There's a dog barking. Hi everyone. In this video we're going to
look at a very simple method that you can use to improve
your vocabulary in a foreign language. Most people who
watch my channel are of course trying to improve their English, but
you can use this method for any language you're learning.
This is called the Gold List Method. This isn't a method that I developed myself.
It was created by a man named David James, who's quite
a well-known polyglot. The aim of this method is to remember
vocabulary in the long term. I've watched several videos online with people explaining how they
use this method and there is a bit of variation, so I'm just
going to tell you how I use it. I started using it for Portuguese a couple of years ago and
even though I haven't been very consistent, I really think
it has helped me to retain vocabulary, and I really wish that I'd known about
this method several years ago when I was learning other languages.
Okay, the first thing you need to do is get a notebook.
It should be roughly this size. You'll see in a moment why it needs to be
relatively big. Next you need to write a list of 25 words
or phrases in your target language, in other words the
language that you're trying to learn. For me, that's Portuguese.
On the other side you write the translation in your native language.
Some people do 20 words or phrases. I do 25. It's your choice.
Now this list here is called a head list.
You should also number them. It doesn't really matter
how you do it. I started with 1, went down to 25. I started the next
page at 50 (26!), the next page is 75 (51!), etc. It's just nice because
you get an idea of how many words you're learning. Like when
you get to 300, you can say, "Oh wow, I've learned 300 words. And if you do it
consistently it could quickly grow to several thousand. It is also
important that you put the date at the top. Okay, so that's the first step.
Next you wait two weeks. You don't revise this, you don't
put the words into Anki, nothing. Is it "Anki" or "Anki"?
Haven't figured that out. Anyway, you don't look at this list.
What you can do is make new head lists with other words and phrases. So you skip
one page and then you start a new list. The next page needs to be blank.
There aren't really any rules regarding how many lists you make
per day, but honestly I wouldn't do more than one or two.
At the end of the two weeks, you come back to
the list. It doesn't have to be exactly two weeks, but
they say that you should wait more than two weeks, but less than
two months. In other words you should wait two to eight weeks
more or less. I sometimes waited more than two months because
honestly learning Portuguese isn't one of my main priorities at the
moment - I'm just doing it for fun - but as I said, even though I haven't been
very consistent, I still feel that this has helped me. If i had been
consistent, my Portuguese would probably be better.
When you come back to the list, you quiz yourself. There are a few different ways to do this - it depends on what you want to
accomplish. For example, you can cover the target language, so
I could cover the Portuguese and see if I remember what it is in English, or I could cover the English to see if I remember the Portuguese. Normally I cover the
Portuguese because I want to see what I can actively remember.
Some people don't cover anything. If i remember the meaning, I put a tick,
and if i don't, I put a dot. Believe me, most of the time you will
remember some of these words even without revising. I then take the
words that I didn't remember and I create a new list. This is on
the opposite page. So here's the head list and here's the second list. This process is called the first distillation.
I also think it's nice if you can use different
colour pens. And make sure that you put the date
at the top. Some people say that this second list should be a certain
number of words. I don't follow that. For me it's different every time, but it should be between 50 and 80% of the first list. You then wait another
two to eight weeks, and you do the same thing. You write the date, you quiz yourself and then you write the words that you
don't remember down here. This is called the second distillation.
So this is the third list. You then repeat the process
and you get a fourth list. By that stage you'll be running
out of room, so you'll need to get a second book. In the second book
you're going to create new head lists, but they're
going to be made up of the words in the fourth list. So,
for example, I could take these words and then these words and these
words so that it adds up to 25. Okay, so this is the second book.
This list here is just made up of words and phrases from the
fourth lists in the first book. I then just keep
repeating the process. It's really up to you when you stop.
You might get to the fourth list in the second book and say,
"Hey, if I haven't remembered it by now, it's cool. I'm going to stop there."
Or you might take these words, put them
into another book and just continue the process.
If you're wondering why you should wait at least two weeks each time,
it's because if you do it sooner, you won't know if something is stored in your long-term memory.
And if you wait longer than two months, well, there's a good chance
that you'll forget everything. But remember, while you're waiting,
you've got things to do. You could be writing another head list,
or doing the first distillation or the second distillation or the third distillation on another page. How you choose to
do it is your choice. I know some people prefer to have a lot of structure
and will do it every day, but if you're more like me, you might just pick up the books when you
have time or when you feel like it and see where you've stopped last. Just a
couple more points before we finish. You might be wondering,
"But where do I get all these words?" Do I just randomly choose
words from a dictionary? Well, no. I actually have another notebook
where I first write words and phrases that I come across.
I might find them on YouTube, on Instagram or on websites
for learning Portuguese. It really doesn't matter -
you might hear a word in a series - but they should be words or phrases that you've heard or seen used in context.
Or they might be specific words that you want to learn. For example,
you might be in your room and then think, "Oh, how do
you say light in that language?" And then you can obviously
look it up and write it down. You also don't need to
use a notebook. I like paper, but you might have a list on your phone that you then transfer to your Gold List books. Another important point: Try to focus on this while you're doing it
and don't rush through it. I admittedly sometimes listen
to music at the same time, because after all it's quite a passive activity, but I don't watch series or try to do
things that require concentration. If you're going through it
very quickly, your brain just probably won't absorb much information. That's it, guys. I know that
this might seem really simple, but honestly it's been working for me and I really wish that I had discovered
this method sooner. I know some people might say,
"Well, why don't you just use apps like Anki or Memrise?" Those are based
on similar principles, mainly spaced repetition, but I
personally have never liked flashcards and I also
don't like spending too much time on screens. In addition to that,
I also think I learn better if I'm physically
writing something with a pen. But I encourage you to try different
things. At the end of the day, you need to find something
that works for you. If you have tried the Gold List Method,
please let me know in the comments. Don't forget to hit the thumbs up if you
like the video and I'll see you next time. I don't know about the light... So you need to write...
