![\"Memorize](\"\/\/mydailyspanish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Hacks-to-Memorize-Spanish-Words-Twitter.png\" "\\"Hacks")
<\/span><\/p>\nTo make yourself understood in the early stages of learning a language, you only actually need to know a few<\/u><\/a>hundred<\/u><\/a> words. If that sounds daunting, remember it\u2019s not as bad as it sounds. In your native language, you already knew about 5000 words<\/u><\/a> by the time you were four years old! <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Every word we know is grouped into a \u2018semantic field,\u2019 which basically means that it relates to a particular topic or theme, for instance, \u2018goggles,\u2019 \u2018pool,\u2019 \u2018dive,\u2019 \u2018swim,\u2019 and \u2018water\u2019 all relate to swimming.<\/p>\n Feel free to choose topics that interest you. If you need a starting point, check out our blog articles on personality description vocab<\/u><\/a>, classroom vocab<\/u><\/a>, and, if you want to learn something a bit different, and are NOT<\/strong> a minor, a whole heap of curse words<\/u><\/a>!<\/p>\n \n via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some people are naturally visual learners, meaning that seeing things is the best way for them to memorize them\u2014you might have heard people refer to having a \u2018photographic\u2019 memory.<\/p>\n Try making a word map for a certain theme. There\u2019s no set way of doing this, but you might want to:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Write a key word in the middle of the page, e.g. \u2018swimming\u2019 (in Spanish).<\/p>\n <\/span><\/li>\n <\/p>\n Colors can be really helpful for visual learning. Try making a word map for each new topic that you learn in Spanish, assigning a different color to each topic.<\/p>\n Use this task as an opportunity to make your study notes neat and beautiful! Although computers can be a great asset in this respect, handwritten notes are highly recommended\u2014the process of writing them out can really help start the process of sticking them in your head. So get yourself some shiny new stationery and get started!<\/p>\n via Pixabay<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A simple but fun idea is to put sticky notes on items around the house. For example, \u2018puerta<\/em>\u2019 (meaning \u2018door\u2019) on your bedroom door, \u2018frigor\u00edfico<\/em>\u2019 (\u2018refrigerator\u2019) on the refrigerator door, or \u2018espejo<\/em>\u2019 (\u2018mirror\u2019) on\u2014you guessed it\u2014your mirror!<\/p>\n You can even start adding adjectives (description words) once you\u2019re comfortable, e.g. \u2018puerta blanca<\/em>\u2019 (\u2018white door\u2019).<\/p>\n The more times you practice something, the more easily it will ~stick~. Since you\u2019re looking at these objects every day anyway, why not make the most of it?!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You can really introduce creative thought into language-learning when it comes to vocab!<\/p>\n \n via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n Cognates are words that have similar linguistic origins\u2014meaning the Spanish version looks identical or similar to the English\u2014and if that ain\u2019t helpful, I don\u2019t know what is!<\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at some examples: <\/p>\n Bet you know more words than you thought you did!<\/p>\n \n via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n You don\u2019t even need to use English as your link. French and Italian, for example, have similar roots to Spanish (they are all Romance languages). So if you speak other languages, you can use any one of them to help with the others!<\/p>\n <\/span>For instance:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is all great, but \u2026 beware false friends<\/strong>!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n Some Spanish words look like English words, but they don\u2019t mean the same. Like, AT ALL. Be careful with these. Used incorrectly, they can get you into some hilariously awkward situations:Examples:<\/span><\/p>\n \n via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n One of the wonderful things about Spanish is that a lot of words are formulaic, so when you learn one word, you\u2019re actually helping yourself understand loads more. What I mean by this is:<\/p>\nHack 1: Learn by Topic<\/h2>\n
Hack 2: Make It Visual With Word Maps<\/h2>\n
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![\"Word](\"\/\/mydailyspanish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/image1.jpg\" "\\"image1\\"")
<\/span><\/p>\nHack 3: Get Sticky<\/h2>\n
Hack 4: Let Your Imagination Run Wild<\/h2>\n
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Hack 5: Cognates Are Your Friends!<\/h2>\n
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Hack 6: Recognize Patterns<\/h2>\n
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