How to Teach Vocabulary, Step-by-Step
A simple framework to help students remember and actually use new words.
Vocabulary is the beating heart of language. You can’t do much with grammar if you don’t have words to hang it on. And yet, teachers (me included, in my early years) often fall into the trap of thinking vocabulary is “easy.” Hand out a list. Translate. Test next week. Done.
The reality? Students forget. Fast. And when they do, it’s demoralising for them and frustrating for you. They want to remember. You want them to remember. But unless we change how we teach vocabulary, most of those words will leak away as quickly as they arrived.
Here’s the better news: vocabulary can stick — if we teach it step by step, with meaning, context, and practice all baked in. This is the process I’ve refined over years in classrooms from China to the UK.
What do we mean by “teaching vocabulary”?
It’s tempting to think vocabulary teaching is just: here’s a word, here’s the meaning, repeat after me. But real teaching goes further.
We’re helping students:
notice the word in context,
understand its meaning and how it’s used,
practise it in controlled ways,
experiment with it in freer tasks,
and revisit it enough times to make it part of their active language.
It’s not about “covering” 20 new words from a unit. It’s about moving a handful of high-value words from short-term memory into the learner’s long-term, usable store. If you’re interested in how this kind of planning works more broadly, I’ve written a piece on 1 simple lesson planning tool that ties in neatly here.
Why vocabulary matters so much
Students can survive with wobbly grammar, but without words, they’re stuck. Imagine trying to say something meaningful with perfect verb conjugations but only five nouns. You won’t get far.
When students expand their vocabulary:
They feel braver. A student with the word affordable suddenly has a way to talk about travel, shopping, food, and more.
They can finally express themselves in colour. “Good” becomes “delicious, amazing, brilliant, dreadful, affordable…”
Their fluency snowballs. More words mean faster comprehension, easier listening, and more natural speaking.
I once had a student in Vietnam who knew just enough grammar to scrape through, but his vocabulary was thin. After six months of focused vocab teaching, he told me: “Now I can joke with my friends in English.” That’s it right there. Vocabulary is freedom.
Why vocabulary is hard
Teachers often beat themselves up when words don’t stick. But the problem isn’t effort - it’s method.
Students see words once or twice, then never again.
Many coursebooks give lists with no recycling.
Some words don’t translate neatly, which confuses learners.
Teachers feel pressure to “get through the syllabus,” so they introduce more than students can realistically absorb.
If you’ve ever thought, “Why can’t they remember? I just taught this!”, you’re not alone. It’s not laziness. It’s just how memory works. Without meaningful practice and retrieval, words fade.
I talk more about this tension between coverage and learning in 7 lessons learned about lesson planning.
The step-by-step framework
Here’s the process that works — I promise, it’s easier than trying to cram and hope.
1. Choose fewer, better words
Don’t try to cover everything in the unit. Pick 6–10 words or phrases that are high-value, frequent, or relevant. Chunks are even better than single words (“look forward to,” “have a go,” “make progress”).
2. Present them in context
Never start with the word + dictionary definition. Show the words in action — through a story, a dialogue, a funny picture, or even a short personal anecdote. Context gives students mental hooks.
3. Clarify meaning, form, and pronunciation
Keep it simple but thorough:
Meaning: use concept-checking questions (“If a place is affordable, can rich people go there easily? Yes. Can poor students buy a private jet because it’s affordable? No.”).
Form: highlight patterns, word family, collocations.
Pronunciation: stress, connected speech, rhythm. Drill chunks, not isolated words.
4. Controlled practice
This is the safe zone. Gap fills, matching, substitution tables. Students focus on accuracy without pressure. Aim for 80% success here.
5. Freer practice
Now let them play with the words. Roleplays, short stories, mini-presentations. For example, after teaching “affordable,” have students design a weekend holiday package and sell it to the class.
6. Recycling and retrieval
This is the magic step most teachers forget. Quick review games at the end of class (board races, 3–2–1 recall, “explain this word to your partner without saying it”). Then bring those words back in future lessons - Day 2, Day 4, Day 7. Spaced repetition isn’t just for apps, it works in class too.
If you’re looking for ways to design tasks that make vocabulary stick, check out 5 steps to design kick-ass TEFL tasks.
How AI can make this easier
AI is a gift for busy teachers. I regularly use ChatGPT to:
Generate word lists by theme and level (no more trawling through corpora).
Create gap fills, quizzes, or mini-dialogues in seconds.
Provide example sentences that sound natural.
Roleplay a “student” or “customer” using the new words so learners can practise with an extra partner.
The trick is giving it a clear prompt — then tweaking what it gives you. Tools like this don’t replace your teaching, they free you up to focus on the human part: building connection, guiding practice, and giving feedback. I’ve shared some concrete prompt ideas in learning design for TEFL.
Top tips and things to watch out for
Less is more: you’ll get better long-term retention with five words taught well than 20 skimmed.
Make it personal: tie the vocabulary to students’ lives, inside jokes, or shared experiences.
Recycle deliberately: don’t leave review to chance — plan it in.
Check culture and nuance: words don’t always map neatly across languages. Watch for false friends.
Play with it: silly voices, stories, soap operas. Play builds memory.
One of my favourite classes invented a soap opera where characters constantly broke up and made up. Those two phrasal verbs? Burned into memory forever.
For more on this idea of students taking ownership, have a look at whoever does the thinking gets the learning.
Final takeaway
Teaching vocabulary isn’t about cramming lists. It’s about walking students through a journey: notice → understand → practise → use → remember.
When you build this step-by-step process into your lessons, you’ll see a change. Students won’t just nod along in class. They’ll use the words weeks later. They’ll bring them into new conversations. And best of all, they’ll feel the confidence that comes from having real language at their fingertips.
So next time you plan a vocab lesson, slow down. Pick fewer words. Teach them deeply. And watch your students’ language - and confidence - grow.
Also, if you’re willing to try something radically different, try the Diglot Weave method.
If you liked this article, you’ll love my books:
📝 Lesson Planning for Language Teachers - Plan better, faster, and stress-free.
👩🎓 Essential Classroom Management - Develop calm students and a classroom full of learning.
🏰 Storytelling for Language Teachers - Use the power of storytelling to transform your lessons.
🤖 ChatGPT for Language Teacher 2025 - A collection of AI prompts and techniques to work better, faster.
💭 Reflective Teaching Practice Journal - Improve your teaching in five minutes daily.
Make it personal! That's always the best way to learn anything :)