Words are like names for some people; they are not easy to
remember. Just like how we get used to the name of the
new person we meet, we need to make repetitive eff orts to
remember the new words we learn.
Repetition does make sense because the more we get exposed to a
particular thing, the more we become familiar with it.
Repetition is also the strategy that language apps use to teach new
words to their users.
For some, they would introduce the set of words that the user was
about to learn before doing the exercises.
There would be video or audio fi les that are used to teach the user
the pronunciation of the word.
There would also be a translation of the word into the language
familiar to the user for easier retention.
There would be exercises for the learners to press the button for
the right word if it is translated to the language that the learner wants to
learn, and there would be exercises for the learner to type the right word
out of the list of scrambled letters.
Even in teaching children words in language classes, the words are
repeated for the purpose of retention.
We can also repeat the word by using the word in the sentence
because we have to teach the usage of the word in the right context.
We can also ask the learners to make a sentence using the specifi c
new word.
Visual aids can also be used to help those visual learners, like the
visual representation of the word itself or a multiple-choice format on
the board for the learner to choose the right answer. You can also allow
kinesthetic learners to unscramble letters to come up with the new word
that you want them to learn. You can bring the style in the apps to life
with a little creativity.
There is nothing wrong with repetition. It is all a matter of repeating
the teaching through diff erent methods for variety and retention.
