Maintaining a language over time involves more than holding on to what you already know. Languages are constantly changing, and you need to keep up to stay current and use the language with others.

In German, for example, Hamsterkauf (literally “hamster buying”) showed up recently to describe pandemic-induced panic buying, as did “Coronaspeck” as a name for the weight gained during quarantine.

Where are you likely run into all this new language for the first time? Perhaps on social media while social distancing (another relatively new expression!) Tweets, YouTube comments, Instagram captions, etc. give you access to current, unfiltered, native speaker language.

Of course, social media is infamous for being a time sink. But that’s not the case if it’s in your target language. Adding the words, phrases, slang, acronyms, etc. from your social media forays to Transparent Language Online will help you make sure time spent on social media is time well spent.

Look up words, phrases, even acronyms you don’t recognize and add them to your Learned Vocab.

You can easily add new words, phrases, slang, and so on to your Learned Vocab, where it can be refreshed and maintained over time. You can add individual items or bulk import vocabulary and customize it with images, audio, and annotations.

The interesting or challenging vocabulary you add becomes part of an automated refresh system that keeps your entire collection continually active in your memory by challenging you with some well-chosen items each day. That few minutes of daily Learned Vocab refresh, probably on your phone, helps you develop the habit and maintain what you’re learning over time!

Ready to start building and reviewing your vocabulary? Log in now, sign up for the 14-day free trial of Transparent Language Online, or get it free at a library near you.