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Did you learn words in your native language by deliberately memorizing them?

Yes, in middle school we had weekly tests where we got graded on our recollection of that week's vocabulary.

Wow, that sounds excruciating.

This is quite frequent in countries of the ex-soviet block. Most of the language classes we had were about rote memorization and recall of words without context.

It's a common thing in the United States too.

Right, I went to middle school in Maine (which is in the United States for those that are not that acquainted with it.) in an Urban region.

Sure. I remember adding words to my kids' vocabulary by repeating them and using them in context.

I didn't have to repeat any words for my kids - they'd figure out words like Gaurus and spoiler, sometimes even faster than their parents.

Kids pick up language differently though. Look at feral kids - the ones who have never picked up a language as a child often don't pick any languages up even later in life.

While my niece uses flash cards with her daughter as a game. She's not yet 2 and has 100 words already.

You can leave it all to chance, do it the same way the good ol parents did, it was good enough for me! Or you can plan how you raise your child.

Not a helicopter parent. Young Becky is as independent and happy as any other toddler.

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