Topic 5: Memorising Foreign Words - Tutorial 6
For your first exercise in applying the Substitute Word system to remembering foreign vocabulary, you are going to memorise the following Spanish words and their English translations :
Spanish Pronounciation English ------- -------------- ------- marido (mah-ree-dhoa) husband corbata (kor-bah-tah) tie barca (bahr-kah) boat lago (lah-goa) lake helado (ay-lah-dhoa) ice cream pluma (ploo-mah) pen carpeta (kahr-pay-tah) file bata (bah-tah) dressing gown resaca (ray-ssah-kah) hangover maleta (mah-lay-tah) suitcase
Let's begin with marido, pronounced mah-ree-dhoa, which means husband. Picture a husband - a bridegroom - marrying a door. See the bridegroom perhaps standing at the aisle next to a front door, which is dressed in a wedding gown and veil.
Corbata, pronounced kor-bah-tah, is Spanish for tie. A good Substitute Word might be Core Batter - an apple core batting in a cricket match. Picture that apple core taking guard at the wicket on a cricket field - it is wearing a huge, horribly spotted tie.
As with all the Memory Master systems, if you prefer to use your own silly pictures rather than the ones suggested here, then so much the better. Remember that suggesting the pictures to you does take away some of your Initial Awareness.
The next word is barca, pronounced bahr-kah, which means boat. Picture a boat which is barking - see the hull of the boat opening and shutting, like a dog's mouth, as it cruises down a river.
The Spanish word for lake is lago, pronounced lah-goa. See yourself swimming in a lake of lager. As you swim, you swallow some of the lake (lager), and begin hiccoughing comically. The fifth word to memorise is helado, which means ice cream. It is pronounced ay-lah-dhoa. For helado you could use the Substitute Phrase hail-a-door, which you then associate to ice cream. Perhaps you are standing at a taxi rank eating a monstrous ice cream, when some doors drive past instead of taxis. You hail a door instead of hailing a taxi.
Next comes pluma (ploo-mah), the Spanish for pen. Picture yourself writing with a huge plume (a feather) instead of a pen. To make the image humorous, you could perhaps see the plume tickling your nose and making you sneeze as you try to write.
Carpeta (kahr-pay-tah) is next, which means file. This is an easy one - see yourself walking on a carpet of files.
The Spanish word for dressing gown is bata (bah-tah). See yourself wearing a dressing gown - the pockets are full of batter, which overflows disgustingly onto the carpet as you put your hand into the pockets.
Next comes the Spanish for hangover - resaca (ray-ssah-cah). Picture yourself with a terrible, blinding hangover, after consuming too much sangria. To make matters worse, you are lying under a car, which is almost flattening you. In order to escape, you have to raise-a-car.
The final Spanish word to memorise is maleta, pronounced mah-lay-tah. A possible Substitute Phrase here would be ma-lay-tar - an elderly woman - ma - who is laying tar. You then need to associate that phrase to suitcase. You could perhaps picture ma laying the tar by pouring it out of your suitcase.
In all the above examples, the Substitute Words and Phrases suggested have been based on the pronounciations of the Spanish words rather than the actual spelling. Remember that if you were seriously trying to learn a specific foreign language you would be aware of the basic sounds and letters of that language.
If you read through the preceding text without really concentrating on seeing the suggested pictures, or pictures you thought of yourself, then go back and do it right now. Once you have really tried to visualise the ludicrous pictures, you will know all ten Spanish words and their English equivalents.