with images. Make sure you know which part of town is masculine or which is feminine, and which is neuter. If you were thinking of London, for example, everywhere south of the Thames might be masculine,
and north of the river might be feminine.
Always use a separate town for each language, but this doesn't mean that two or three languages can't be learnt simultaneously. You are limited only by the number of towns you are familiar with. If it happens to be in the relevant country (Madrid, say, for Spanish, Paris for French, or Berlin for German), so much the better, but it's not too important.
Certain areas will build up with images more than others. You might find that there is a lot of vocabulary linked with a restaurant, for example. This isn't a problem; one image in the dining room might remind you of another. But make sure you are familiar with the many physical details of a popular location (the size, the layout, what is in the corner, etc), and don't let it get too congested.
Your town can expand if you need to include areas that don't exist on the real map. No planning permission is required. If there isn't a sports complex for all your action verbs, why not build one, or transfer one you know from somewhere else? And if your town doesn't have a park nearby, it should do!
MAKING A SCENE
Creating the overall scene that links the key image (suggested by the foreign word) with its location (suggested by the English meaning) is an essential part of the process. Generally speaking, the first association that comes to mind is the best one. Exactly the same principles apply as before: the more exaggerated and unusual the scene is, the more likely you are to remember it. Here are some examples of how I would remember German words:
Der Mantel (an overcoat):
Mantel makes me think of MANTELpiece, which is my key image. It's another masculine word, so I might as well stay in the restaurant (location). It is important to let your images spread organically through your town. Some
might be next to each other, others might be across the high street, or round the corner. I imagine a huge, heavy overcoat hanging from the mantelpiece.
Using imagery in this way works well if you are translating from English into German, or German into English. If I am searching for the German word for 'an overcoat', I immediately have an image of a huge, steaming one above a fire. It's resting on the MANTELpiece, which I know is in a restaurant in the masculine part of town, hence Der Mantel.
Similarly, if I am confronted with 'Der Mantel', I immediately think of a MANTELpiece (because my initial association was obvious) and an image of the steaming coat hanging off it.
Die Tür (a door):
My key image is of a sign saying 'detour' with a big arrow pointing left. It's a feminine word, so I go to somewhere in the feminine district of town where there is a door. The museum has a grand old oak entrance (location). I imagine that a big sign has been stuck on the outside of the door announcing a 'detour'.
People are filing past, tut-tutting, as they make their way round to a side entrance.
I have to admit that this is quite a crafty one, because 'detour' sounds exactly like Die Tür. Even if you can't include the definite article in your image (and on most occasions you won't be able to), allocating words to specific districts makes remembering the gender very easy.
Schlafen (to sleep):
It's not so easy to form an association with this word. My key image is of two city-types standing over a man who has fallen asleep. One of them is laughing loudly, the other is saying, 'sssshhshhhh, you'll wake him'. 'Sssshhh' and
'laughing' approximately equate to Schlafen.
As Schlafen is a verb, I go over to the sports complex (location). The man has fallen asleep in a squash court.
With a little bit of imagination, you will always be able to find some link. It doesn't matter how far fetched it is, providing that you will make the same connection in the
and north of the river might be feminine.
Always use a separate town for each language, but this doesn't mean that two or three languages can't be learnt simultaneously. You are limited only by the number of towns you are familiar with. If it happens to be in the relevant country (Madrid, say, for Spanish, Paris for French, or Berlin for German), so much the better, but it's not too important.
Certain areas will build up with images more than others. You might find that there is a lot of vocabulary linked with a restaurant, for example. This isn't a problem; one image in the dining room might remind you of another. But make sure you are familiar with the many physical details of a popular location (the size, the layout, what is in the corner, etc), and don't let it get too congested.
Your town can expand if you need to include areas that don't exist on the real map. No planning permission is required. If there isn't a sports complex for all your action verbs, why not build one, or transfer one you know from somewhere else? And if your town doesn't have a park nearby, it should do!
MAKING A SCENE
Creating the overall scene that links the key image (suggested by the foreign word) with its location (suggested by the English meaning) is an essential part of the process. Generally speaking, the first association that comes to mind is the best one. Exactly the same principles apply as before: the more exaggerated and unusual the scene is, the more likely you are to remember it. Here are some examples of how I would remember German words:
Der Mantel (an overcoat):
Mantel makes me think of MANTELpiece, which is my key image. It's another masculine word, so I might as well stay in the restaurant (location). It is important to let your images spread organically through your town. Some
might be next to each other, others might be across the high street, or round the corner. I imagine a huge, heavy overcoat hanging from the mantelpiece.
Using imagery in this way works well if you are translating from English into German, or German into English. If I am searching for the German word for 'an overcoat', I immediately have an image of a huge, steaming one above a fire. It's resting on the MANTELpiece, which I know is in a restaurant in the masculine part of town, hence Der Mantel.
Similarly, if I am confronted with 'Der Mantel', I immediately think of a MANTELpiece (because my initial association was obvious) and an image of the steaming coat hanging off it.
Die Tür (a door):
My key image is of a sign saying 'detour' with a big arrow pointing left. It's a feminine word, so I go to somewhere in the feminine district of town where there is a door. The museum has a grand old oak entrance (location). I imagine that a big sign has been stuck on the outside of the door announcing a 'detour'.
People are filing past, tut-tutting, as they make their way round to a side entrance.
I have to admit that this is quite a crafty one, because 'detour' sounds exactly like Die Tür. Even if you can't include the definite article in your image (and on most occasions you won't be able to), allocating words to specific districts makes remembering the gender very easy.
Schlafen (to sleep):
It's not so easy to form an association with this word. My key image is of two city-types standing over a man who has fallen asleep. One of them is laughing loudly, the other is saying, 'sssshhshhhh, you'll wake him'. 'Sssshhh' and
'laughing' approximately equate to Schlafen.
As Schlafen is a verb, I go over to the sports complex (location). The man has fallen asleep in a squash court.
With a little bit of imagination, you will always be able to find some link. It doesn't matter how far fetched it is, providing that you will make the same connection in the
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