Keyword method
The keyword method is a mnemonic for learning foreign vocabulary in two links. First, pick a word from your own language that sounds like part of the foreign word (the keyword). Second, picture that keyword interacting with the word's meaning. Spanish pato (duck) sounds like pot, so you picture a duck wearing a pot as a hat. Richard Atkinson and Michael Raugh described the method in 1975.
In more detail
Atkinson and Raugh tested it on Russian vocabulary in 1975 and found that learners who used keywords remembered more words than learners who studied the usual way. Later reviews by Pressley, Levin and colleagues backed that up for recalling word meanings.
It works because it combines two things memory likes: a sound link, which gives you the foreign word when you recall, and a picture, which stores the meaning (see dual coding). The image should show the keyword and the meaning interacting in one scene. Two pictures side by side usually work less well.
The limits are clear. It works best for concrete words, since abstract meanings are hard to picture, and it needs a decent sound match, which you do not always find. It also helps most with the first step of learning a word, recalling the meaning. Use, spelling and grammar still need ordinary practice and later review.
Example
You want to remember that Spanish pato means duck. The keyword is pot, since pato sounds like pot. Picture a duck wearing a cooking pot as a hat, with the pot clanging as it waddles. Later you see pato, think pot, and the duck appears. Another one: carta (letter) sounds like cart, so picture a letter riding in a shopping cart.
How to use it
- 1
Pick the foreign word and its meaning.
- 2
Find a keyword in your own language that sounds like the start or a stressed part of the word, such as pot for pato.
- 3
Build one vivid scene in which the keyword and the meaning interact. Make it moving and a little absurd.
- 4
To recall, hear the foreign word, think of the keyword and let the scene give you the meaning.
- 5
Review the card the next day and then at growing gaps. Drop the image once the word comes automatically.
How StudyPDF does this
Build the cards from your own word list. Upload your vocabulary notes or a lecture on the language and create flashcards with the foreign word on one side; the free-text field in the New material form is a good place to ask for a sound-alike hint on each card. Rating every card Again, Hard, Good or Easy tells you which words need another round, and mastery is tracked per concept as you go.
See also
Common questions
Does the keyword method work?
For recalling the meaning of new, concrete words, studies since the 1970s say yes, and better than repetition alone. It helps less with abstract words, and you still need reviews to keep the words.
What if no word in my language sounds like the foreign word?
Use a partial match, such as the first syllable, or a short phrase of two words. A rough sound match plus a strong image still beats nothing. If nothing comes, learn that word from context or with a plain flashcard.
Put it to work on your own course
Upload your lectures and ask Bo. Cited answers, plus flashcards, exams, and more built from your material.