By Robert Oliphant

Is there anyone in this Alzheimer’s-conscious country, including Ellen de Generes, who doesn’t want to learn a foreign language?  Plaques and tangles aside, most of us still feel our mind is a “muscle” that needs electro-cephalically measurable personal-best exercise to keep us from going blank on proper names, ordinary words, and topic connectedness (e.g., “What were we just talking about?”).  By way of looking at an anti-Alzheimer’s alternative, let’s take a quick look at vocabulary learning as represented by a box of a thousand Italian-English flash cards,  ranging from (1) ABILE to (1000) VOSTRE/ VOSTRI.

Vocabulary learning can fairly be called the neglected stepsister of American foreign language study, which still emphasizes correct pronunciation and grammar.  Practically considered, though, our inability to think of the right word does us far more damage in a foreign country than fumbling about with irregular verb forms.  In fact, some European learning programs these days, according to the Economist, actually avoid the past tense and subjunctive in favor of more manageable circumlocutions involving past and present participles. 

Flash cards — cheap, adjustable, and testable. . . . As anti-Alzheimer’s therapy, vocabulary study requires each of us to do the heavy lifting, not a teacher-coach.  So a 1,000-card deck, as illustrated in Appendix One, will give us more than enough to work with for several weeks, as was the case some years back when PhD candidates studied cards like these on their own in order to pass reading-knowledge foreign language exams.  As on-your-own tools, these cards can, and should, be shuffled at will to fit individual circumstances.  Twenty-card sets, 40-card sets, half-hour study sessions, five-minute sessions (e.g., during television commercials) — there are many roads to the Palace of Lexicographical Wisdom.   

The best part about flash-card achievement is that it can be tested with unforgiving accuracy, just like stepping on the scales in a physician’s office or submitting to blood samples for laboratory analysis.  By way of special preparation for spelling-crossword puzzle competitions at local senior centers, Appendix Two shows how additional clues can be added to each card to replace rote-repetition learning with logical-reconstruction learning.

Reassurance and usefulness. . . . Our “clue-friendly” crossword style feature is the primary justification for this article.  As matters stand, flash cards, crossword puzzles, and spelling bees have always worked superbly for American learners, and they will surely continue to do so in coming years.  What’s here simply pulls the three together in a single conceptual package that will give each learner, young or old, a stronger feeling of achievement and reassurance as he or she moves forward card by card and word by word. 

Part of that reassurance, I’m convinced, will come from a feeling of personal-best cognitive improvement, especially as measured informally by our “going blank” test (proper names, ordinary words, and topic connectedness).  The classic anecdote here involves President Franklin Roosevelt’s visit to 93-year-old Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who had just been reading Plato in Greek, “to improve my mind, sir, to improve my mind.”  For what it’s worth, I’ve noticed (or believe I have noticed) a slight improvement in my own fuzzy-headedness since starting on my own program.   

Mystery and personal-best tenaciousness. . . . I also believe a strong case can be made for the usefulness of foreign-language study in improving our own personal mastery of English, especially the thousands of Graeco-Latinate borrowings (70%) that clot the pages of our family-size dictionaries, i.e., roughly 40,000 of the 60,000 word-entries in Webster’s New World. 

Simply put, it’s not just our “shifted vowel” spelling system that gives us trouble; it’s our alien word formations like NOSTALGIA (what’s a “nost”) and SICCATIVE that pull us away from direct sensory reality and toward the semantic swamps of abstractionism and downright hypocrisy, as George Orwell pointed out in Politics and the English Language.  (Italian and Spanish, incidentally, have a higher proportion of English-Latinate cognates than can be found in a desk-size dictionary of classical Latin.)               

Nor should we discount the element of mystery.  In personal best terms I don’t think any of us will ever understand why some target words and pronunciations pop up quickly on our mnemonic screen and others sulk in their secluded tents for ages.  Nor do I think any of us will ever understand exactly how a language like Italian holds together as a learnable whole. 

Coming closer to home, I’m still unable to account for the tenaciousness with which many Americans are right now pursuing on-their-own self-improvement programs like this — enough so that anyone who truly wants to lose twenty pounds should probably start with vocabulary flash cards as a confidence builder.  Italian, Spanish, medical terminology — what does it matter as long as we can bring if off by ourselves for ourselves, and then move forward?

TO CONCLUDE. . . . I also have high hopes that the crossword-style testing feature, along with its “logical reconstruction” premise, will find favor among those concerned with teaching English as a second language (ESL).  So Appendix Three covers some of the additional problems involved: pronunciation, multiple choice testing, etc. 

Overall this case for vocabulary building can be summed up in two acronyms.  The first of these, C.A.T., reminds us in effect that the process is fundamentally cheap, adjustable, and testable.  The second, R.U.M., asserts its value to us personally as being reassuring, useful, and mysterious.   Visually considered, especially for off-the-wall associational learners, we might see it in our mind’s eye as a couple of elderly cats drinking rum, working the New York Times crossword puzzle, and smiling.  Especially the last part of the triad.  

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Appendix One. . . . Conventional flash-card format and use

What follows is an as-is presentation of randomly selected flash-cards (scopo-764 to sentiéro-779) from the VIS-ED 1,000-card Italian Vocabulary Cards learning tool (www.vis-ed.com).  The front side, e.g., “1f,” presents the target word, sometimes followed with one of more numbered derived forms.  The back side, e.g., “1b,” presents one or more English definitions corresponding to the target word, followed by  one or more numbered definitions for each of the numbered derived forms, if any.  Where appropriate, additional information is presented in parentheses using conventional abbreviations, e.g., m. for “masculine,” f. for “feminine, “ etc. 

Traditionally, along with some independent grammatical study, this first-stage level of vocabulary mastery has equipped many graduate students to pass their “reading knowledge” PhD foreign language exams (usually French and German).  Right now, it’s certainly enough for making preliminary sense out of the front page of an Italian newspaper.  It’s also enough to make one’s wants known in an encounter with a reasonably friendly and cooperative non-English speaker.

Once past first stage mastery, as indicated by our random sample, the 1,000 cards present plenty of additional information — and learning challenges.  Some card faces, for instance, present a additional target word and derived words, e.g., scherzando and scherzo as companions for SCHERZARE.  Along the same lines, the card-backs present additional definitions, e.g., “to joke, jest.” Followed by (1) “in jest,” and (2) “joke, jest.”  So our 1,000 cards actually comprise a mini-dictionary with over 3,000 separate word-entries and 5,000 definitions, as compared with a standard dictionary’s 50,000 word-entries and 200,000 definitions.  Even more important, these words and definitions comprise an Italian high-frequency vocabulary — words that get used all the time by all of us, as opposed to technical specialists.

Vocabulary first, then the grammar — this is our new wave learning sequence, as pointed out in the Economist, to the degree that some language schools even omit irregular verbs.  At three items a minute, a good set of flash cards can give any American, young or old, plenty of intellectual stimulation and a marvelous sense of personal-best achievement that will stay on and on and on.  So here’s our 26-card sample and. . . . buon appetitó.

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1f) scherzare. . . . 1. scherzando.... 2.scherzo

1b) to joke, jest. . . . 1.in jest....2.joke, jest

2f) schiacciare. . . . 1.schiaccianóci

2b) to crush, crack. . . . 2.nut-cracker

3f) schiaffo. . . . 1.schiaffeggiare

3b) slap (on the face) [. . . . 1.to slap

4f) schiavo. . . . 1.schiavitú

4b) slave. . . . 1.slavery

5f) schifo. . . .1.schifóso....2.schifiltóso

5b) disgust, loathing. . . . 1.disgusting, nasty....2.finical, fastidious

6f) schiuma. . . . 1.schiumóso....2.schiumaiuóla

6b) froth, foam, scum. . . . 1.frothy, foaming...2.skimming ladle

7f) scienza. . . . 1.scienziáto...2.consciénza

7b) science. . . . 1.scientist....2.conscience

8f) scintilla. . . . 1.scintillare

8b) spark. . . . 1.to sparkle, gleam

9f) sciocco. . . . 1.sciocchézza

9b) fool, silly. . . . 1.foolishness, silliness, silly thing, nonsense

10f) sciupare. . . . 1.dissipare....2.dissipato

10b) to spoil, waste; to become spoiled. . . . 1.to dissipate, squander, disperse, dispel...2.dissipated, dissolute

10f) sconfíggere. . . . 1.sconfitta 

10b) to defeat. . . .1.defeat

11f) scopo

11b) purpose, aim

12f) scoppiare. . . . 1.— a ridere

12b) to explode, burst, break out. . . . 1.to burst out laughing

13f) scrivere. . . . 1.scritta....2.scritto....3. scrittore (f.-trice)....4.scrivania....5.descrívere....6.iscrívere

13b) to write. . . . 1.inscription, sign...2.written, written work.... 3.writer....4.desk....5.to describe....6.to enroll, register

14f) scudo

14b) shield

15f) scuola. . . . 1.marinare la —....2.studente (m.), studentezza (f.)

15b) school. . . . 1.to play truant....2.student

16f) scuótere . . . . 1.scossa

16b) shake. . . . 1.jolt

17f) secco. . . . 1.seccare....2.seccatúra....3.siccitá

17b) dry, dry weather. . . . 1.to dry, annoy, bother....2.nuisance....3.drought

18f) sécolo

18b) century

19f) secóndo. . . . 1.— il solito....2.secondare, assecondare

19b) second (adj. & n.), according to . . . . 1. as usual [ — i2.s2l2t2]...2.to support, second, follow

20f) sedere. . . . 1.sede (f.)....2.sedia....3.sedíle (m.)....4.sedúta....5.assédio....6.risiédere

20b) to sit; to sit down [s2d2r2]. . . . 1.seat, residence [s2d2]....2.chair [s3i2]....3.seat, bench [s2d2l2]....4.session, sitting....5.seige [a2s3i2]....6.to reside

21f) segno . . . . 1.segnále (m)....2..segnare....3.signicare; significato....4.assegnare, asségno.... 5.consegnare....

6.rassengarsi

21b) sign, mark. . . . 1.signal, sign.... 2.to mark, sign.... 3.to mean; meaning .... 4.to assign; check .... 5.to hand, deliver, consign.... 6. to resign oneself, become resigned

22f) seguire. . . . 1.seguáce [s2gu2c2].... 2.seguénte.... 3.séguito; in—....4.conseguire....5.eseguire.... 6.insguire....7.proseguire

22b) to follows. . . . 1.follower.. 2.following.... 3.sequel, following, retinue, then, afterward.... 4.to attain, result.... 5.to execute.... 6.to pursue.... 7.to continue, pursue

23f) selva. . . . 1.selvággio.... 2.selvático

23b) forest. . . . 1.savage, wild; savage man.... 2.wild

24f) seminare

24b) to sow

25f) sémplice. . . . 1.simplicione (f., -óna) [—ton].... 2.semplicitá.... 3.scempiaggine (f.)

25b) simple. . . .1.simpleton.... 2.simplicity.... 3.folly, stupidity

26f) sentiéro

26b) path

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Appendix  Two. . . . 26 Italian flash cards with crossword-style logical reconstruction clues for target words and derived forms

As represented here, our flash cards have been “enriched” by the addition of spelling abbreviations in brackets and the back of the card for the Italian words on the face.  In addition, related English words (“cognates”) have been added where possible in brackets on the card face.  Where the meaning of the English cognate (literally “co-born”) conflicts with the meaning of its Italian cousin, the following “ff.” labels it as a “false friend.”  In most instances the English and Italian cognates share the same Latin or Graeco-Latin source. 

Sometimes though the English word goes back to Old English times as indicated by an “oe” preceding the cognate.  They’re always worth looking up in the dictionary.  Questionable etymologies are followed by a question mark.  The proportion of Italian-English cognates is far high than the proportion of Latin-English cognates, enough so to make a very strong case for studying Italian as a route toward increasing our English vocabulary.

Practically considered, the do-it-yourselfer should decide his or her own enrichment policy, including when to start, how far to go, and what kind of abbreviations to use.

  It’s worth pointing out here that the abbreviation process is itself a mind-stretcher, since one must decide which letters to omit and which to keep.  It addition, it’s worth emphasizing that the act of writing the abbreviation on the card brings our sense of touch more strongly into a sensory partnership that already includes sight, hearing, and even taste (via the tongue in pronunciation). . .

Twenty-six “enriched” Italian flash-card words

1f) scherzare . . . . 1. scherzando.... 2.scherzo [SCHERZO]

1b) to joke, jest [sch5z2r2] . . . . 1.in jest [sch6a4]....2.joke, jest

2f) schiacciare. . . . 1.schiaccianóci [SHAKE?ff]

2b) to crush, crack [sch16ci3re]. . . . 2.nut-cracker [— n2c2]

3f) schiaffo. . . . 1.schiaffeggiare [SLAP]

3b) slap (on the face) [schi6f2]. . . . 1.to slap [schi7f3g3r2]

4f) schiavo. . . . 1.schiavitú [SLAVE]

4b) slave [schi6]. . . . 1.slavery [sch6i3]

5f) schifo. . . .1.schifóso....2.schifiltóso

5b) disgust, loathing [sch4f2]. . . . 1.disgusting, nasty [sch503]....2.finical, fastidious [sch5i2t2s2]

6f) schiuma. . . . 1.schiumóso....2.schiumaiuóla [SCUM]

6b) froth, foam, scum [sch5m2. . . . 1.frothy, foaming [sch6o3]...2.skimming ladle [sch6+ola]

7f) scienza. . . . 1.scienziáto...2.consciénza [SCIENCE]

7b) science [sci7]. . . . 1.scientist [sci6i2t2]....2.conscience [c2sci5z2]

8f) scintilla. . . . 1.scintillare [SCINTILLATE]

8b) spark [sci4t3l2]. . . . 1.to sparkle, gleam [sci4t3l2r2]

9f) sciocco. . . . 1.sciocchézza [SHOCK?ff]

9b) fool, silly [sci5c2]. . . . 1.foolishness, silliness, silly thing, nonsense [sci5e2z2]

10f) sciupae [. . . . 1.dissipare....2.dissipato [DISSIPATE]

10b) to spoil, waste; to become spoiled [sci4p2r2]. . . . 1.to dissipate, squander, disperse, dispel [d3s2p2r2]...2.dissipated, dissolute [d3s2p2t2]

10f) sconfíggere. . . . 1.sconfitta [DISCOMFIT]

10b) to defeat [sc4f3g2r2]. . . .1.defeat [d4sc4f2t2]

11f) scopo [SCOPEff]

11b) purpose, aim [sc3p2]

12f) scoppiare . . . . 1.a ridere [EXPLODEff]

12b) to explode, burst, break out [sc4pi3r2]. . . . 1.to burst out laughing [— a1.r2d2r2]

13f) scrivere. . . . 1.scritta....2.scritto....3. scrittore (f.-trice)]....4.scrivanis....5.descrívere....6.iscrívere [SCRIBE]

13b) to write [scr4v2r2]. . . . 1.inscription, sign[scr5t2]...2.written, written work[scr4t2].... 3.writer[scr5t2r2....4.desk [scr5v2n3]....5.to describe [d2scr4v2r2]....6.to enroll, register [i1scr4v2r2]

14f) scudo [SCUTUM]

14b) shield [sc3d2]

15f) scuola. . . . 1.marinare la —....2.studente (m.), studentezza (f.) [SCHOOL]

15b) school [sc4l2]. . . . 1.to play truant [m4b2r2,l2 — ]....2.student [stu4e2t2 (m.), stu4e2t3z2 (f.)

16f) scuótere. . . . 1.scossa

16b) shake [sc4t2r2]. . . . 1.jolt [sc4s2]

17f) secco. . . . 1.seccare....2.seccatúra....3.siccitá [SICCATIVE]

17b) dry, dry weather [s3c2]. . . . 1.to dry, annoy, bother [se3c2r2]....2.nuisance [se3c2t2r2]....3.drought [si3c2t2]

18f) sécolo [SECULAR]

18b) century [s2c2l2]

19f) secóndo. . . . 1.— il solito....2.secondare, assecondare [SECOND]

19b) second (adj. & n.), according to [se3o2d2]. . . . 1. as usual [ — i2.s2l2t2]...2.to support, second, follow [se3o2d2r2, a2 — ]

20f) sedere. . . . 1) sede (f.)....2.sedia....3.sedíle (m.)....4.sedúta....5.assédio....6.risiédere [SEDENTARY]

20b) to sit; to sit down. . . . 1.seat, residence....2.chair....3,seat, bench....4.session, sitting....5.seige....6.to reside

21f) segno. . . . 1.segnále (m)....2..segnare....3.signicare; significato....4.assegnare, asségno.... 5.consegnare....

6.rassenarsi [SIGN]

21b) sign, mark. . . . 1.signal, sign.... 2.to mark, sign.... 3.to mean; meaning.... 4.to assign; check.... 5.to hand, deliver, consign.... 6. to resign oneself, become resigned.

22f) seguire. . . . 1.seguáce.... 2.seguénte.... 3.séguito; in—....4.conseguire....5.eseguire.... 6.inseguire....7.proseguire [SEQUENCE]

22b) to follow . . . . 1.follower.... 2.following.... 3.sequel, following, retinue, then, afterward.... 4.to attain, result.... 5.to execute.... 6.to pursue.... 7.to continue, puruse

23f) selva [se3v2]. . . . 1.selvággio.... 2.selvático [SYLVAN]

23b) forest. . . . 1.savage, wild; savage man [se3va3gu3].... 2.wild [

se3v2t2c2]

24f) seminare [SEMINAL]

24b) to sow [s2m2n2r2]

25f) sémplice. . . . 1.simplicione (f., -óna).... 2.semplicitá.... 3.scempiaggine (f.) [SIMPLE]

25b) simple. . . .1.simpleton.... 2.simplicity.... 3.folly, stupidity

26f) sentiéro [SCENTff]

26b) path [se3ti3r2]

Appendix Three. . . . Classroom applications, including English vocabulary targets

Civilization is a Big Vocabulary: over 600,000 separate word entries in our Merriam Webster Unabridged Dictionary and many, many more definitions.  The Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, for instance, lists 100,000 entries (including proper names, technical terms, and abbreviations) and 225,000 definitions, most of which are attached to the 20,000 words we encounter most frequently in speech or print.  So it’s natural for us to extend our multi-definition logical reconstruction method to other vocabularies, including that of English itself.

For both learners and test takers, the logical reconstruction process involves three primary factors: (a) a specific word, (b) one specific meaning documented for that word, and (c) a clue or clues to strengthen a learner’s ability to jump from meaning to word or from word to meaning.  From a test maker’s point of view, here are some factors to consider.

BASIC TEST ITEM RANGE. . . . As should be apparent, our thousand vocabulary cards comprise a very large amount of Italian vocabulary information.  Even if we limit ourselves to meaning-first questions, our cards offer us well over five thousand potential test-question items.  Card C759 offers us only a single target-based question, which we can represent, including its spelling clue, as “T.s2m2n2r2 [to sow]. 

Card C773, on the other hand, offers us eleven well-formed questions.  As set forth below, the first two of these deal with two meanings (a and b) listed for the target word.  The remaining nine match up with their numerical identifications on both face and back, supplemented by lower-case letters to indicate additional meanings for a specific spelling.  A spelling (not necessarily different) for every different meaning — this is the basic principle behind our test-item construction system.

C773....Ta....s2d2r2 [to sit]....Tb....s2d2r2 [to sit down]....(1a) se2d2 [seat]....(1b) s2d2 [residence]....(2) s2d3 [chair].... (3a) s2d2l2 [seat].... (3b) s2d2l2 [bench].... (4a) s2d2t2 [session] (4b) s2d2t2 [sitting].... (5) a2s2d3 [siege] (6) (r2s2d2re) to reside. . . . . Total number of test items: eleven.

PRONUNCIATION CLUES. . . .  Our vocabulary power resides in our mind’s ear as much in our mind’s eye.  We can there, much like a “silent” spelling bee, replace our spelling clue for Card C759 with a phonetic transcription, namely, “say-meen-áh-ray,” for our target SEMINARE.  If we do this, we in effect double our number of potential test questions from 5,000 to 10,000, each of which can be duplicated and studied in advance by potential test takers — as opposed to the professional secrecy with which many of our professionally designed psychometric guessing games are now put together

MULTIPLE CHOICE MACHINE-SCORABLE TESTS. . . . As with Justice, test taking delayed is test taking denied.  So by way of offering our test takers plenty of chances to perform and even try their luck again and again (a key feature of High Stakes Testing, according to Richard Phelps), we need to translate our logically constructed answers into multiple-choice format, thereby opening the door to creative guessing balanced by more test items in a shorter period of test taking time.  By way of illustration here are four examples: two for Italian sedere (pronunciation and spelling) and two for English siccativee (also pronunciation and spelling).

1) An Italian definition-pronunciation test item. . . . Please designate the Italian word whose English equivalent is “to sit down” and whose pronunciation is represented via the Berlitz system as “say-DAY-ray.” Your designation should be made by indicating the LAST spelling vowel letter of the word via one of five options: (a) A; (b) E; (c) I; (d) O; (e) U, Y, or “none of these.”  

2) An Italian definition/ spelling clue test item. . . . Please designate the Italian word whose English equivalent is “to sit down” and whose spelling is represented by the syllabic clue “s2d2r2,” where the numbers add up to the total number of letters in the word. Your designation should be made by indicating the LAST spelling vowel letter of the word via one of five options: (a) A; (b) E; (c) I; (d) O; (e) U, Y, or “none of these.” 

3) An English definition/ pronunciation test item. . . . Please designate the English word, one of whose definitions is  “a substance used to promote drying” and whose pronunciation is represented via the Scholastic Children’s Dictionary system as sihk”uh-tihv’. Your designation should be made by indicating the LAST spelling vowel letter of the word via one of five options: (a) A; (b) E; (c) I; (d) O; (e) U, Y, or “none of these.” 

4) An Italian definition/ spelling clue. . . . Please designate the English word, one of whose English definitions is “a substance used to promote drying,” and whose spelling is represented by the syllabic clue “s3s1ti4.” Your designation should be made by indicating the LAST spelling vowel letter of the word via one of five options: (a) A; (b) E; (c) I; (d) O; (e) U, Y, or “none of these.” 

Comment. . . . By way of increasing our range of potential test-items, we can replace our “last spelling vowel letter” with “next to last” or even “antepenultimate” (just before next to last), there sextupling our number of potential items to 30,000 from our original 5,000 flash card spelling items. 

MINI-THESAURUS ITEMS FLASH CARDS. . . . Where dictionaries list their word entries alphabetically, a thesaurus lists its words by category: days of the week, the family, fruits, vegetables, etc.  Our Italian flash cards, like those for other languages, therefore present a number of these mini-thesaurus cards, each of which represents a learning challenge. 

C965f. Articoli di cucina. . . . 1) bicchiére (m).... (2) coltéllo.... (3a) cucchiáino.... (3b) cucchiaíno.... (4) forchétta.... (5) piatto.... (6) tazza.... (7) (m.).... (8a) továglia.... (8b) tovagliólo

C965b.  Kitchen items. . . . (1) glass....2) knife.... 3a) spoon.... (3b) teaspoon.... (4) fork.... (5) plate.... (6) cup.... (7) pan.... (8a) tablecloth.... (8b) napkin.

A practical option here is that of presenting this alphabetized word-category information (bccc; fptt; t) in a four-element learning-grid form, very much like a four-stress poem.  This format retains the memory-friendly alphabetical sequence and the numerical identification, while adding a predictable number-of-words per line to the mix.  Ideally it shouldn’t be necessary to write the 4-words-per-line version out.  But even if it is, the technique is worth using, since it works well with memorizing medical terminology and even dramatic parts.  If you can visualize it, you can memorize it — this basic poetic principle goes back to Simonides, and it still works.

C965f. Articoli di cucina.

[1] bicchiére (m).... coltéllo.... cucchiáino.... cucchiaíno....

[2] forchétta.... piatto....tazza.... (m.).... továglia....

[3] tovagliólo

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TO CONCLUDE. . . . What’s here basically puts the test at the center of the learning process, not at the end as an afterthought.  In a society that is moving away from commodity education toward more of a European-style emphasis upon high stakes tests and testable forms of knowledge, a strong case can be made for flash cards and up-front tests based upon flash cards.  When it comes to time and concentration, the act of learning has always been an equal-opportunity employer, after all.  Time versus talent — this tortoise-friendly tradeoff has always been there for us.  And that’s as it should be.     

And especially for tortoise-style learners (most of us, I’d say), here are three basic principles to keep in mind.

1)  IF YOU CAN’T HEAR IT, YOU CAN’T COME NEAR IT.

2)  IF YOU CAN’T SEE IT, YOU CAN’T RETRIEVE IT.

3) IF YOU CAN’T TEST IT, DON’T MESS WITH IT.