The simple act of opening a long list of words can be discouraging. After a few minutes, all the words start to run together, and then, if you’re like me, you forget most of them. Learning German vocabulary is easier when it’s learned in context. So rather than trying to memorize individual words, try to learn individual words with little phrases or in real-life situations. German has a tendency to create clusters of verbs, nouns, and little function words, so it helps to learn these clusters rather than trying to learn individual items.
The best way to do this is to work with real-life situations rather than individual words. So think of a real-life situation, like ordering a coffee or saying hello. Then think of three or four short German sentences that you might use in that situation, and read them several times out loud. So instead of trying to learn the words trinken, gern and Kaffee, it’s better to learn the sentence Ich trinke gern Kaffee. That way, you learn not just the words but also their grammar and pronunciation at the same time. And if you practice reciting the sentence, you’ll commit both the grammar and the individual words to memory at the same time.
Another trick is to modify the sentence slightly. So after practicing Ich trinke gern Kaffee, try modifying it slightly: Wir trinken gern Kaffee; Ich trinke morgens Kaffee; Ich trinke gern Tee. And so on. That way, you get practice using the sentence in different ways, but you aren’t overwhelmed by an infinite number of possibilities. Learning a few sentences and modifying them in a few simple ways is much easier than trying to learn dozens of words.
Another mistake I used to make is that I would try to learn too many words at once. I would end up learning very few of them, and forgetting most of them by the next day. It’s better to just learn a couple of words or expressions, and try to use them in as many different contexts as you can. Then, when you encounter the same expression in your listening, reading or speaking practice, you’ll have an easier time remembering it. German also has a lot of compound words, so it helps to recognize the pieces of words that you already know when you see them in new words.
Finally, here’s a daily routine that can help you make progress. Spend the first few minutes reading three sentences out loud several times. Pay attention to pronunciation and intonation. Then write the three sentences by hand and change one word in each sentence to create a new one. Then attempt to recall the sentences from memory. Say them quietly to yourself without looking at the page. If you can’t remember something, sneak a peek and then try again. This helps you practice repetition, modification, and recall, which are the three keys to learning new vocabulary without memorizing a long list.