I have found that many people will try to memorize vocabulary from a foreign language with this thought process.. (foreign word) ->(native word) ->concept or whatever the word makes them think of For instance for a native English speaker learning Korean... 불 -> fire -> a mental image of fire, imaging heat, the smell of smoke When someone learns vocabulary like this, they have to constantly translate everything into their native language, whether listening or speaking. If at all possible, I try to associate foreign vocabulary directly to the concept. If I am learning 불 (fire), I will imagine or actually look at fire, while trying to use the word in a way that is meaningful to me. This way, when I hear 불, I think of the concept of fire, rather than the English word "fire." What you end up with is this thought process... fire -> concept of fire Or 불 -> concept of fire I hope this helps.

I believe it'll be much easier for you to memorize those words by putting them into a funny context.. Like if you can't remember how to say elephant (and I know, this is a very bad word choice) "I ate an elephant" <-- place the word in a weird context, and it'll suddenly become much easier to remember :) As for spelling, sometimes seperating the word in different parts makes it very easy.. Like the word "beautiful": be - a - u - ti - ful those are all (almost all) real English words, but spelled wrong :P I hope this was of some kind of help to you :)

Hi a blog called fluent in 3 months may be of use to you as it has some very helpful tips on how to memorise things easier, for example; turn a word into a story, like Benny Lewis in his book describes memorising the Chinese word mùbiāo into moo bee ow like a cow falling out of the sky with a moo then being stung by bees and saying ow. I don't speak Chinese though I want to learn but I have remembered that word ever since I read it as being target. Also turning a phrase into a song/ singing it to the tune of a well known song could help. Hope this has been useful.

I think there are no easy way to memorize English words. The hard works make better results. ^-^

If you want to learn words very well, it is important to learn them in context and to use them in real situations. I recommend vocabulary.com because they have links to real news articles in many different contexts, so you can read how they are used in many different ways. After that, sign up for a lesson on iTalki and use them with a teacher - or use them in your daily life if you have the opportunity.