---
title: "Building a Word Bank That Sticks"
description: "Keep your own store of words and phrases, and bring them back on purpose: write each one in a sentence you would actually say, test yourself from memory, and return to the ones that keep slipping. Mee"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/building-a-word-bank-that-sticks-mt_gGV99k0ZpI
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/building-a-word-bank-that-sticks-mt_gGV99k0ZpI.md
retrieved: 2026-09-12
---

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# Building a Word Bank That Sticks

Keep your own store of words and phrases, and bring them back on purpose: write each one in a sentence you would actually say, test yourself from memory, and return to the ones that keep slipping. Meeting a word once is not learning it.

Subject: Languages · Area: Language Learning · Ages 9 to 11
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/building-a-word-bank-that-sticks-mt_gGV99k0ZpI

## Ready when they can

- Record a new word inside a sentence of their own rather than as a bare translation
- Test themselves from memory instead of rereading the list
- Go back to words forgotten last time before adding new ones

## Lesson: A word bank that sticks

Words you meet once tend to slip away. Keep your own store so they stick. Add a few each day from books and chats, and never store a bare translation: write each word in a sentence of your own.

**Example.** Cards turn spare minutes into study. Word on one side, sense plus example on the back. Shuffle them well. Test from memory, not by rereading. Wrong cards join the pile again.

Space your practice over days. Pulling up a sense from memory makes it stick. Go back to last week's misses before new words. Sleep seals the work, so look again near bedtime.

Pin each word down fast. Link it to a funny picture in your head. Use it in talk within a day. A word used fast is a word kept.

**Recap.** Store each word in your own sentence, test from memory, and revisit the misses.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Cognates and False Friends](https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/cognates-and-false-friends-mt_5UdrDnwYCD)
- [Writing in a New Language](https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/writing-in-a-new-language-mt_aq8JZdKD3m)
- [Reading and Vocabulary in a New Language](https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/reading-and-vocabulary-in-a-new-language-mt_chlXo6jI0U)
- [Choosing a Strategy](https://lightmysky.com/learn/learning-to-learn/choosing-a-strategy-mt_q7zxOloj_L)

## Opens up

- [Asking For What You Need](https://lightmysky.com/learn/languages/asking-for-what-you-need-mt_Dn4GKSRgKd)