3. Rote Memorization
Rote memorization refers to the repeated review of studied material. In other words, it is the way that most language learners typically study. Wait! Didn’t I previously say that this is a bad way of studying? Spending hours and hours hunched over at your desk staring at seemingly endless vocabulary lists with only a few words sticking in your head. Well, it depends on how you use rote memorization.
Rote memorization demands repetition, which is a good thing. The only way you will actually remember something, is by repeatedly reminding yourself of it. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you stare at Japanese vocabulary lists all day. You’ll probably end up falling asleep or looking at Instagram on your phone. Instead, you should try something like this:
"Sarah wants to learn 20 new vocabulary words in a week. She decides to study her vocabulary list for 15 minutes every three hours every day. At the end of each day, she has studied her vocabulary list for at least an hour. After a few days, Sarah notices that she can easily recall a few of the vocabulary words and by the end of the week Sarah finds that she has accomplished her goal."
The reason why Sarah can better remember her Japanese vocabulary words when using rote memorization is because she uses a short list and studies in short frequent increments every day. Usually, when people use this method they are trying to learn too much information in a short amount of time (ex. Cramming for a test). This method is more suited for remembering small amounts of information at a time. However, it should still be used with one of the other studying methods mentioned above, as it demands the repetition of studied material.
