Hello. Thank you for watching my video on how to remember English vocabulary.
Now, it’s practice time! Your job is to memorize the English words listed on this page.
Before you get started, here’s the checklist of what can be used as substitute words (keep this in mind as you do the exercise):
- English words
- Words in your native language
- Names of people (your friends, your family members, famous people, movie characters, etc)
- Names of places, animals, objects, etc
Deeper levels of processing produce better memory. So take as much time as you need to make sure that the association is strange, unrealistic, and elaborate. It might take a lot of time at first, but you’ll be able to do it faster with practice.
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Let’s memorize some vocabulary!
Warning: don’t click Show hints or Show association too soon because the point of this exercise is to improve your ability to come up with substitute words and associations. Click them only if you’re desperate.
cower - Crouch down in fear; get down on one's knees because one is afraid
Show hints
cow
Show association
A big cow in a business suit walks (on two legs) into a bank to withdraw some money. Then a group of armed robbers rush into the bank and start shooting people. The cow gets down on it’s knees and start crying. It cowers in fear.
cede - Give up (power or territory)
Show hints
seed
Show association
A powerful wizard is trapped inside a seed. He’s trying to get out using all kinds of magic but nothing he does seems to work. Finally, he gives up and wait to die. The wizard cedes his power.
torpid - Mentally or physically inactive; lacking energy and enthusiasm
Show hints
torpedo, Thor
Show association
You are on a battleship fighting with a giant monster. You fire a torpedo to kill it. Unfortunately, the torpedo was assembled 50 years ago. It looks old and tired. It breathes heavily as it moves slowly to the target. The torpedo is very torpid. This is too much for the poor torpedo. It dies before reaching the target.
incendiary - (Of a device or attack) designed to cause fires
Show hints
insane, diary
Show association
Imagine an insane diary with a lot of saliva flowing outside the mouth. Whoever touches the diary will get burned because the diary was designed to cause fires.
rife - Common; widespread
Show hints
rifle (gun), life, rice
Show association
You move to a very strange town where rifles are extremely common. You see them everywhere. People seem to use rifles for everything. They use rifles when eating as opposed to using forks and spoons. They use rifles to control the cursor on a computer screen. They even brush their teeth with rifles! Rifles are rife.
epistle - A letter
Show hints
a pistol(gun)
Show association
One day you met Barack Obama. He gave you a pistol for protection purposes. One day you got robbed by a robber. You got angry, took out the pistol and shot that mother f**ker. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a bullet that come out but a huge white letter! The letter had very sharp edges so it cut the poor robber into two pieces. You were shocked by the fact that a pistol and fire a letter.
benign - Not harmful
Show hints
bee + number nine, bin + number nine
Show association
A bee is sitting on a gigantic number nine. The nine starts to cry. It’s afraid of getting stung by the bee. The bee notices the nice crying and says, “Don’t worry nine. I won’t sting you because I’ve already stung a poor Teddy bear who tried to eat my beehive. I no longer have any sting. I am now benign“.
largesse - Generosity in bestowing money or gifts upon others; the act of giving away money
Show hints
large + jet, largest
Show association
There is a large jet. He is no ordinary jet. He’s the largest jet in the world and also the richest. His net worth is more than that of Bill Gates and Mark Suckerberg combined. Because of this, the jet is very generous. He gives away money to anybody he meets. He’s also donated as much as 127.25 billion dollars to charity. Everybody is grateful for the largesse of this large jet.
bulwark - A defensive wall ('wark' is pronounced work.)
Show hints
bull + work, bow + work
Show association
100 years from now, humans will have discovered a way to increase bulls’s intelligence to the point where they can work for us. Bulls are put in areas enclosed with defensive walls so they can’t get away. Bulls have to work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. They really hate it. Humans try to make them happy by giving them bonuses at the end of each year along with compensations such as healthcare and insurance. Despite the effort, bulls still hate working. Some bulls have tried to escape but failed because of the bulwarks surrounding the working space.
timorous - Showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or a lack of confidence
Show hints
tumor + rest, someone named Tim + a word in your native language (if any)
Show association
You have a HUGE tumor on your neck. The tumor’s name is Tim (If you know someone named Tim, you can picture his head protruding from your neck.) It’s strange to see a tumor on someone’s neck so people always look at it wherever you go. The tumor doesn’t like this. He’s really shy and can get nervous very easily when someone looks at him. So he always pretending to be resting (sleeping) so that he doesn’t have to make eye-contact with people.
nettle - Irritate or annoy someone (This word is pronounced nay-dle)
Show hints
net + dough
Show association
You are trying to catch a dough with a net. The dough tries to get away but you keep chasing him. You keep making evil laughs when chasing the dough. So finally he becomes annoyed and punches you in the face! (If you couldn’t have possibly come up with the word dough because you have never seen that word, try coming up with a different word. Maybe a word in your native language or the name of someone.)
belligerent - Hostile and aggressive
Show hints
belly + someone named Gerard, belly + gel + rent
Show association
You run into Mr. Gerard Butler, your favorite actor from the movie 300. He’s shirtless so you can see his belly. You look at his belly and it becomes annoyed that you’re looking at it. So it says to you, “What to f**k are you looking at? The belly of Gerard is very hostile
Let’s see if you can remember the vocabulary
Let’s test your memory. But wait! You should wait for a while to make sure that all the vocabulary is no longer in your short-term memory (We can also use the terms working memory.) So, go do something else for a while.
Alright. Let’s see how good you are at memorizing words. Click on a word to see its meaning.
cower
Crouch down in fear; get down on one’s knees because one is afraid
cede
Give up (power or territory)
torpid
Mentally or physically inactive; lacking energy and enthusiasm
incendiary
(Of a device or attack) designed to cause fires
rife
Common; widespread
epistle
A letter
benign
Not harmful
largesse
Generosity in bestowing money or gifts upon others; the act of giving away money
bulwark
A defensive wall
timorous
Showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or a lack of confidence
nettle
Irritate or annoy (someone)
belligerent
Hostile and aggressive
How did you do on the test? Don’t worry if you missed some of the words. Go back and strengthen the associations one more time. Make the mental images even more strange, unrealistic, and elaborate. Chances are, you will remember all the words the second time.
