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Memorizing Vocabulary: One Trick
I use this trick to memorize Greek words
If you are in the middle of acquiring a new language; you are on the same boat with me.
I’m on my way to master Greek. I need it to engage in meaningful conversations with locals and read modern literature.
My native languages are Indonesian and Javanese, and the only foreign language I’m familiar with is English.
So, it’s undoubtedly true that Greek is so Greek to me.
The alphabet is so foreign for me. The grammar is way more complex than English’s.
But in one way, Greek words are quite uniform.
Many words share a pattern, linguistically called prefix and suffix.
In English, a prefix is like re- in recount, rename, revisit, and review. A suffix is like -ize in stabilize, mobilize, and dramatize.
The pattern is part of the trick I’m about to tell you: spotting the pattern!
Spotting the pattern
This is obvious, but in Greek, you have to master the alphabet first before you start seeing the patterns in the language.
I wrote an article about my confusion and fascination when learning the Greek alphabet here.
