Are you sick and tired of the traditional school method for memorizing vocabulary and feeling that this way of learning only makes you remember new words for a day? Are you interested in a new, more interesting and effective method of doing it? If your answer is “Yes”, you’re in the right place! Scroll down to learn more!
The GoldList Method
When you use the GoldList Method, you rely on your long-term memory, without consciously trying to remember anything. Long-term memory is held not to be in the control of our consciousness but more akin to an automatic function such as breathing.
When everything is ready, you can get right into your first Goldlist. Open your notebook on the first double page, make a note of the date and start writing down two columns of previously collected expressions into the top left-hand corner. One column will have the expressions in your mother tongue and the other will be in a foreign language.
If you chose an A4 notebook, write down a list of 20 expressions (using twenty lines). If you want to create a shorter GoldList in a smaller notebook, write down only 14 expressions. When your list is ready, read through the expressions once, slowly and aloud, and then close the notebook. In two weeks’ time, you’ll return to your first GoldList to test just how many expressions have stayed in your long-term memory. This is called the first distillation.
After the next two weeks, it’s time for a second distillation. Cover up the 14 foreign expressions and test your ability to translate as many of them as you can. Again, you should know about 30% of the expressions and rewrite the remaining 70% into the bottom right part of the double page (10 expressions).
By now, I’m sure you know what happens next. Correct! Two weeks later, you’ll do the third and the last distillation, during which you will rewrite 7 remaining expressions into the bottom left part. If you’re doing shorter lists, the number of expressions from the first list to the last distillation will be 14, 10, 7, and 5.
Flashcards
Using flashcards can be a very effective self-testing approach. Even the act of making flashcards is a way to “work” the information, challenging you to think about which information to have on one side and the related description on the other. This also frees up some memory, since you will have a physical stack of cards with the information instead of trying to store individual facts, names, or terms in your mind. Flashcards are often part of spaced practice, and repetition helps you figure out what information you can remember easily and what needs additional effort. From a time management perspective, flashcards allow you to take advantage of short amounts of time that become available throughout the day or week, in addition to during planned study sessions.
The main difference between our Flashcard App and the GoldList Method is that flashcards are more flexible in the way people can use In comparison to GoldList Method, our Flashcard App offers greater flexibility in how people can use it. GoldList methods only use long-term memory, so learning new vocabulary and expressions takes a long time.
When people are using flashcards they can either proceed in the same way and wait for two weeks before the new testing or they can learn by repetition, this is called a Space Repetition technique. That means that they revisit their flashcards again and again until they remember them. Another advantage is that people can create flashcards anytime, anywhere and then they can then revise them whenever they want.
Have fun !
