The Gold Listing Method - A Method of Acquiring Large Amounts of Vocabulary Words in Language Learning

This is a method of intense vocabulary retention for anyone that's serious about language learning. This method was created by David J. James, based on the works of Herman Ebbinhaus, who was the first to investigate the functions of the human memory. It is also based on research in neurolinguistic programming. This is based on the theory that the LTM (long-term memory) will populate itself with whatever you put in front of it anyway.

When you cram information into your memory, you're going to put things into your STM (short-term memory). According to Ebbinhaus, the LTM samples from the STM at the rate of about 30%.

Moreover, according to neurolinguistic programming, it is shown that pleasant experiences stick more into the LTM than unpleasant experiences.

The best allotted time to absolutely maximize efficiency in learning according to research is 20 minutes. By separating learning into 20 minute chunks, you're lessening the chances that your brain will get tired (which detriments the function of the LTM) and allowing the brain to recover after each break, which at the same time maximizes the amount of information that goes into the LTM.



On the Method:

The groups of these words do not have to necessarily be in any order. They can be words that you want to learn the most, they can be grouped into themes, or they can just be completely random. The order does not really matter. What matters is that you focus on the end goal and be confident that the method will take you far in your language learning, simple because the science behind it works.

The method itself works only (or rather, most effectively) through hand-written lists. This is because there is a certain memory that is associated with the muscle movements. Reading out loud as you're writing helps too, because there is a certain memory that connects with the voice as well.

These will be grouped in 25 words each.

General grammatical paradigms should not be something that should be worried about too much. But any grammatical variations that are associated with that word ought to be included in the vocabulary level. Little proverbs or small sentences can also be included in this group of 25.

The first distillation (this is when you make a list of the words you still don't know) will be done between 14 days to 2 months. 14 days (which is the preferable time) is the amount of time that something should stick into the LTM, so it's an appropriate time to test how much is actually in the LTM.

There will be 4 distillations, and naturally, the list should decrease over time. After the 4th distillation, if there are any words left, make a new set of 25 words, which include the words that are leftover after the 4th distillation.

So, there will be 3 distillations. The theory goes that once you write down the first original 25 words, they are already going into your memory. So, the 1st distillation will contain 17 words (so take out 8 that you remember the easiest) and put the rest into the new list. The 2nd distillation will contain 12, and the 3rd distillation will contain 9. If you put the original list plus the 3rd distillation in one page, and the 1st and 2nd distillation in the other page, it will fit in two pages of any college ruled notebook. Each distillation can use a different color.

Some tips by David J. James:

1. Don't use mnemonics to help memorize words. This will end up being very confusing in the long run. "Just as well, if they did, they would create a learner who, when he came to fluency, would not be able to say 'kot' without thinking about a baby's bed. Ridiculous."
2. Don't cram! This runs under the principle that the LTM is not a conscious function.
3. Pay attention to study times (20 minute sessions, with at least a 10 minute break).
4. Get comfortable when learning, don't rush, and use attractive materials (good pens/pencils and good quality notebooks etc.) Pleasant memories get situated in the LTM. Also, make sure to get enough Omega 3's, vitamins minerals, sunlight, air, water and sleep. 
5. Use a variety of materials that present the content in a different way. 
6. Make sure to use every grammatical variation of a word as a separate vocabulary word. For example: begin, began, begun etc. Also, make sure to write the date in which you put the words into the list.
7. There are many other possible uses for goldlisting other than languages. Take this to heart! (However "languages is the place where the dividends it pays are the most clearly evident.") 
8. After writing the words, read them out loud. After 20 minutes, take a 10 minute break. "If after ten minutes, you would like to go on to the next session, then you turn the page of the vocab book, go to the top left of that double page and to the next 25 numbered words. Then read them out aloud, and then take another break. You are enjoying the language, not cramming it." 
9. Don't do more than about 10 such a day. If you get anywhere near that, make sure they are spaced out with other things going on between them.
10. "The act of discarding words from the distillation is the final stimulus to learning them, by the way. Psychologists discovered that. . . Note that we tend to lose and spend time looking for things which we intended to keep and often put in a special hiding place, but we rarely forget the things that we have thrown away or given away. We don’t usually think we still have them and look around for them. So the very conscious act of discarding tricks the subconscious memory, namely the long-term memory, into being sure it jolly well has got those discarded bits."
11. Your first book with 4 distillations will be the 'bronze book'. The 'silver book' will take you to the 7th distillation. This can be used if you want. "As the number of repetitions on average that are needed in order to learn the words to the end is 3.3 (some are learned after one but some will only be learned on the tenth reiteration or ‘distillation’) then we know that having 40 percent of one’s head list in place is equivalent to 13 percent of the whole work."
12. "Language learners using the long term memory will obtain a large passive knowledge of the language. They will quickly move towards being able to read newspapers and novels in the language. But they may have difficulty and be discouraged when placed in a situation where they have to “activate” their knowledge and start talking. They will feel tongue tied, and not be able to find words that, when someone tells them, they know they knew. The activation of a language learned well in my method by means of immersion in the environment of the language takes a maximum of three days. In this time, the person who has spend the hours with his vocab book doing what I suggested above, and doing grammatical exercises, suddenly starts speaking the language with fluency, and the experience of this “activating” can be very exhilarating, actually."

Example of how a set of 25 words will look like after the first 3 distillations: