I always remind my students that learning vocabulary is one of the most important tools for communicating in any language you decide to study. In order to learn vocabulary, you must follow several steps:
First, you must memorize the words accompanied with the corresponding article. One example is la mesa (table). The article will help you remember gender and quantity of the noun or nouns you are learning for later use.
Second, you need to use the words you memorized in conversation, making sentences or in situations. One example could be "yo quiero ir a la tienda a comprar la mesa redonda que vi ayer." The translation to the sentence is "I want to go to the store to buy the round table I saw yesterday." As you can see the word "la mesa" helps you with gender and quantity when using redonda (round) to describe the shape of the table you want to buy.
Third,remember to pay attention to words that are cognates so you can learn to spell them correctly. Note that the word la clase has only one s and not two like in English (class). Also pay attention to spelling of words as to not create misunderstandings by confusing el libro (book) con la libra (pound) or la mesa (table) con el mes (month).
Fourth, try to study using the best method for you. When I studied French I made lists of words in English on one side of a page folded lengthwise in half and on the other half the corresponding french word. Later, I could look at the french word and be able to say its English meaning or look at the English word and say the french word. For other vocabulary, I used cards with a word on one side and its meaning on the other or make flashcards using software available for that purpose.
I hope that the above tips help you in your quest to learn more vocabulary and in doing so speaking better the language you love. Above all remember to have fun while learning and do not worry to much about making mistakes since mistakes provide us with opportunities to learn from them.
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