’? I can think of ‘recycle rubbish’, ‘reuse rubbish’, ‘reduce (the amount of) rubbish’, dump rubbish’, throw out/away rubbish’.
下面選另一個顏色然后再從云出發(fā)畫一條線。這次寫上rubbish垃圾這個詞在旁邊。你可以找到哪些詞和垃圾相關呢？我可以想到recycle rubbish回收垃圾，reuse rubbish廢物利用，reduce (the amount of) rubbish減少垃圾數(shù)量，dump rubbish倒垃圾，throw out/away rubbish扔垃圾。
You can decide how you want to arrange the words on the paper. Maybe you do only verbs; or perhaps verb and noun collocations; phrasal verbs… you can choose. Here is mine after I added some more:
你可以自己決定哪些詞寫在哪兒。也許你可能只會寫動詞，你也可以寫名詞，詞組，隨你便選擇。下面是我加了些詞后的樣子：
The map might get too crowded and you need to split the vocabulary into two separate maps, still on the topic of ‘the environment’. You might think that it is getting too messy and you need to start again. That's fine. In fact it is good! By working on all the words again, you will start to remember them.
可能思維導圖上會畫滿，這就要你將詞分兩類，還是在講同一個話題environment環(huán)境。也有可能你覺得畫面太亂要重新畫。沒關系。實際上這其實更好。你重新寫一遍詞，不就記得更牢了嗎？
3. Using your mind maps
學會使用思維導圖
Now that you have made your beautiful mind map, what can you do with it? If you are studying for IELTS you can use them in a few ways.
現(xiàn)在你畫好了美麗的思維導圖，要怎么用呢？如果你在學雅思的話，下面是一些使用方法。
Find a part 2 speaking question (the part where you have to talk for 2 minutes) on the topic of your mind map. Use your map while you make notes for your talk. Don't worry about only planning for one minute at first; take two minutes or even three – the idea is to make your talk richer with all your great new words. When you have had a lot of practice, try to plan for only one minute.
找到雅思考試第二部分的口語問題（那個要你說2分鐘的題目），找到你在思維導圖尚寫的話題。在你一邊說一邊記筆記的時候使用導圖。別擔心準備1分鐘時間不夠，甚至可以準備2分鐘3分鐘，這么做目的是讓你說話的內(nèi)容更豐富，用詞更好。練得多了，你就可以只準備1分鐘。
When you are planning your answer to a task 2 essay, use a mind map on that topic to improve the variety of your vocabulary. If you don't have one, make one first.
For reading or listening practice, find texts on topics that you have prepared mind maps for. Review the map before you read, and then see how many of your phrases you find in the text. Maybe there are new ones in the text that you can add to your map.
雅思考試中任務的2小論文，可以用思維導圖來提升用詞的多樣性。如果你沒有這個話題的導圖，就先畫一張唄。針對閱讀和聽力考試，找到你準備過的思維導圖的相應話題。在閱讀前先復習一遍導圖，看看你在閱讀的時候碰到多少詞語在導圖里出現(xiàn)。也許文章中有新的詞語你還能加到導圖里呢。
Even if you are not studying for IELTS, you can do all the exercises above. Plus:
即便你沒在學雅思，也能夠完成上面的聯(lián)系。你還可以這么做：
Have discussions with your teacher or someone else on the topics of your maps. Keep your mind map in front of you while you talk.
Make a quiz or a puzzle using the words and put it on the italki discussion page for others to do. They can message you with the answers – you might even find a new language partner!
和你的老師或者朋友討論下你導圖里的話題。在你說話的時候把導圖放在前面。
用導圖里的詞語編一個測驗或者謎語，然后放到italki討論頁面讓大家一起做。他們可以把自己的答案發(fā)給你，也許你還能找到新的語言伙伴呢。
4. Learn phrases, not words
學習詞組而不是詞語
What does it mean to know a word? To be able to translate it into your language? To know the plural? To know the irregular forms of verbs?
懂得一個詞語的意味著什么？是能夠翻譯到你的母語？還是知道它的復數(shù)形式？還是知道動詞的不規(guī)則變化？
To know a word means all of these things, but also much more! One of my students was recently telling me about his day. He had been at work and was very busy. He was trying to tell me what he had done; he knew the words ‘meeting’ and ‘workshop’ but he didn't know that you hold a meeting (if you are in charge) or that you give a workshop (again, if you are in charge of it). So he couldn't tell me about his day very clearly.
會用一個詞語意味著你要知道以上所有的用法，不過還要知道更多！我的一個學生最近跟我聊起他某一天遇到的事情。他當時在工作而且很忙。他試著告訴我他做了什么。他知道m(xù)eeting會議和workshop座談會但他不知道hold a meeting舉辦會議（如果你是會議組織者）或者give a workshop舉辦座談會（如果你是座談會組織人）這兩個詞組。所以他表述得并不清晰。
When you meet a new word, you need to use a good dictionary to find out how to actually use the word in the correct context. Ask yourself some more questions:
當你遇到一個新詞，你需要查字典去看看這個詞在真實語境中的實際用法。問一下自己以下幾個問題
‘What verb/noun goes with (collocates with) this word. Is there more than one?’
哪些動詞或者名詞和這個詞一起出現(xiàn)。是不是還有更多的詞？
‘What is the grammar after this word?’ E.g. If it is a verb do you put –ing or the infinitive after it? Do you need a noun after or noun phrase? Can you put a clause after it?
這個詞后面的語法怎么用？如果是個動詞你在后面是加ing動名詞形式還是動詞不定式?這之后是要用名詞還是名詞詞組？之后要加從句嗎？
Let's look at ‘recommend’.
比如recommend推薦這個詞
I recommend you do...
我推薦你做某事do
I recommend that you do...
我推薦你做that 從句
I recommend doing…
我推薦你做doing
But NOT而非這樣使用
I recommend you to do.
I recommend you should do.
This is possibly the most important tip you should remember because if you can't use the words properly, there is no point in learning them in the first place!
要正確使用單詞以上可能是你要記住的關鍵了。剛開始學的時候學這些也沒用
So, let's sum up.
所以下面跟各位總結
There are many ways you can help yourself learn new words. It is not enough to just translate the words and make a nice long list in your notebook or in a file on your computer. You need to do some work with the words; your brain needs to play with them and you need to do this again and again.
自學新單詞的方法有很多。單單翻譯詞組，在紙上或者電腦上編一個超常的詞條沒有意義。你要用這個詞，你的大腦要和這個詞“做游戲”，而且要反復使用這個詞。
But it doesn't need to be boring. Notice that I used the word play. Use your imagination to make up fun activities. Use colours and big pieces of paper. Get out your scissors and glue and be a child again!
不過學習單詞不一定很枯燥。注意到我說的是和單詞“做游戲”。發(fā)揮想象組織一些有趣的活動。多用顏色和繪畫紙。拿出剪刀和膠水，回到童年快樂學單詞吧！
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