After all, popular SRS (spaced repetition software) or flashcard programs like Anki, Mnemosyne, Supermemo, jMemorize which few people seem to take issue with, are essentially vocabulary lists.

You don’t absolutely need lists to learn vocabulary—particularly if you have a good auditory memory and get a lot of conversation practice—but if you use them well, they can speed up your learning.

Where many learners go wrong is in:

All these problems are easy to correct.

Take Vocabulary from Authentic Material

Be wary of looking up words in a bilingual dictionary and writing down the translation. This really is an artificial way to learn. In the early stages when you’re working on your first 500 or so words, though, it’s pretty much unavoidable. Your phrasebook or course book gives you little verbal goodies like “Good morning” and “How are you?” and you add them to your list. No worries. That’s a perfectly fine way to build a basic vocabulary.

As soon as you can, though, build your vocabulary from authentic material (anything meant for native speakers, not foreign learners). Even if you’re an absolute beginner, pop songs and light reading magazines are not beyond you. If nothing else, listen or read (yes, without understanding) and look up only those words you’ve come across at least twice.

Try not to collect more words than you can actually learn. The average learner can pick up about seven new words a day, not including the “freebies” like cognates and words that are just plain catchy. If you’re making lists of 20 or more words a day and can’t remember most of those words three days later, you’re overdoing it. Slow down and focus really learning on a few essential words at a time.

Collect Phrases for Context

When you come across an interesting word, if at all possible, write down the whole sentence you saw or heard it in. If that’s not possible, a least write down some of the words used with that new word. Even partial phrases like “the stairs to the basement” or “parked in the garage” provide some context and give you some examples of grammar structures.

An easy way to collect phrases for words in more widely spoken languages is to plug the word into a search engine and see what comes up. Stick with newspapers, government sites and other authority sites to avoid collecting bad grammar.

If Google doesn’t turn up much for your target language and you can a teacher or handy native speaker, write out some sentences of your own and have them checked.

Make up Mnemonics

Unless you have a great memory, looking at words and repeating the translations over and over will only waste your time and frustrate you. Instead of forcing words into your memory by dint of repetition, give each new word a “hook” to make it easier to remember.

The classic example is the “linkword technique” in which you link the new word to a word you already know in a way that’s memorable to you. Say you want to remember that the French for “but” is “mais,” which rhymes with the English word may. Based on that you think up a story to link the two words.

For example, “When Mother let us do something, there was always a catch. If we asked, ‘May we…?’ she answered, ‘Yes, you may, but only if…’” There are a variety of these memory techniques to choose from depending on your personal preference. Anything that’s meaningful and memorable to you personally is fair game.

Use Your Words

Because it’s classier than throwing a tantrum. And even with the best mnemonics in the world, at a certain point, you’re going to start forgetting the words you don’t use. Reading and listening provide review and go a long way towards helping you retain your vocabulary. If you’re studying a dead language, it’s probably all you need (unless you want hold an erudite conversation at the local Latin club).

Otherwise, though, you may find you have trouble remember those words and putting them into sentences fast enough to have a conversation. It is entirely possible to understand everything you hear in a certain language, yet not be able to speak it.

Lists have their place in foreign language vocabulary learning, but they aren’t enough in and of themselves to really build a strong, active vocabulary. What’s more, poorly made lists can waste your time with words you’ll never need to use. Created carefully and used creatively, though, they can be a huge help in building your foreign language vocabulary.

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Be Picky

Linguist Erik V. Gunnemark believes 90% of the everyday spoken vocabulary of most “common” languages is made up of around 400 words. I’ve never made a count myself, but that number feels about right for essential communication.

Until you reach that level, try to study only the most essential words. If you can’t imagine needing a word every day, don’t add it to your vocabulary list. Imagine any day now you’ll have to go to the country where the language is spoken and speak only that language. What kinds of things might you need to say? Based on that, what words do you want to give priority in your “communication tool chest.”

Avoid the mistake of learning assuming you need the “kindergarten basic” words that “everyone” knows. These are words like “horse,” “mitten,” and “rainbow”—words that little kids’ books are full of, but that the adult learner could go months without needing. Those are basic words, but they’re not necessary for essential communication. That’s true of most words you can point to, draw, or mime somehow. You can save those for a little later.

Use Your Phrasebook as a Guide

A good place to find the words and phrases you’re likely to need on a daily basis is with the “basics” or “essential phrases” section of a concise tourist’s phase book. This is where you’ll learn “Good morning,” “How are you?,” “My name is…” and all that good stuff.

Remember that you aren’t just learning words alone. In fact, it might be better to think of what you’re adding to your list as “vocabulary units,” which might be single words or short phrases.

Don’t shy away from adding a whole phrase to your vocab list just because you don’t know the exact translation or understand all the grammar. In the beginning, learning phrase by phrase is more efficient than trying to pick apart the grammar to get at the dictionary forms of conjugated verbs and declined nouns and adjectives.

Choose by Parts of Speech

A good way to make sure you don’t miss any of the real basics is to organize your vocabulary by part of speech. Some of the most important are:

• Pronouns (I, he, we, etc.),
• Prepositions (in, at, on),
• Very common verbs (be, go, like),
• Adverbs of time (sometimes, often, never),
• Common adverbs of manner (well, quickly),
• and a few essential adjectives (big, difficult, cold).

Notice nouns are missing. That’s not because they’re not important, but because they tend to take care of themselves. They’re easy to remember because they’re easy to visualize. Add relevant basic nouns as you come across them, but don’t worry too much about them.

Cognates and Other Easy Words

Depending on how closely related your target language is to your native language, there may be dozens of cognates (words with similar sounds and meanings, like the English “dance” and the German “tanzen”) that you could pick up with minimal effort. Try to get a list of these and at least browse it for easy pickin’s.

Also browse through your phrasebook and bilingual dictionary for words that are just so catchy you can’t help but remember them. Keep these in a separate file from your main vocabulary words and review them when you have time.

In the book Faster Foreign Language Learning, I’ve included a thorough list of the essential phrases you’ll need to get by comfortably in an immersion situation. This is the list I collected through eight years’ experience in four countries, so it’s tried and tested.

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Choose Wisely

When you’re deeply interested in a language or you urgently need be able to communicate, it’s tempting to collect any and all words that seem like they might be useful. Unfortunately, it’s easy to overwhelm yourself this way because you’re spreading your time and attention so thin. It’s better to choose seven words a day and get them down pat than choose 20 and only really remember five.

Try to focus on the words that are absolutely essential to communication until you have a vocabulary of around 400 words or so. Included in the book Faster Foreign Language Learning is a “Phrasebook Starter” that consists of the most common phrases you’ll need to communicate and this is a great place to start building your vocab.

Mnemonics

No matter what your learning style, there are dozens of “memory tricks” you can apply to make sure the words you want to learn stick in your memory. An example would be the “method of loci” or “journey method.” With this technique you envision a path you know well, such as from your house to the grocery store, and attach vocabulary words to objects along that path.

Keep in mind that you won’t need these “tricks” for the long term. You’ll only need them to retain new words in your short term memory so that you can use them enough times to shift them into your long-term memory. That’s a good thing, too, because these techniques can usually only help with around 100 words at a time.

To reach the point where you no long need mnemonics you need…

Lots of Varied Practice

To keep your momentum going, you’ll need daily practice and review. But to avoid boredom and get more “true to life” practice, you’ll need as wide a variety of ways to practice as possible. Pick up some crossword puzzles in your target language. Write words on scraps of paper and scatter them over the table. Pick out two at random and try to make a sentence using both. Create mind maps to review thematically related vocabulary. And don’t forget modern study tools like interactive language learning software and audio flashcards.

Faster Foreign Language Learning includes dozens of ways to practice not only vocab, but also grammar, as well as improve your speaking fluency and listening skills.

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I once had the pleasure of spending several hours looking after four little ones all under age four when I spoke about ten words of their language. These weren’t calm, well-behaved children, either; they set their toys on fire (which was not my fault, but that’s another story).

I also worked briefly in an international kindergarten where there were a couple of kiddos with whom I was the only one who could communicate, and even then only just. So, I have an idea of the essential verbiage one needs and thought I’d pass some along.

It’s Really not That Bad

Fortunately, smiling, nodding, and making silly noises goes a long way with the two-and-under crowd. Any older than that and they can usually figure out that you don’t know how to talk right and will try to teach you as they would a younger sibling

Looking after little kids whose language you don’t speak—depending on the kids’ personalities (pyromaniacal or not)—can range from delightfully interesting to tear-your-hear-out stressful. In the phrase list below, I’m erring on the boisterous kid side, because that’s when you’re most likely to need to communicate clearly.

Do This, Stop That!

One big tip: learn the imperative. In English, the imperative is, conveniently enough, the same as the infinitive. It’s the verb form in statements like, “Wait!” and “Don’t touch that!” Make sure you learn the right form of “you” for talking with children (usually the “informal you” if the language has one) and the plural “you” (for multiple kidlets).

These phrases will get you through brief, emergency babysitting stints. This list might sound like all I do is bark orders at kids, but it’s really just the absolute essentials you need to keep the little ones safe until their rightful caretaker gets back. And, of course, you can soften them a lot with a gentle tone of voice.

Keep in mind, though, that these phrases are in addition to your very basic phrases like “My name is…” and “Where’s the…?”

So without further ado, the childcare phrase/babysitting vocabulary list you didn’t know you were waiting for…

• Go!
• Come here!
• Sit down!
• Wait!
• Look! (Essential for getting a kid’s attention away from where it shouldn’t be.)
• Look out! (Might want to add, “There’s a car coming.”)
• Be careful!
• Don’t touch that!
• That’s dangerous.
• That’s dirty.
• Put that down!
• Bring that here!
• Give that to me/her/him! (Helps in breaking up sibling battles.)
• Play nice!
• No hitting!
• Why are you crying? (Answer is generally, “I want my mommy/daddy,” “That kid hit/pushed me.” or “That kid took/broke my toy.” Less often it’s, “I can’t find my….”)
• Are you hurt?
• Mommy/daddy will be back soon.

The local equivalent of “hush” or “shh” and “It’s okay.” to quiet a crying kiddo are also useful. Whew! Tired yet?

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This is largely for developing the basic vocabulary you need to get by, but can help no matter what level you’re at. Along with this, you’ll also need to learn basic grammar like past, present, and future verb tenses, how to use prepositions (cases), and the accusative and dative cases. (All this varies by language, of course.)

Pick Seven Words per Day

Gain seven words a day for two months (with a couple days off) and you’ll have about 400 words. In their book The Art and Science of Learning Languages, Gethin and Gunnemark suggest you need around 400 active words for a survival speaking level and 800 passive words for survival reading.

I haven’t counted, but that sounds about right. It’s surprising how well you can communicate with around 400 words if you know them well and know basic grammar.

The easiest way to develop your survival vocabulary is to get a phrasebook with a compact dictionary with fewer than 10,000 words. Each day, flip through it and pick out seven words or short phrases that look essential.

It takes some experience to know which words really are important. They aren’t necessarily the “kindergarten simple” words. The word “run” might seem basic, but how often do you really use it? You probably use the word “drive” more often.

Focus on verbs, prepositions (in, on, near), and adverbs of time and frequency (early, today, sometimes, soon). Nouns are important, but they tend to require less intensive memorization. When you do choose nouns, go for more abstract ones like “music” or “mistake,” which are often harder to remember.

Create a Good Mnemonic for Each

You can’t really be staring at a vocab list when you have to make lunch, prepare a major presentation, or prevent the kiddies from lighting the house on fire. You have things to do. So you need to carry those words with you mentally.

That means creating some kind of memory device that helps you recall the words in the short time while you work on putting them into your long-term memory.

The Linkword system is the most popular. With this technique you relate the foreign word to a word it sounds like in your language. Needless to say, not all words in your new language are going to have sound-for-sound links with your native language. So, you may have to get creative.

Say you want to remember that the Russian for “book” is “kneega.” You might imagine someone hit your knee (pronouncing the “k”) with a book and you exclaimed “Ga!” in pain. Hey, if it works, it works.

There are many other mnemonic methods, though, so pick one that words with your learning style and the words/language you’re working with.

Review Mentally, Creatively, Throughout the Day

In the evening, choose your seven words and invent your mnemonics. Next morning, pick three or four words out of your seven.

Briefly review them, remember your mnemonics, say the words out loud, and do whatever else you can to remember those three as clearly as if they were things you absolutely must pick up at the store.

Got ‘em? Good. Now go on with your day. Periodically, as frequently as is practical, mentally review those words. Translate them from your native language (“What is ‘How many?’ in Spanish? It’s ‘¿Cuántos?’”). Envision the spelling. Envision some part of your mnemonic. (For ‘¿Cuántos?’ you might imagine a duck ‘qwah-cking’ at your ‘toes.’ trying to count out ‘how many’ you have.) Use the words in sentences and dialogues.

At mid-day, go back and get the remaining three or four words from your list of seven and review those the same way. Concentrate on those first, then add in the words from earlier in the day. Keep using the words in as many different ways as you can.

Build Your Knowledge and Skills

At first, you may only be able to remember the words themselves. Then you’ll be able to use them in the simplest sentences (“That’s a man.” or “I see a dog.”).

After a few weeks, you’ll be able to create dialogues. That is, think through conversations in you head. Choose a few common situations like buying groceries, ordering in a restaurant, or making small talk with a new acquaintance interested in you, the foreigner.

These dialogues are essential for reviewing all your new vocabulary once you get up to a few hundred words. They also help you discover which words you need but still don’t know.

Ideally, though, this isn’t all you should be doing. Still try to listen to music or radio news, read a little something, and talk with your conversation partner whenever you can. What really gets the words to stay long term is really using them either to understand something or express something.

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