Memorizing Japanese Vocabulary Tips

*Learn vocab by subject

To be honest, this is my biggest tip. There’s a memory technique called memory place where you associate physical objects with words (𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘌𝘋 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦.)

But for me that’s just too random, but learning vocab in groups by subject/topic makes it WAY faster to memorize.

For ex, learning all the kitchen tools or all the classroom items at once (vs Genki’s 歌舞伎(かぶき) and then the next word is 履歴書 (りれきしょ).

Test: Try to look around your room and name all the things in it. If you can’t, look up everything you don’t know instantly. You can do this for any location.

Or in this Image what do you see?
A train. What is train in Japanese?
電車 (でんしゃ) 🚂
Okay then what is a train station?
駅 (えき).🚉
This natural curiosity is useful.

*Write it down (in a physical notebook or on paper)

With all this digital technology, it’s hard not to just solely use your computer or phone to memorize words. But we forget the power of actually writing down stuff like in school. For me, the act of listening to the word being said in context, and writing it down after really helps with my retention.

*Watch TV with the native Japanese subtitles and input words you don’t know into a flashcard app
(𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦)

When you watch a show and come across a word you don’t know, pause the show and put that word immediately into a flashcard app (or write it into your notebook). That way that word will be in a place for you to quickly look back on.

I use Quizlet mainly for digital flashcards bc I can use it on my phone. I also create flashcard sets by the show because it helps me remember where that word came from. You can use Anki too (𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦), and I’m not really a fan of SRS tbh. I like having more control over the cards I see.13w

The reality is if you want to memorize vocab, there’s no magic technique in my opinion. The most important thing is you just need a crazy level of input and repetition in different situations in order to retain words.

The more you listen to, the better. Situational learning (and immersion) is the fastest way.