It is not enough just to know the meaning (or meanings of a word). You also need to know:
- Which words it is usually associated with.
For this, try to learn new words in phrases not in isolatins:
Write down words that commonly go together. These are called collocations:
Adjectives+nouns Verbs+ nouns Nouns in phrases Words+prepositions
- Its grammatical characteristics.
Note a special grammatical characteristics of new words. For example, note irregular verbs, uncountable nouns or nouns that are only used in the prural.
- How it is pronounced.
Note any special pronunciation problems with new words.
- Whether it is formal, informal or neutral.
Make a note if the word is partucalarly formal or informal in character, in other words if it has a particular register.