How to learn new vocabulary

Once you have got to grips with the fundamentals of a language (pronunciation, orthography and basic grammar), you can concentrate on learning vocabulary. This is probably the most important and time-consuming part of learning a language. Below are a few techniques to help you with this task.
Associate the familiar with the unfamiliar

Try to find word or phrases in your L1 which sound like and if possible have a similar meaning to words in your L2. Build mental images or draw pictures based on the connections. For example, the Spanish for "ice" is hielo (m), which sounds like yellow. To remember this word imagine yellow ice. This is an enjoyable method because many of the associations you think up will be silly, absurd or bizarre.
Genders

To remember genders try picturing a Spanish-speaking region, divide it into two and place masculine nouns on one side and feminine words on the other. In the case of ice imagine the masculine half covered in yellow ice.

If your L2 has many genders, imagine a large building with many floors, assign a different gender to each floor and place words on the appropriate floor according to their gender.
Avoiding language mix ups

Associating words from each language you learn with places where they are spoken will help you to avoid getting your languages mixed up. For example, if you're learning French and Spanish, imagine a map of Europe and place the French words in France and the Spanish words in Spain. Alternatively you could imagine a map of North America and place the Spanish words in Mexico and the French words in Quebec.
Testing and revision

To ensure the words stick in your memory, test yourself on them at regular intervals. If you learn some new words in the morning for example, check that you can still remember them later that day, the next day, a week later and a month later. If you find some words hard to recall, try thinking up different associations for them. You may need to try several different associations before you find one that works.
Learn related words & phrases

When learning the word for hand, for example, try to learn related words, such as parts of the hand; actions of the hand; other parts of the body, and things you might wear on your hands. Also try to learn words with the same root and phrases which include the word hand.

As you learn more words you will start to spot connections between words. The more words you learn the easier you will find it to guess the meanings of new words.
Learn words in context

Learning long lists of unrelated words is boring, difficult and doesn't help you much when you come across those words in a different context. If you focus on learning words in the context you're most likely to find them, you're more likely to recognise them when you encounter them or need to use them again.

When learning food words, for example, think about when you'd be most likely to use them, i.e. when cooking, eating, shopping, etc, and learn other words related to those situations. Then try constructing sentences using the new words. Good dictionaries contain examples of usage which you can use as models for your own sentences.

As your knowledge of your L2 improves, using a monolingual dictionary is a good idea. This helps you to understand words through their meaning rather than relying on translations into your L1.
Practice reading as much as possible

A great way to build up you vocabulary is to have a go at reading books, magazines, newspapers or comics written in your L2. Ideally look for reading material covering topics you find interesting. When reading, try to guess the meanings of any words you don't know and then check them in a dictionary to see if your guesses were correct. You don't have to look up every unfamiliar word as long as you can get the gist of the text.

Online foreign language newpapers, magazines and other news sources

Online literature and audio books in many languages

Dual-language books, which are also known as parallel texts are a good way to get into literature in foreign languages. They usually have the original language on one page, and the translation on the opposite page. This safes you the trouble of looking up words in a dictionary.

Reading comic books, like Asterix and Tintin, is an effective and fun way to improve your reading comprehension and vocabulary. The pictures help you to follow the story when you can't understand all of the dialogue. The dialogues in the Tintin books tend to be longer and more serious than those in the Asterix books, which are full of puns and jokes.

A good way to expand your vocabulary is with the TeachMe! or Rosetta Stone language courses. The TeachMe! courses are available for most of the major and minor languages of Europe and are very reasonably priced. The Rosetta Stone courses are available for 26 languages from Arabic to Welsh. They are quite expensive but include a large amount of material, and are effective and fun to use.

HOW TO LEARN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Leaning a new language is fun and enlightening. Find out the many different ways to learn a foreign language.

There are several reasons to learn a foreign language. Learning another language helps people understand other cultures, which is important today in a world where globalization, mobility and communication are increasingly bringing different cultures closer and closer together. Leaning a foreign language also improves chances of being accepted into college and graduate school. Many employers look favorably on or require employees to know more than one language. Leaning a foreign language also increases the pleasure and experience of traveling. Learning to speak a foreign language takes time and commitment, and there are many ways people can incorporate different learning tools to learn another language as quickly as possible.

Read more at Suite101: How to Learn a Foreign Language http://www.suite101.com/content/how-to-learn-a-foreign-language-a253908#ixzz1GGy5ykLA

HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY

Here's How:
1. Select the topic of your essay.
2. Choose the central idea, or thesis, of your essay. For example: Information technology has revolutionized the way we work.
3. Outline your essay into introductory, body and summary paragraphs.
4. The introductory paragraph begins with an interesting sentence. For example: Home workers have grown from 150,000 to over 12 million in the past 5 years thanks to the wonders of the computer.
5. After this first sentence, add your thesis statement from above.
6. Use one sentence to introduce every body paragraph to follow. For example: The Internet has made this possible by extending the office into the home.
7. Finish the introductory paragraph with a short summary or goal statement. For example: Technological innovation has thus made the traditional workplace obsolete.
8. In each of the body paragraphs (usually two or three) the ideas first presented in the introductory paragraph are developed.
9. Develop your body paragraphs by giving detailed information and examples. For example: When the Internet was first introduced it was used primarily by scientists, now it is common in every classroom.
10. Body paragraphs should develop the central idea and finish with a summary of that idea. There should be at least two examples or facts in each body paragraph to support the central idea.
11. The summary paragraph summarizes your essay and is often a reverse of the introductory paragrah.
12. Begin the summary paragrah by quickly restating the principal ideas of your body paragraphs. For example: The Internet in the home, benefits and ease of use of modern computer systems...
13. The penultimate sentence should restate your basic thesis of the essay. For example: We have now passed from the industrial revolution to the information revolution.
14. Your final statement can be a future prediction based on what you have shown in the essay. For example: The next step: The complete disappearance of the workplace.
Tips:
1. Use strong verbs and avoid modals to state your opinion. It is better to write: The workplace has evolved than The workplace seems to have evolved
2. Do not apologize for what you are saying. An essay is about your opinion.
3. Do not translate from your mother tongue. It will quickly get you into trouble!