Mnemonic associations and patterns - The key to language learning

Mnemonic Association is a technique used to recall information by associating it to something we already know. To help our mind with something not so easy to remember we associate it to images, sounds, and other senses like smells, feelings and tastes; and even to places and features (which are images, too).

Language students may be encouraged to use their imagination to link new vocabulary to things they already know, words, images, sounds, etc. For example, let's say that for an ESL student who is Italian, he may associate the new English word “rat” to the one he already knows in his first language, “ratto”. Although the pronunciation is different, the words are visually similar. This association will help him to remember the English word for “ratto”.

Portuguese speakers who are learning English have trouble in memorizing the meaning of the words “push” and “pull” because “push” sounds like “puxe”, which is “pull” in Portuguese. So, it's easy to make a confusion and pull that door when the sign on it clearly says “push”! It can be embarrassing sometimes!

To remember which word is what, try to think the opposite and play with the sounds, “When you see 'push', do not 'puxe'!” If they do not “puxe”, they instinctively will pull, then! And as a miracle, the door will open! Most of the times, at least! ;-)

Mnemonic techniques add a sense of fun to the process of capturing and recalling the information. When the educator teaches and encourages the use of these techniques to their students, s/he usually promotes a more relaxed and flowing learning environment. And students certainly gain improved assimilation of the subject learned.

Identifying patterns in the (second) language almost follows the same principle of the mnemonic technique, but it can be more logic than imaginative. For example, if you tell a beginner English learner, whose first language is Spanish, that nouns which end in 'dad' in Spanish (facilidad, humanidad, capacidad, finalidad, sagacidad, etc...) can easily be remembered in English by changing the 'dad' ending to 'ity' (facility, humanity, capacity, finality, sagacity, etc), the student will have access to a great deal of words by identifying patterns like that, and he can gain confidence by using these words even without the teacher or a dictionary.

All in all, by setting a goal, working through it by memorization techniques, pattern associations, and becoming confident about themselves, the students can only be successful! If the student succeeds, the teacher succeeds. And so does the society.