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Lessons · Lesson 11 of 11

Learn words that stick

Vocabulary method · All levels · 8 min

Mission: You keep learning new words and forgetting them a week later. You learn a method to make them stay.

Reading a word list again and again feels like work but is one of the weakest ways to remember. Explaining a word and recalling it later is one of the strongest.

  1. Hear
  2. Speak first
  3. Notice
  4. Fix one thing
  5. Speak again
  6. Recall
1

Hear a little

Read or listen. Don't study it. Just follow the conversation.

Zayaan

Today's word: “pragmatic”. Don't look it up. Explain it from this sentence: “A pragmatic solution is sometimes better than a perfect one.”

Muddassir

Hmm… practical? Something that works in real life, even if it's not perfect?

Zayaan

Exactly. Now use it about your own life.

Muddassir

When the paper was late, we found a pragmatic solution — we used stock from another supplier.

Zayaan

Lovely. My turn: Talia is pragmatic. When the rain ruined our picnic, she just made chai in the car.

Zayaan

Tomorrow I'll ask you for it again — without the sentence.

2

Speak first

Pick one English word you learned recently. Explain what it means without using the word itself.

Use “It's when…”, “It's a kind of…”, “It's something you use to…”. Say it out loud, or type it if you can't speak right now.

3

Notice the gap

What did you want to say but couldn't? These are the phrases and patterns that fill that gap.

  • 1. Meet it in a sentenceNot alone in a list — context shows how it is used.
  • 2. Guess, then explain in your own words“It's when…” forces you to understand it.
  • 3. Use it about YOUR lifeA personal sentence is easier to remember than a textbook one.
  • 4. Recall it tomorrow — then in 3 days, then a weekSpaced recall: testing yourself beats rereading.
  • 5 words a day is plentyFive you'll use beat fifty you'll forget.
4

Fix one thing

Try each one. If you miss, you'll get a hint first, so you can fix it yourself.

1. Which way of studying new words helps memory most?

2. “Resilient” — choose the best own-words explanation.

3. Best personal sentence for “fulfilling”:

5

Speak again, faster

Explain your word again, then use it in a sentence about your own life. Faster this time.

Coach yourself, the way Zayaan does after you finish:

6

Recall tomorrow

Save these phrases. They'll come back in Recall practice tomorrow, in 3 days and in a week.

  • pragmatic = practical, works in real life
  • It's when…
  • Recall tomorrow, in 3 days, in a week

Muddassir and Zayaan are real; this dialogue is a practice scenario inspired by their lessons. Read their story.