Unless you’ve got an eidetic memory, the only things that will really make them stick long-term are consistent reinforcement either through practical application (e.g., immersion) or spaced repetition (SRS).
I personally take the time to create visual and often highly inappropriate mnemonics for each new vocabulary word I learn, connecting the foreign language’s sound to an English homophone.
The upfront cost is significantly higher, but it pays off since my long-term retention rate significantly improves though you won't see me publishing a shared Anki deck for the public any time soon.
Quick SFW Example: The Russian word for "bed" is "кровать" which sounds a bit like cravat which is a kind of scarf.
Then a sample story might be, "A distinguished and dapper gentleman with a luxuriously thick fur cravat lays down in his bed. He proceeds to unroll the cravat to fashion a comforter blanket to keep him warm before going to sleep."
This makes a lot of sense.
I really like the point about the upfront cognitive cost
that matches my own experience too.
What you’re describing feels very close to why “personal” content sticks better: the story, the emotion, and the effort are all doing the heavy lifting, not the tool itself.
Yeah the personal part makes a huge difference. I experimented with automating LLM generated mnemonics about a year ago but when I shopped it around with a couple of friends for internal testing, we found that it wasn't nearly as effective as when they came up with the stories themselves.
Unless you’ve got an eidetic memory, the only things that will really make them stick long-term are consistent reinforcement either through practical application (e.g., immersion) or spaced repetition (SRS).
I personally take the time to create visual and often highly inappropriate mnemonics for each new vocabulary word I learn, connecting the foreign language’s sound to an English homophone.
The upfront cost is significantly higher, but it pays off since my long-term retention rate significantly improves though you won't see me publishing a shared Anki deck for the public any time soon.
Quick SFW Example: The Russian word for "bed" is "кровать" which sounds a bit like cravat which is a kind of scarf.
Then a sample story might be, "A distinguished and dapper gentleman with a luxuriously thick fur cravat lays down in his bed. He proceeds to unroll the cravat to fashion a comforter blanket to keep him warm before going to sleep."
This makes a lot of sense. I really like the point about the upfront cognitive cost that matches my own experience too.
What you’re describing feels very close to why “personal” content sticks better: the story, the emotion, and the effort are all doing the heavy lifting, not the tool itself.
Yeah the personal part makes a huge difference. I experimented with automating LLM generated mnemonics about a year ago but when I shopped it around with a couple of friends for internal testing, we found that it wasn't nearly as effective as when they came up with the stories themselves.