Learning new vocabulary in a foreign language can take place in a variety of ways.

Based on the
type of words to be learned, learners can benefit from different approaches that are available for
learning new vocabulary. Some students simply prefer to get help from their first language and translate
the new vocabulary into their mother-tongue and try to memorize them, while other students and
practitioners may use other strategies like finding the meaning in the target language with the help of
synonyms, antonyms, and definition of the words. But the main question is, in cases where both of
these approaches are available, which one is more effective and more efficient? I personally believe that
based on two reasons, learning new words through translation is not as much effective as the second
approach. One reason is that learning new vocabulary in the target language helps students to pay more
attention to different aspects of a word and develop a clear image of the word in their mind rather than
just memorizing the first language meaning. Another reason is that it improves students’ “thinking in
foreign language skill” to a great amount, minimizes their dependency on the mother tongue, and
increases their fluency in speaking and writing and other skills.

The first reason for learning new vocabulary in the target language is that it helps students get a
deeper understanding of the new words. If they want to understand the meaning of a particular word in
a sentence, for instance, words like “small” or “difficult”, they need to pay close attention to the part of
speech of the word and its meaning in the context. It gives them a deeper understanding of not only the
meaning of the words but also their usage in a text and facilitates the process of using the words again
and increases speaking fluency consequently. Moreover, they can learn new vocabulary with the help of
synonyms and antonyms, too. In fact, it’s recommended to learn the new words through synonyms
which can be once again beneficial for fluency in speaking. We will talk about it in more detail in the
following.

The next reason for learning new words in the target language is to make the language yours.
Instead of translating their target language into their native language and visa-versa, they’re looking for
a target language word and a target language definition and synonyms. This can prevent learners from
making unnecessary shifts in their minds and develop their thinking in foreign language skill. Learning
new words with definitions and synonyms helps students to make connections between words and
synonyms and expand their vocabulary sets and use a variety of words in their speaking, avoid annoying
repetitions and make smart use of words quickly without unnecessary shifts between two languages. A
monolingual dictionary is just what students need besides their bilingual dictionaries.

Overall, there is a diversity of ways to learn new words in languages; However, in the end, it is
the situation that determines what choices we have. Of course, for beginner language learners, it’s next
to impossible to use monolingual dictionaries or learn a word with its target language definition. But for
an intermediate learner of a language, using monolingual dictionaries and thinking in the target
language can mark an important step in their language learning journey.