“When we hear a sentence... [when] somebody is talking to us, we see the pictures. We don’t see the words. We don’t see the sentence in our brain. Like ‘Yesterday, I went to the beach.’ If I tell you that, you will see me on the beach. You will not see the sentence in written form.”

She uses pictures or images with her beginning students and some of her mid-level students.

Cristiane Galvao has used pictures to teach vocabulary to students of every level, from grade school to the university level.

Galvao, who is based in California, has taught English for 20 years, including in the United States and Brazil.

She suggests learners make visual dictionaries with pictures from the internet, for example. This would involve writing an English word next to its image. Before you make the dictionary, think about your goals, she says. If the goal is to reinforce what you already learned about, put the words in alphabetical order. And organize them into related groups. But if the goal is to write a sentence using each new word, then you probably do not need to put the words into groups.

2-Use mnemonics tools

Next, let’s talk about mnemonics.

These are mental tools you can use to recall information better. Most mnemonics tools involve creating mental imagery to trigger your memory. Some of you have probably already done this without realizing there is a name for it.

One great mnemonics tool is keywords. This involves making a mental image that ties two similar-sounding words together.

Take the word “bald” as an example. It means having little or no hair. The word “ball” sounds like “bald” and can help us remember the target word. In your mind, make a mental picture of a ball with a face on it. Then, picture it with no hair on top, maybe a little on the sides. Keep this image in your mind for maybe 15 seconds. The next time you try to recall “bald,” it will be easier because of the keyword and connected imagery.

Alex Mullen is a biomedical engineer and one of the world’s top memory competitors. In 2016, he was the USA Memory Champion. Mullen calls the mnemonics keywords tool “the art of memory” because your mind makes a kind of picture stories.

In his video on mnemonics keywords, he talks about remembering the target word “corral” by joining its imagery with an image of a sea coral. He draws a group of stick figures trapped -- or corralled – in a coral. In real life, you would probably make a mental image rather than a drawing. But Mullen’s drawing demonstrates the idea of connecting a mental image of the target word with its keyword.

3-Use word maps

One final method for today is word maps, also known as semantic maps or word webs.

In a word map, you write a central word or idea in the middle and connect it with lines to related words. This helps to build mental associations between related ideas.

Danielle Zelin gives the example of the word “sharp.” If you center that word, you can connect it to words of things that are sharp, such as knife, paper and scissors.

Zelin says words are much easier to remember when they have meaning in your own life. For instance, one of her French students has an English-speaking dentist. So, she learned words that she needed for her recent dental visit.

Cristiane Galvao also says that context is important. She uses word maps in the classroom only after she has already discussed a subject and shown pictures. This makes the words meaningful before putting them into map form. Otherwise, she says, you are just reading and memorizing words, which is a bad idea.

“Vocabulary is a big part of language learning. So, the more meaningful it is, the easier it is for the student to absorb.”

Galvao says not every student will learn through a word map. But the maps can help you visualize and create a method that works for you.