Memorizing vocabulary is often one of the most intimidating parts of learning a new language. But it is do-able! Students are often surprised to hear that my own natural memory is poor. I have been able to build up a good working vocabulary in several languages, though, by consistently using a few simple techniques.

Click here to read my suggestions for effective memorization.

Anki Flash-Card Software

Click here to learn about the free, intelligent flash-card program Anki. It is a quick download and will run on Linux, OSX, Windows, and even iPhone and PalmOS. You can also sync your flash cards between multiple computers and drill online if you are away from your own PC. An invaluable tool!

If you appreciate the Anki software, why not make a small donation to support the program's author, Damien Elmes, in his generous work.

Anki card sets for Koine Greek

Here are Anki card sets and pdf word-lists for Koine Greek grouped by word-frequency in the New Testament:

To use the Anki word-list, first save the card-set file somewhere on your computer. Then start the Anki program and select "File" from the top menu. From the "File" menu select "Open." A file-browser window should appear. Find the card-set file (where you saved it on your computer), select it by left-clicking on the file name, and then click the "open" button. Now you're ready to drill your vocabulary!

If you can't immediately see all of the letters in some words (i.e., you get some empty boxes where letters should be), you just need to change the font being used for the Greek side of the cards. Any font will work provided that it includes all of the Greek characters. Computers running Windows or OSX should have at least "Palatino Linotype" or "Arial Unicode MS." My favourite is Gentium, which can be downloaded free here. With your deck open, go to the "Settings" menu and choose "fonts and colors." Then set the font to one of these three mentioned above.

To add the cards from a new set to your existing card set, begin again by downloading the new card-set file to your computer. Then start Anki and open your existing card-set. With that set open, select "File" from the top menu. In the "File" menu, select the "Import" option. A file-browser window should appear. Find the card-set file which you want to add (where you saved it on your computer), select it by left-clicking on the file name, and then click the "open" button. The cards are now added to your database and you are ready to drill!