[tlhIngan Hol] Vocabulary learning method

[mayqel qunenoS]

The human mind has an amazing capacity of understanding and processing
new information, and it is a fact too that we all learn in different
ways. However, when the mind encounters new information (in our case
vocabulary), the following four points could be said in order to
describe what will happen :

1. first it will remember the words which it considers important
2. then it will remember the words which for some reason it will find strange
3. then the words which are constantly revised
4. when it encounters a new word and forgets it, some time has to pass
before a second revision of that word takes place, if that revision is
to be successful.  however that time must not be too long.

If someone wants to learn klingon, (or any language real or
constructed), he has to learn the vocabulary. Learning the grammar,
and relying on a dictionary just won't cut it (as americans would
say..).

But here comes the question ; how does one proceed in order to learn
the vocabulary ?

There are many ways..

Some people memorize one word at a day, others memorize 10 or 20, some
try to learn it as they speak or write klingon.

But the problem is that all these methods, take too long. Depending on
what someone qualifies as a separate word deemed worthy of a separate
entry in a dictionary, klingon possesses 2000-3000 (give or take a
few) words. If you proceed, by learning one word at a day you need
2000 days just to go through the vocabulary once, let alone revision..
If you learn 20 words a day, then again you need 100 - 150 days,
revision excluded. And won't you miss a day ?

So, in order to get the job done, this is what you need to do :

Open your dictionary and each time read just a single letter. For
example start with the letter "A". Start reading without trying to
memorize. You're reading : ".. this word means that, the next word
means this, the word after is whatever..".

The important thing is not to stress yourself, or fall into the trap
of trying to "actively memorize". You just breeze through the word
list of a specific letter (in our example the letter A), and while
reading you must be trying to stay relaxed. Don't force yourself to
memorize, and don't pause to ask in your mind "did I learn that
previous entry ?".

Now, when you finish letter A you will see :

1. the whole process was easy
2. it took only 15-20 minutes
3. your mind learned some words which for you are important
4. your mind learned additional words which you found strange for
whatever reason.
5. words you were wondering about from the previous revision, now became clearer
6. and although you didn't realize that you actually learned something
new, if you try and write, you'll notice that suddenly words crop up
in your mind out of nowhere.

The beauty of this method is the following :

1. Even for a letter which has many entries, it doesn't take more than
15-20 minutes
2. It is easy ; you don't even work up a headache
3. It can be repeated twice a day

.. and most importantly :

4. It goes through the entire vocabulary in a matter of 10 days. Why
10 days ? Because some letters have very few entries, thus being able
to read 2, or more of them at a time. (each "time" considered as a
period of 15-20 minutes).

With this method, in a month someone is able to process the entire
vocabulary 2-3 times, which is way faster than any other learning
method (of the ones we talked about earlier).

So, finally, someone will ask : How long would it take for someone to learn ?

Because we're all different, there's no way of accurately predicting ;
but from personal experience, I will say that after 2-3 months you'll
be able to write in klingon, without needing to be constantly reaching
for the dictionary.

Is there a catch (as americans say..) to all this ?

Yes there is.. It is boring as hell, and the more words you learn, the
more difficult it becomes to overcome the boredom of sitting down and
going through them again. Also, for this method to work, you need to
be writing/using klingon daily, for your mind to *feel*, that the
words it processes are indeed important.

But as with everything in life, it all comes down to a simple question :

How bad do you want it ?

mop Hurgh