There's a dog barking.
Hi everyone. In this video we're going to look at a very simple method
that you can use to improve your vocabulary
in a foreign language. Most people who watch my channel are of course
trying to improve their English, but you can use this method for any language
you're learning. This is called the Gold List Method. This
isn't a method that I developed myself. It was created by a man named David
James, who's quite a well-known polyglot. The
aim of this method is to remember vocabulary in the long term.
I've watched several videos online with
people explaining how they use this method and there is a
bit of variation, so I'm just going to tell you how I use it.
I started using it for Portuguese a
couple of years ago and even though I haven't been very
consistent, I really think it has helped me to
retain vocabulary, and I
really wish that I'd known about this method several years ago
when I was learning other languages. Okay, the first thing you need to do
is get a notebook. It should be roughly this size. You'll
see in a moment why it needs to be relatively big. Next you need to
write a list of 25 words or phrases in your target
language, in other words the language that you're trying to learn.
For me, that's Portuguese. On the other side you write
the translation in your native language. Some people do 20 words or phrases.
I do 25. It's your choice. Now this list here
is called a head list. You should also number them.
It doesn't really matter how you do it. I started with
1, went down to 25. I started the next page at 50 (26!), the next page is 75 (51!),
etc. It's just nice because you get an idea of
how many words you're learning. Like when you get to 300, you can say, "Oh wow,
I've learned 300 words. And if you do it consistently it could quickly grow
to several thousand. It is also important that you put the date
at the top. Okay, so that's the first step. Next you wait two weeks.
You don't revise this, you don't put the words into
Anki, nothing. Is it "Anki" or "Anki"? Haven't figured that out. Anyway, you
don't look at this list. What you can do is make new head lists
with other words and phrases. So you skip one page and then you start a new list.
The next page needs to be blank. There aren't really any rules regarding
how many lists you make per day, but honestly I wouldn't
do more than one or two. At the end of the
two weeks, you come back to the list. It doesn't have to be
exactly two weeks, but they say that you should wait
more than two weeks, but less than two months. In other words you should
wait two to eight weeks more or less. I sometimes waited
more than two months because honestly learning Portuguese
isn't one of my main priorities at the moment - I'm just doing it for fun -
but as I said, even though I haven't been very consistent, I still feel that this
has helped me. If i had been consistent, my Portuguese
would probably be better. When you come back to the list, you quiz
yourself. There are a few different ways to do
this - it depends on what you want to accomplish. For example, you can
cover the target language, so I could cover the Portuguese
and see if I remember what it is in English,
or I could cover the English to see if I remember
the Portuguese. Normally I cover the Portuguese because I want to see what I
can actively remember. Some people don't cover anything.
If i remember the meaning, I put a tick, and if i don't, I put a dot.
Believe me, most of the time you will remember some of these words
even without revising. I then take the words that I didn't remember
and I create a new list. This is on the opposite page. So here's the head
list and here's the second list. This process
is called the first distillation. I also think it's
nice if you can use different colour pens. And make
sure that you put the date at the top. Some people say that this
second list should be a certain number of words. I don't follow
that. For me it's different every time, but it
should be between 50 and 80%
of the first list. You then wait another two to eight weeks, and you do the same
thing. You write the date, you quiz yourself
and then you write the words that you don't remember down here.
This is called the second distillation. So this is the third list. You then
repeat the process and you get a fourth list.
By that stage you'll be running out of room, so you'll need to get
a second book. In the second book you're going to create
new head lists, but they're going to be made up of
the words in the fourth list. So, for example, I could take these words
and then these words and these words so that it adds up to 25.
Okay, so this is the second book. This list here is just made up of words
and phrases from the fourth lists in the first
book. I then just keep repeating the process.
It's really up to you when you stop. You might get to the fourth list in the
second book and say, "Hey, if I haven't remembered it by now,
it's cool. I'm going to stop there." Or you might
take these words, put them into another book and just
continue the process. If you're wondering why you should wait
at least two weeks each time, it's because if you do it sooner, you
won't know if something is stored in your
long-term memory. And if you wait longer than two months,
well, there's a good chance that you'll forget everything.
But remember, while you're waiting, you've got things to do.
You could be writing another head list, or doing the first distillation or
the second distillation or the third distillation
on another page. How you choose to do it is your choice. I know some people
prefer to have a lot of structure and will do it every day,
but if you're more like me, you might just
pick up the books when you have time or when you feel like it
and see where you've stopped last. Just a couple more points before we finish.
You might be wondering, "But where do I get all these words?"
Do I just randomly choose words from a dictionary?
Well, no. I actually have another notebook where I first write words and phrases
that I come across. I might find them on YouTube,
on Instagram or on websites for learning Portuguese.
It really doesn't matter - you might hear a word in a series -
but they should be words or phrases that you've
heard or seen used in context. Or they might be specific words that you
want to learn. For example, you might be in your room
and then think, "Oh, how do you say light in that language?"
And then you can obviously look it up and write it down.
You also don't need to use a notebook. I like
paper, but you might have a list on your phone
that you then transfer to your Gold List books.
Another important point: Try to focus on this
while you're doing it and don't rush through it.
I admittedly sometimes listen to music at the same time,
because after all it's quite a passive activity,
but I don't watch series or try to do things that require concentration.
If you're going through it very quickly, your brain
just probably won't absorb much information.
That's it, guys. I know that this might seem really simple,
but honestly it's been working for me and
I really wish that I had discovered this method sooner.
I know some people might say, "Well, why don't you just use apps like
Anki or Memrise?" Those are based on similar principles, mainly
spaced repetition, but I personally have never
liked flashcards and I also don't like spending too much time on
screens. In addition to that, I also think I learn
better if I'm physically writing something with a pen.
But I encourage you to try different things. At the end of the day,
you need to find something that works for you.
If you have tried the Gold List Method, please let me know in the comments.
Don't forget to hit the thumbs up if you like the video and I'll see you next time.
I don't know about the light...
So you need to write...