Kwik Brain Episode 34: Learn Vocabulary Faster (Memorize Words In Seconds) with Jim Kwik

Welcome to Quick Brain, bite-sized brain hacks for busy people who want to learn faster and achieve more. I'm your coach, Jim Kwik. Free your mind. Let's imagine if we could access 100% of our brain's capacity. I wasn't high, wasn't wired, just clear. I knew what I needed to do and how to do it. I know kung fu. Show me.

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So how do you How do you learn vocabulary faster? How do you memorize words more quickly? I just got this question on Instagram Live a few minutes ago. We got lots of great feedback for my answer, so I wanted to record this quick episode for you right away, literally right from my phone. I do these live Q&As regularly, some of you may know, so make sure you follow me on Instagram and Facebook @JimKwik and turn on your post notifications so you know exactly when I go live. Now, do you want to comprehend more of what you read? Would you like to retain more technical terms for your job? Do you occasionally misuse or misunderstand certain words? Do you ever find yourself at a loss to express exactly what you mean? Are you tired of having people talk above you? Whether you're trying to strengthen or broaden your vocabulary for school, for your career, for your personal growth, this episode will help you do it faster. So for many people, memorizing words is often a daunting task. It's a boring task, right? Because until now, how have you learned monotonous vocabulary? Do you write it out? Do you use flashcards? Do you just repeat and read it over and over and over again? I'm going to give you a very quick brain hack to do it faster using the power of your imagination, your superhero power of your imagination. Now, using this simple technique, our students learn 10 words a day, 10 new words a day in about 10 minutes. So, that's 300 words a month, 300 new words a month. Think of what you could do with that. So, here's the tip, TIP. You want to take the words and turn it into a picture. Turn into picture, TIP. Now, what do I mean by that? We think in pictures, right? We dream in pictures. When we're traveling, we're sitting in an airplane, and it doesn't say fasten your seatbelt, you see a picture of a seatbelt being fastened, right? It doesn't say no smoking, you see a cigarette with a line through it, right? Because a picture is worth 1,000 words. So if we tend to remember things that we see, then I want you to try seeing the things that you want to remember. And so basically what we're going to do is I'm going to give you some vocabulary words. These are like some more difficult words that are often on the SATs. In English, and what you're gonna do is you're gonna turn the word into a picture and then turn the definition into a picture, and then you connect the 2 pictures. Now, this process is really a means to an end. Once you know what the words mean, the picture disappears, right? But it helps you to overcome what I call the 6-second syndrome. The 6-second syndrome is just like you hear something that you need to memorize, like a name or a word, a definition, a vocabulary, a number, and you have about 6 seconds to do something with that, otherwise it disappears. So this helps you to hone in on it and translate it into something that you can encode, store, and recall. Now let's go through this as an example. What can we do? Let's take a word like extol. Extol means to what? It means to praise. So what we're going to do is we're going to play a fun game of Pictionary, and we're going to turn extol into a picture. And it's based on a sound-alike using the syllables, right? The distinctive syllables there and creating a sound-alike picture. So what does extol mean? It means to praise. And what does it sound like? Eggs toll. Sounds like eggs toll. It sounds like eggs going through a toll booth. Like, maybe imagine this, have fun with this, right? Imagine you're going through a toll booth, and instead of paying with money, you pay with eggs. And then afterwards, the toll booth attendants praise you. They bow to you, they flash their lights, they praise. And you're like, Jim, that's so silly. That's so childish. Again, who are the fastest learners? Children, right? Because they're activating their sense of wonder and their imagination. Let's take another one. Polemic, polemic. What does it mean? Polemic means what? To argue. Polemic. What does it sound like if you're breaking down the syllables? What would sound similar to it? Not exactly, but something similar that would remind you, because your true memory knows the difference. Polemic. So, maybe a pole with a A microphone at the end. And then what are you using the microphone for? Maybe to what? To argue. Do you see that? Let's take another one. Transient. Transient. What does it mean? Transient means something that's short-lived, right? And so, how can you break down the word transient? What sounds like that? What word pictures can you use when you turn it into an image? For me, I see a train Sees ant. Transient. Train sees ant. And so, maybe imagine a train, and it sees an ant, and it runs over the ant. So, the ant's life is very short-lived. And I know that puts an image in your mind. You're like, oh, Jim, I don't want to picture that. That's why you remember it, because whenever you add action or some kind of silliness, make it illogical, you add some emotion, exaggerate things, you become— it becomes more memorable. All right, let's do a couple more examples. Let's say the word is foretoken, foretoken, and what does it mean? It means warning, right? So, what does it sound like, foretoken? For me, it sounds like 4 tokens. So, imagine you're going— let's see, maybe you're going to get a reading, and somebody has a crystal ball, and you give them what? 4 tokens. 4 tokens, and they give you a warning. Okay, and so you see this technique here is TIP, turn into picture. Basically, what you're doing is you're taking the content of what you want to remember, you're turning it into something that's more memorable, like an image, and you're attaching it in a fun, story-like way to its meaning. Let's do one final example. Let's say take a word like Slake. Slake. What does it mean? Slake means to quench. And so, for me, slake is S-L-A-K-E. It's like an S-lake, an S-lake, a lake shaped in the form of an S. And what are you doing? You're quenching your thirst, right? And you could do this for all kinds of words. I'm looking at the top SAT words. Supercilious means what? Arrogant, right? Super silly ass. What could you picture? You get the idea, right? And so here's what you want to do right now. The key to learning new words is to commit and to do it regularly. So here are just 5 tips. Number 1, read more often, right? You want to be exposed to new words, and when you come across new words, put them into a journal or look— or challenge yourself with new words. Go to dictionary.com and look for the word of the day and memorize one word a day. Number 2, you want to look at the definition, right? And so once you have a new word that you come across, either through your reading or looking online for a word for the day, look it up and find out what the meaning is. Number 3, I would say, is set a goal. Set a goal to learn X number of words a day using this tip. And for, for most people, I like to advise them to do 10 words a day, again, because 10 words a day over the course of a month is about 300 new words a day. Now, how quickly can you come up with An image, really quick. I mean, some of them we did in seconds. Maybe you take a minute for each and just review it. Number 4, I would say, use the word in conversation. Once you learn the definition, I want you to use it in everyday conversation. Make it a point to use it each day, the words that you learn. And finally, number 5, as we always talk about, teach. Because when you teach the word to someone else, you get to learn it even deeper. You get to learn it twice. And this is really fun, right? Challenge a friend, challenge a family member, challenge a roommate to learn new words with you. Because let's face it, you can't survive your school or your work environment today unless you speak the language. A robust vocabulary will allow you to comprehend better, and it'll allow you also to communicate better, both in your speaking and your writing. And if you want to go deeper in strategies like this, check out our Kwik Recall Masterclass at kwiklearning.com. It's a 12-week online program for unlocking your very best memory. And remember, people judge you by the words you use. Use this tool to quickly expand your vocabulary and learn the lingo for any field, and you'll speak the language of the pros in no time because you have a Kwik Brain.

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