How to Remember Vocabulary: The W.R.A.P. Method

Hello. My name is Emma, and in today's video, I am going to teach you a way to remember

new vocabulary, new grammar, and pretty much how to remember anything you want.

So, what is the name of this method? It is called the "wrap method" or the "W-R-A-P method".

So, before I teach you this method, I have here four new words I want you to remember.

You are going to use this method to learn these four new words. The words you're going

to learn today are "bulk", "blue", "coworker", and "downside".

So, let's get started. The "w" in the "wrap method" stands for "write", "write it down".

When you're learning something new, it's important to write it down. This really helps you to

remember, and there's actually a difference between writing something down and typing

something down. It's actually better for your memory to take a pen or a pencil and

to actually write it on a piece of paper or in a notebook. So, "write it down" can help

your memory, and the nice thing about writing something down is it can help you to review

something.

So, I want you to write these four words down. You can pause the video, pay careful attention

to the spelling, okay, but actually write it down. After you write things down, you

can do something like this where you cover the word, you think, "Oh, what was the word

again? B-U-L-K, is that correct? Oh, yeah, I was right, it's 'bulk'." So, the nice thing

about writing things down is it helps you to test yourself as well, and the way to remember

things is to quiz yourself or test yourself. The more work your brain does, the better

your brain is able to remember things.

So, just to keep it simple, the "W" in "wrap" stands for "write it down". So, now let's

find out what the "R" stands for. Okay, so you've written these words down. You can also

write down their definitions or what they mean. "Bulk" is when something is big or there

is a lot of something. When we talk about "bulk", we're usually talking about something

that's large or a large amount. "Blue", you might know the colour blue. "Blue" can also

mean "sad". Okay, so "blue" is another way to say "sad". "I'm blue" means I'm sad.

We have here the word "coworker". A "coworker" is a person you work with. Another word for

"coworker" is "colleague", and we have here the word "downside". "Downside" is a problem

or it's a con, it's a disadvantage. So, another word for "downside" is "disadvantage". So,

we'll come back to these words in a moment, but if you want, you can write down their

definitions because, remember, by writing things down, it helps you to remember.

Now, the second part of "wrap it", or sorry, "wrap" method is the "R". "R" stands for "repeat".

In order to remember something, it's important to repeat it again and again and again. Repeating

something helps you to remember it. Now, there are different ways to repeat things. First

of all, what can really help is to space out your studying or your repetitions. So,

for example, maybe you repeat these words on Saturday. You look at them, you think,

okay, this is what they mean, you do that on Saturday. Then you repeat these words again

on Sunday. Then maybe on Monday you do the same thing. Now, you might be wondering, what

is the best way to repeat words? Is it good to spend the whole day repeating the words

over and over again and then never look at them again? Or is it better to do just a little

bit every day over a longer period of time? It's actually better to do a little bit every

day, even 10 minutes a day is amazing, if you're doing it over multiple days. So, when

you repeat, it's better to repeat things over multiple days instead of just one. So, I call

that my four-sleep rule. When I was in university, if I really wanted to remember something,

I would study it, then go to sleep, study it again, then go to sleep the next day. Then

I would study it, that night I would go to sleep, and then on the fourth day I would

study it again, and then go to sleep. Sleep is very important for memory. So, four-sleep

means pretty much four days. The more days you can do, the better, but for me, the minimum

was always four days or four sleeps. And again, this is just another way to say that. Repeat

what you want to learn every day, that is better than just repeating something on one day.

Another thing I should mention when it comes to repeat is when we are learning, the first

word on a list and the last word on a list are a lot easier for us to remember. These middle

words are less likely going to be remembered. So, if you want to remember something when

you're studying, put the most important thing first on your list and at the end of your

list. You can change this up every day, but you're more likely to remember the beginning

of a list and the end of a list.

Alright, now let's learn about what the "a" in the RAP method stands for. Okay, so what

does the "a" stand for in the RAP method? "A" stands for "associate it". When we associate

things, it means we connect them or we link them to information we already know or memories

we already have. So, we link it, we can link something new to something we already know.

I'm going to give you an example. I have here the word "bulk". So, "bulk" might be a new

word. I told you it means it's something that's very large or a large amount. When I think

about something that's large, I think of the Hulk. The Hulk is a green superhero and

it rhymes with "bulk". So, "Hulk" is something I already have in my brain. I can link this

new word to it because they have a similar sound, and when I think of the Hulk, I think

of something big. "Bulk" means very large. So, this association can help you to remember

this word "bulk". So, we can associate in different ways new words. We can think about

words that sound similar, so we can use sound when we associate things, or we can associate

things based on meaning, based on words we already know that are similar. We can associate

things based on people we know. So, there's different ways we can make associations. I'm

going to give you an example from when I lived in China. I was learning different animal

names in Mandarin, and the way I learned Mandarin many, many years ago. I have forgotten a lot

of Mandarin, but I'll give you an example of something I remember because I made an

association. In Mandarin, the word for "duck" is "yaza". How do I remember this? Well, I

imagine a duck playing jazz music. So, I think jazz sounds like "yaz", "yaza". So, I can

imagine a duck on a saxophone, and that association really helped me to remember how to say this

word.

Okay, so let's think of some other things that can help us, some other associations.

So, I told you to remember the "hulk" to think of "bulk". For "blue", I told you another

meaning of "blue" is "sad". Well, how can you remember this? Well, I have here a sad

face, and you'll notice the sad person has tears. "Tears are blue." So, when you cry,

blue tears come from your eyes. So, here are some tears. The color in cartoons or in pictures

is blue, so I can remember "blue". Okay. "Tears are blue." When we are blue, we are sad.

Now, I have another word, "coworker". So, what associations might I make with this word?

Well, in English, "er" usually means a person. We have "teacher", "manager", "office worker".

Many words in English that have to do with a person end in "er". So, I can think, okay,

this is about a person. We have "er" here. We have the word "work". Okay, so I can think

this has to do with "work". The main part of this that might be difficult to remember

is the "co". In English, "co" means "together". "Coworker" is someone who works together with

you. You can think of other words that are similar, like "cooperate". You cooperate with

your coworker. So, that's one way you might remember this. Or maybe you have a coworker

who has the "co" sound in their name. I don't know, like, I can't think of a good one. "Courtney".

You might think "Courtney", "co", "coworker". So, just thinking about associations can really

help remember. Now, I have this word "downside". So, "downside", if we imagine the word "down",

usually when things go down, like our money, if our money goes down, that's a bad thing.

So, you can remember, okay, "down" means "bad". The downside of something is the bad side

of something, the disadvantage of something. Now, when we make associations, the best associations

are the funny ones, the strange ones, the ones that really help you to remember. Like,

for example, my duck playing the saxophone. Imagining that really helped me to remember

this word. So, I really encourage you with these words to try to imagine the strangest

things you can to help you remember them. Okay, so now we are going to learn about the

"p" in the RAP method. Okay, so this is the most fun part of the RAP method, and that

is the "p", which stands for "picture it". When we learn new things, we can really help

our memory by imagining what we're trying to learn. Now, when we picture things, it's

good to create an image in our head, use our imagination, and try to remember things in

our head in a silly, funny, or crazy way. So, we're going to do this for these four

words. I'm really going to try to get you to remember these four words.

So, what I want you to do now is you're going to imagine this in your head. Remember, "bulk"

and "hulk", very similar. The hulk is big; "bulk" means large, so very similar, or large

amounts. So, I want you to remember the hulk. Now, imagine the hulk is blue. Why is his

color blue? Usually, he's green, but he's blue because he's sad. Okay? So, you can imagine

a sad hulk whose color is blue. Okay? Now, beside the hulk is his co-worker, Captain

America. Now, "co-worker" starts with a "c", "captain" starts with a "c", "co" and "ca",

okay? It almost looks the same. I'm just going to imagine that's an "o" for a moment to help

us remember "co", "co-worker", just to help our memories. So, they work together. They

are co-workers. So, imagine the hulk, who's blue, with Captain America. Where is Captain

America sitting? He is sitting down beside the hulk. So, I want you to imagine he's sitting

down beside the hulk. "Down" and "beside" should help you remember "downside". Okay?

Where is he sitting? He's sitting down beside the hulk. So, imagine this in your head. I'll

say it one more time. You have the hulk. He's blue because he's sad. He is with Captain

America, his co-worker, and Captain America is sitting down beside the hulk to cheer the

hulk up. He's trying to make the hulk happy. So, imagine that for a moment. And now, we

are going to do a little quiz. Okay? So, I'm going to erase these words and we're going

to see if you remember them or you don't. Maybe you'll remember some of them. Maybe

you won't remember any of them. But this is a great technique to help you remember important

things. So, let's try this. Okay, so let's see if you can remember this. So, the first

thing I wanted you to remember was the hulk. What word is like "hulk" and it means "very

large"? Did you think the word "bulk"? You're correct. Okay, so "blue" was one of the words,

but do you remember the meaning of the word "blue"? It means a color, but what's the other

meaning? If you said "sad", you're correct. "Blue" means "sad". When we imagine the hulk

and his color is blue, he's feeling very sad. So, the second word was "blue". Okay, then

we talked about Captain America. Who is Captain America with the hulk? They're both on the

Avengers. They are, so maybe you remember the last part of the word. They work together,

so we can think, okay, "worker". They work together and they're people. What is the first

part of that word? Well, it's kind of like "captain". It starts with a "c", and I told

you, here it's an "a", but in this word, it's not an "a". It means like "cooperate" or "together".

Get it? "Coworker". They are coworkers. The hulk, Thor, Black Widow, they're all coworkers

in the Avengers. Okay, and what was the last word? So, Captain America was sitting down

beside the hulk to cheer him up. Well, we have "sit down". Oh, okay, it's not part of

the word. "Down". And what was the other part? Captain America is sitting beside the

hulk. "Side", "downside". Okay, and again, "downside". Do you remember the picture I

drew earlier? I drew a picture of your money going down. That's something you never want

to see. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? It's bad. "Downside" is a bad thing. So, when

we talk about downsides, we're talking about the disadvantage of something. For example,

the downside of watching too many superhero movies is you start to... maybe you study

less. Maybe that's a downside. If you're always watching movies, you study less. I don't really

believe that's true, but that's an example of a downside. So, again, the RAP method,

do you remember what it stands for? This is when I test you. It stands for "write it down",

"repeat it", "associate it", and "picture it". The more work your brain does, the more you

will remember things you want to remember. So, thank you so much for watching this. I

recommend you come and visit our website at www.engvid.com. There you can actually

take a quiz on what I talked about in this video. You can also subscribe to my YouTube

channel. I have a lot more resources for learning languages, for study skills, and many other

different topics. Finally, you can visit my website at www.teacheremma.com for more English

resources. Thanks for watching.