The most effective way to memorize English vocabulary is to link each word to a picture and its sound, say it aloud, and test yourself again after growing gaps — for example after 1, 3 and 7 days. Learning words in small themed groups and checking yourself without looking beats copying long lists. For children, 5 to 10 new words a day with regular review is a realistic, sustainable pace.
Why words disappear (and how to keep them)
In the 1880s the psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus showed that we forget new information quickly at first, and then more slowly. This pattern is known as the forgetting curve. You learn butterfly on Monday, and by Thursday it is somewhere on the tip of your tongue.
The good news: every time you successfully recall a word, it fades more slowly afterwards. All of the methods below are ways of making that recall easier, more frequent or better timed.
Method 1: Learn with pictures (dual coding)
Dual coding is the idea that information stored in two forms — words and images — is easier to remember than information stored in one. When a child sees a picture of an apple and hears apple at the same time, there are two routes back to the memory.
Pictures have another advantage for young learners: they skip the translation step. Instead of apple = elma, the child connects apple directly with the fruit itself.
- Use real objects whenever possible: spoon, chair, window.
- For abstract words, find an image that shows a situation: happy as a smiling face, under as a cat under a table.
- Ask the child to draw a quick picture for a new word; making the image strengthens the memory even more.
Method 2: Spaced repetition
Spaced repetition means reviewing a word several times, with the gaps getting longer each time. It is one of the most reliable findings in learning research, and it works especially well for vocabulary.
| Review | When | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| First meeting | Day 0 | See the picture, hear the word, say it aloud |
| Review 1 | Day 1 | Look at the picture and say the word before checking |
| Review 2 | Day 3 | Mixed quiz with other words from the same theme |
| Review 3 | Day 7 | Use the word in a short phrase or sentence |
| Review 4 | Day 14 | Quick check; move well-known words to a “learned” pile |
The exact days are not a rule. What matters is that the gaps grow, and that words you get wrong come back sooner.
Method 3: Say every word out loud
Reading a word silently uses your eyes. Saying it uses your eyes, mouth and ears together — another form of richer memory. There is a practical reason too: if you only ever read knife, you may not recognise it when someone says it.
Make saying aloud a non-negotiable part of vocabulary study:
- Hear a clear model first, then repeat it two or three times.
- Clap the strong syllable in longer words: TIger, baNAna.
- Put the word in a tiny phrase: a big tiger, two bananas.
Method 4: Group words by theme
Lists of random words are hard to remember. Words that belong together support each other. This is why school curricula are organised into units such as Family, Food and Drinks, My House or Weather.
Useful ways to group words:
- By topic: colours, pets, jobs, clothes.
- By place: things in the kitchen, things in the classroom.
- By opposites: big / small, hot / cold, open / close.
- By sound: cat, hat, bat — useful for pronunciation too.
Studying one theme at a time also gives children a clear sense of progress: “I finished the Animals unit.”
Method 5: Test yourself (retrieval practice)
Retrieval practice means pulling information out of memory instead of putting it in again. Each successful recall makes the word easier to recall next time. It feels harder than re-reading — and that effort is exactly what makes it work.
Simple self-tests that suit vocabulary:
- Picture to word: look at the image, say the English word, then check.
- Listen and choose: hear a word and pick the right picture or spelling.
- Two directions: English to Turkish, then Turkish to English. Knowing dog → köpek does not guarantee you can produce köpek → dog.
- Mini quiz at the end of a theme: a few multiple-choice questions to see what has stuck.
A useful rule: do not look at the answer before you have tried. Even a wrong guess, followed by the correct answer, helps learning more than simply reading the answer.
Method 6: Use the words in real life
A word becomes truly yours when you use it. Label objects around the house, describe the weather in English at breakfast, or play “I spy” with colours on the way to school. These small moments are a natural form of spaced review.
How many words per day for kids?
There is no single correct number, but the following ranges are a sensible starting point for children learning English as a foreign language:
| Age / level | New words per day | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Early primary (around grades 1–2) | 3–5 | Mostly concrete nouns with pictures; lots of repetition |
| Primary (around grades 3–4) | 5–8 | Add simple verbs and adjectives; review previous days |
| Middle school (around grades 5–6) | 8–12 | Theme-based sets; start using words in sentences |
More important than the number of new words is how many old words get reviewed. A child who learns five words a day and reviews them well will know far more after a month than a child who “learns” twenty and never sees them again.
Common mistakes
- Copying a word ten times. Writing is fine, but repetition without recall is weak practice.
- Learning only one direction. Practise both English to Turkish and Turkish to English.
- Skipping pronunciation. A word you cannot say or hear is only half learned.
- Studying once, never reviewing. Without spaced review, most new words fade within days.
Where Let’s Speak fits in
For Turkish-speaking children, the Let’s Speak / İngilizce Konuş app brings several of these methods together in one place. Every word has a picture, its Turkish meaning and an audio pronunciation, and words are grouped into the units and themes of the Turkish school curriculum for grades 2 to 6 — both the previous curriculum and the Türkiye Century Education Model (Türkiye Yüzyılı Maarif Modeli), the new curriculum being phased in from the 2024–2025 school year.
Children can practise both directions in Learn Words (Kelime Öğren), say words aloud in Learn by Speaking (Konuşarak Öğren), and check a whole theme with Multiple Choice (Çoktan Seçmeli). After a wrong choice the app deliberately does not reveal the answer, so the child comes back and tries again — a small nudge towards real recall instead of memorising answers. The interface is in Turkish, so it is designed for learners whose first language is Turkish.
Whichever tools you use, the recipe is the same: picture, sound, say it aloud, test yourself — and come back a few days later.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to memorize English vocabulary?
Combine a picture with the sound of the word, say it aloud, and test yourself again after growing gaps of time. Learning words in themed groups and reviewing them a few days later works much better than copying long lists.
How many English words should a child learn per day?
For primary school children, about 5 to 10 new words a day is a realistic target, as long as earlier words are also reviewed. Younger children may do better with 3 to 5 words and plenty of repetition.
Why do I forget English words so quickly?
Forgetting is normal: memories fade fastest in the first days after learning. Reviewing a word just as it starts to fade, and recalling it rather than re-reading it, slows that forgetting down.
Is writing words many times a good way to memorize them?
Copying a word again and again feels productive but is mostly passive. Saying the word aloud, linking it to a picture and testing yourself without looking are far more effective uses of the same time.