This document discusses various mnemonic devices and study aids for learning Spanish vocabulary, including acronyms, acrostics, rhymes, songs, word associations, visual clues, and flashcards. It explains that 100 words are sufficient for basic conversation and 2,000 words are enough for normal conversation. It provides examples of how to use different mnemonic devices and encourages studying vocabulary for 10-15 minutes per day using flashcards or other aids.

1. Learn Spanish Vocabulary - Presentation Transcript
1. Learning Spanish Vocabulary Gayla S. Keesee Education Specialist Paine College,
Augusta, GA Mack Gipson, Jr. Tutorial & Enrichment Center rev. 10/2006
2.
o Vocabulary forms the building blocks of language
3. FYI
o The number of words in a language can be staggering—from 20,000 to more than
100,000 depending on the language.
 100 words can be sufficient for basic conversation.
 2,000 are enough for fairly normal conversation.
4. Memory/Study Aids
o Mnemonic Devices
 Acronyms
 Acrostics
 Rhymes and songs
 Word associations
 Visual clues
o Flashcards
5. Mnemonic Devices
o Acronyms
o Acrostics
o Rhymes and songs
o Method of Loci
o Word associations—logical or illogical
o Visual Clues
6. Mnemonic Devices
o Mnemonic (ni-'man-ik) devices
 “ Tricks” to help you memorize and recall information
 long lists
 speeches
 basic concepts
 definitions
 Tools for rote memorization only
7. Acronyms
o An acronym is an invented combination of letters where each letter is a cue to an
idea you need to remember.
 BRASS is an acronym for how to shoot a rifle-- B reath, R elax, A im, S
ight, S queeze.
8. How could you use Acronyms to help you learn Spanish?
9.
o An acrostic is an invented sentence where the first letter of each word is a cue to
an idea you need to remember.
 “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge”
 (E, G, B, D, F)—musical notes of the lines of the treble clef staff

2.  “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” (parenthesis, exponent,
multiplication, division, addition, subtraction)—order of operations
Acrostics
10. How could you use Acrostics to help you learn Spanish?
11. Rhymes and Songs
o Songs and rhymes help to burn information in your memory
 To this day, many people softly sing their ABC’s when trying to
alphabetize a list.
 Rhymes often teach basic facts, such as, “In fourteen hundred and ninety-
two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”
12. How could you use Rhymes and Songs to help you learn Spanish?
13. Word Associations
o First, select a key word in English that sounds like the foreign word.
o Next, imagine an image which uses the key word with the English meaning of the
foreign word.
o Can be illogical or logical
14. Logical Association
o el coche with coach (like a carriage) which was the predecessor to the car.
o Imagine your car as a coach,
o or imagine horses pulling it.
o The Spanish word for rice is arroz .
o [pronounced ARROSS]
 Imagine someone shooting ARROWS
 into a plate of RICE .
15. Illogical Association
o The illogical approach might say el coche sounds like coach (such as a basketball
coach)
o Try to link coach and car in the most vivid way possible—the crazier, the better.
o Remember that el coche is masculine by having a male coach.
o Imagine the BASKETBALL COACH lifting
o your CAR above his head, then throwing it at a
o basketball hoop or through a wall.
16.
o The Spanish word cabina means phone booth . For the English keyword, you
might think of “cab in a ... .”
o You could invent an image of a CAB
o trying to fit in a PHONE BOOTH .
o The Spanish word for bed is cama .
o Imagine a CAMEL lying in your BED .
Illogical Associations
17. How could you use Word Associations to help you learn Spanish?
18. Visual Clues

3. o Drawings, pictures, diagrams
 Physically create visual elements
 Use drawings or pictures of definitions of words
 Make crazy visual associations
Perro El perro está bajo la mesa. The dog is under the table.
19. Visual Clues
o Charts, diagrams
 Diagram the different conjugations for a verb
Hablar Yo hablo Tu hablas Ud./el/ella habla Nosotros(as) hablamos Vosotros(as) hablais
Ud./ellos/ellas hablan
20. Flashcards Perro El perro está bajo la mesa. The dog is under the table.
21. Flashcards—Advantages
o Chunks information into smaller categories to aid memory
 Nouns—persons, places, things
 Verbs—plural/singular or tenses
 Phrases—common usage
o Use of color signals categories
 different colored cards
 highlighters
22. Flashcards—Advantages
o Use either written or visual information
o Easily rearranged and sorted
 Do not learn the words in a fixed order.
 Learn only words need to remember.
o Used for different purposes
 Lists of items
 Grammar rules
 Questions/answers
23. Flashcards—Advantages
o Size and portability
 easy to carry
 use for short, frequent reviews
 review in spare time that is often wasted—like waiting in line or between
classes.
o Physically moving and manipulating the cards incorporates tactile learning
24. Flashcards—Advantages
o Writing down the material on cards aids your memory in itself.
 76 repetitions of information to go into long term memory
25. Flashcards
o Definition—Picture
 Two-sided
 Picture on front side

4.  Word and sentence on back side
Perro El perro está bajo la mesa. The dog is under the table.
26. Flashcards Learn grammar rules
27. Flashcards En la clase Front Back window la ventana door la puerta teacher la professora
student la estudiante blackboard la pizarra
28. One Way to Study
o 4x6 cards are best.
o Once a day, go through your pack of index cards.
o Sort the cards into two stacks—those you know and those you do not know.
o Periodically review the entire set of words to keep them fresh in your mind.
29. When to Use Flashcards
o Study your vocabulary for only 10-15 minutes a day
 Riding the bus
 Riding in a car
 Before bed
 When you get up in the morning
 Waiting in line
 Doing your laundry
30. General Tips
o Attend Class Regularly
 Best chance for practice in speaking and listening
 Able to ask questions
o Don’t Tune Out
 Participate as much as possible
 Answer questions—even silently to see if they match your classmates’
answers