chapéu-de-cobra, noun = toadstool, lit. “snake’s hat”

A good way to remember words is to associate them with pictures. The Portuguese word for toadstool conjures up the image of a snake in a hat. If you imagine that the hat is the colour and shape of a toadstool, it will help you to remember the word. The word toadstool itself conjures up an interesting image of a toad on a stool.

Another way to remember foreign words is to associate them with words with a similar sound in your native language, or any other languages you know. For example, the Russian word for eye is глаз (glaz) – sounds like glass. Imagine a Russian person with a glass eye or glazed eyes. It’s not always easy to find similar-sounding words in your language, but it’s worth the effort as this method can be very effective.

Another thing I do when learning new words is to break them down to their component parts. For example, the Welsh word for international is rhwngwladol, which is made up of the words rhwng (between, among), gwlad (country, nation) and ol, a suffix that turns nouns into adjectives.