How can I memorize vocabulary words?

A student recently came up with a novel way to memorize her vocabulary words. She told me that since she planned to re-wallpaper her kitchen soon, for now she was pinning her vocabulary note cards all over the walls. Whenever she cooked, she could review words for her class. Many students and I have discussed other techniques over the years. You could record the words and play them back to yourself during commutes. You could create a picture or collage on the backside of every note card to symbolize the word. You could also connect the word to a memory of a person or an event. I happen to be a kinesthetic learner, meaning I think well if I can connect movement to my task. When I was in college and struggling to memorize names and dates for history tests, I used to jump on the lounge furniture while yelling out great general so-and-so battled on such-and-such a date. Obviously, this didn't help my long-term memory, but I managed to ace the tests. On the other hand, you might not want to destroy your own furniture just to memorize stuff.

Write like you talk!

Too many people have been told to never write like they talk. Nonsense. Write like you talk! I'll give you two good reasons to do so. First, if you don't write down what you would say, then you will probably leave big gaps in your logic when composing sentences. When you tell a story verbally to a friend, you don't leave out any important parts. But all too often, when that same story goes on paper, chunks of information get left out because simple little sentences seem unimpressive. Trust that what you would say is what you should put on paper so the entire story is told. You can always cut rambling sentences later. Second, you may not write what you say because you think you have to sound fancy on paper. If you think your writing must sound grand and important, it will turn out bloated, confusing, and boring. Please don't be afraid to use little words, the same 5 cent words you use when you speak. Write a first draft exactly how you would say it aloud. Then, by all means, turn a few of those 5 cent words into 25 cent words. Turn "eat" into "devour" sometimes, and your writing is interesting. However, if every other word is made up of four to six syllables, your writing becomes heavy like your credit card agreement or the last will and testament of your great aunt Hazel.

Use your words and not punctuation for emphasis.

There are a few different crutches new writers use to add emphasis in ways that just look silly. These should be avoided if you can use your word choices or the position of your words to create the emphasis.

She told them she would go if she had to. (Using italics to force the reader to read your sentence correctly is rather lame.)

She told them that she would go, but only if she must. (The last word of a sentence has power. Use your word choice, must, and the positioning of it to better create the italics' effect.)

Her boyfriend is the "wrong" sort of guy. (It is sloppy to use quotation marks to add emphasis. The sentence would be fine without them.)

I am very excited to be here!! (Double exclamation marks are overkill; in fact, avoid a single exclamation mark unless you never use them anywhere else on the page. It is so much better to use good words to express yourself.)

I am delighted to be here. Being here is a thrill.

For finding a better word or learning new words...

I recommend using thesaurus.com online anytime you need to find a better word or you have to learn new vocabulary. What I like about it is that it gives slang as some of the synonyms (similar words) to the word you type in. So, if you have written a 2 cent word, perhaps slang, in your academic paper and you need more of a 25 cent word, you can type your word into the blank provided, hit enter, and it will give you a nifty list of words that might work. Some will be highfalutin' academic words and some will be words you wouldn't use in polite company. This is also a great way to learn new vocabulary. If someone or some book uses a big word you don't know, just type it into the blank, hit enter, and the list that comes up will definitely include some words you are already familiar with. I believe the best way to learn new vocabulary is to link it to what you already know. So if you don't know the word pretentious as in "That woman was pretentious," I bet you would understand the meaning if you substituted the word snotty or the lovely little phrase stuck up. Use synonyms carefully, however, because words have many shades of meaning and sometimes when you try a new one, you'll get close but no cigar.