How to Memorise Korean Vocabulary: Write It, Say It, Use It

Most learners start with a word list and read it. It feels like progress, but a week later half the words have gone. The words that stay are the ones you had to produce: write them, say them and put them into a sentence of your own.

Step 1: Read the word once, with its sentence

A word on its own is thin. A word inside a sentence tells you which particle goes with it and how it behaves. Read the example sentence aloud before you do anything else.

Step 2: Write it three ways

• Cover the Korean and write it from the English meaning.
• Cover the meaning and write the English from the Korean.
• Write one sentence of your own with the word in it. It does not have to be clever, only correct.

Step 3: Check and mark the weak ones

Check your answers against a key and mark the words you missed. Those are tomorrow’s words. A short checkup after every 20 words keeps the pile small enough to finish.

Step 4: Come back after a few days

Re-do only the marked words two or three days later, and again a week later. Do not re-do everything. The repetition is for the words that are still shaky.

A weekly rhythm

• Three days a week: one new unit of about 20 words (steps 1–3).
• Two days a week: a short review of the marked words from earlier units (step 4).
• One day a week: a game or a quiz on your phone, just for fun.

This is exactly how our workbooks are built: 20 words per unit, write the meaning, write the word, write a sentence, take a checkup, and mark it with the answer key. Each unit has a QR code to a free match game for the same words.