How to Make New Vocabulary Stick
A practical, research-informed webinar for learners who want to remember more—and start using the words they already know.
You may recognise hundreds of useful words while reading or listening but still struggle to retrieve them in conversation or writing. We will explore why this happens and how retrieval, meaningful context and systematic recycling can help turn passive knowledge into active vocabulary.
Recognition Is Not Recall
Why familiar words often remain passive—and what makes them easier to retrieve when you speak or write.
Build Active Vocabulary
Practical strategies based on retrieval, spaced recycling, collocations, meaningful context and deliberate use.
What is this webinar about?
Learning a word is not the same as being able to use it. Many learners can recognise advanced vocabulary while reading or listening but struggle to retrieve the same words during a conversation or in writing. This is not simply a question of memory. Vocabulary becomes active through repeated retrieval, meaningful connections, appropriate context and opportunities for use. During the webinar, we will examine why some words become part of your working vocabulary while others disappear soon after you first encounter them. The session will combine research-informed principles with practical techniques that can be incorporated into independent study.
Why words do not stick
Why recognising a word in a text is easier than retrieving it independently, and why familiarity can create a false impression of mastery.
From passive to active vocabulary
What needs to happen before a word becomes available in speaking and writing rather than remaining something you merely understand.
Learning through connections and context
How collocations, word families, associations, examples and meaningful contexts make vocabulary easier to remember and use accurately.
Retrieval, recycling and deliberate use
How spaced review, retrieval practice and repeated use can strengthen long-term retention without relying on endless word lists.
Meet Your Teacher: Karina Tumasyan
The moment I was given my very first English coursebook I couldn’t contain my curiosity. Years of learning that followed have only made it more obvious: there are just a few other things that excite me as much as the phenomenon of language. I obtained a degree in foreign languages and teaching to share the joy of discovering the intricacies of English with my students.
My qualifications include:
- CELTA certification
- MA Linguistics, PhD in Philology (in progress)
- CAE Grade A, CPE Grade A
My mission is simple: to help you start thinking in English.
What you will take away
You will have a clearer framework for selecting, recording, reviewing and practising new vocabulary. You will also be able to identify why your current learning methods may not be producing active recall and choose more effective techniques for your own study routine.