First a confession, I really believe in learning vocabulary in context. Nothing can compete with reading in Latin for learning vocabulary and endings. However, as a supplement, flash cards are a very flexible tool.
The problem is this: students need to learn vocabulary and endings. Here's your opportunity: Dead time.
All the time you spend doing nothing: Waiting in line. Those minutes between class. When you're in bed but can't sleep—this works whether sleep or vocabulary learning is the goal. Riding in the car on a long trip—probably best that the driver not use flash cards, unless you tape 'em to the steering wheel like I do. No, I'm joking about that last part, but I'm serious about adding in time here and there with flash cards. This is part of the reason you should make them small. If they're big, they're hard to carry for use on a moment's notice.
You don't want to carry a huge pile of them, so bring a few with you everywhere. My wallet has its fair share of vocabulary cards in it. Remember to change them up on occasion, and you're set to go.
You can also make flash cards part of your learning routine by adding on a few minutes of work before or after class/homework time. The when and where isn't half so important as the repetition and frequent use.
Be sure to say hello to me if you see me working with my flash cards.
This work by Peter Sipes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
No comments:
Post a Comment