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Teaching vocabulary to learners of English as a second language is obviously a big part of an English class. In order to speak any given language, a person must have a knowledge of many words in order to convey thoughts and ideas. This essay will explore teaching vocabulary and give insights into effective methods for accomplishing this task. In general, a simple approach is probably best for students when learning a new language, and this especially applies to the topic of learning vocabulary as well. What words should be taught at the beginning of a course? I would think that words that are used in simple expressions are probably the best to learn at the start of the language learning journey. Pronouns are probably a good place to begin as any. Learning how to say "I", "you" "we" and so forth is a cornerstone of speaking. Next, learning how to say a few key verbs is probably a good way to proceed. Verbs, or action words, are important for people to know in order to be able to communicate basic ideas and needs. Some verbs that will get somebody around in a foreign country are a good place to start. Words like "go", "see", "use", "take", "put", "eat", "walk", "pay", "speak", "drink", are all essential in order to begin with a solid foundation and then move on from there. A teacher can use hand gestures or something like flashcards in order to elicit responses from students in order to drill the memory component of learning these verbs and pronouns. For example, a teacher could simulate eating by putting an imaginary fork or spoon up to their mouth and this could be the clue students can use to search for the word in their minds. Another example is that a teacher could point to himself to elicit the pronoun "I". Nouns are thought of as "people, places and things". This part of speech in the English language covers tens of thousands of words, so it may be beneficial to teach some simple words that would be crucial to know if a person were all of the sudden stranded in an English speaking country. Some key words may be "man", "woman", "child", "food", "toilet", "hotel", "bed", "bill", "taxi", "car", "bus", "train" and "dinner". Teaching how to pronounce the words the students have memorized is also important. It does no good for someone to know a bunch of words only to go to try to use them and yet no one can understand because the words come out sounding wrong. A good way to accomplish this may be using a three by three drill by saying the word three times and having the students repeat it back each time. This, done in a choral manner, does not make any one student nervous because all of the students are speaking at once and individual errors are drowned out. Also, providing the students with a tape recording of the words to take home may be a good idea so the students can hear proper pronunciation at home. Giving students a list of words in alphabetical order may be a good way for them to look up the translations of them in the language dictionary quickly and thus be able to think about these words themselves, rather than simply spewing out the word and haveing the students sit there passively and possibly forgetting them quickly. A drill using flashcards is very helpful because it uses imagery to evoke the memory of the word. At home, students can be encouraged to look up the words the teacher gives them in their own language in order to find images that are from their own culture that can aid a student's memory. In conclusion, a simple approach to teaching and learning new vocabulary is a good strategy when conducting English classes. Small chunks of words to be learned in each session is probably better than simply giving out a huge list of words that will appear intimidating to a new English learner. Keeping the lesson fun using games and flashcards is a good way not to scare students away. Also, teaching words that are simple and critical for basic communication is most likely better than getting extremely technical in terms of grammatical concepts. Finally, teaching the students how to pronounce the words that you give them is extremely important because these words will do them no good if people have no idea what is being said due to incorrect sounding language.
