Do you forget words while speaking?
and you're trying to learn more and more new words?
So many English learners come to be saying that they want to learn more vocabulary. They think that learning more vocabulary will make them more fluent and able to express themselves in English. And although vocabulary is important, it isn’t really that simple.
If you are often forgetting words during a conversation, adding new words to your brain isn’t really what you need.
If you find yourself in this situation, ask yourself the following questions:
Do I actually know the word?
Why do I think I know the word?
Have I used this word successfully before?
How many times have I seen and used it?
Did I hear or see this word a few times, but never use it, and now I’m expecting myself to be able to use it?
Can I express this in another way?
Am I feeling stuck because I’m trying to directly translate from my language?
If you’re in the middle of a conversation and you forget a word, you have a few options. Have you tried:
Explaining what the word means instead of using the word?
Using a different word and looking it up later?
Asking the listener for help?
Google or Google Image the translation in your language and show the listener
Writing down or giving some thought to the word once you find it?
These are just a few things that will help you to get clear on what you really need. Many times when someone says they ‘forgot the word’ they never knew it in the first place.
So the work here isn’t memorizing or learning new vocabulary, but using what you already know, creatively.
And learning more deeply. And how can you learn more deeply? Put simply, be aware of what you’re doing. Slow down, be intentional, and focus on quality over quantity. Learn words from contexts (like conversations, TV shows, social media) and not lists or expecting teachers to just teach words AT you.
If any of this resonates with you, feel free to leave a comment or ask questions. You’re not alone. This is perhaps on of the most common issues English students have.
I’m going to leave you a song by The Velvet Underground called ‘Some Kinda Love.’ There is a line in the beginning about expressing yourself, and how difficult it can be. It is the title of a book by Noam Chomsky, the most famous linguist from the US:
“Between thought and expression lies a lifetime.”