TOEFL

Use a system to memorize vocabulary. Don't just write a list of English words next to their Chinese equivalents. Find a hook to link the English and Chinese, or to link the new word to a word you already know. Use a picture, even if it is just in your mind.

Remember the new word in a memorable sentence -- making every word start with the same letter migt work well. For example, to learn the new word "bake": bake sounds like make, and it's a way to "make" food. Make bread -- the b from bread is used instead of the m in make : "bake bread" "Brian bakes brown bread before breakfast". Another example, visa: what you need in your passport to travel to another country. You already know "visa card" so try to link the two words. Visas always cost money, right? "I used my visa card to pay for my visa for Vietnam."

This is very very important, and it's something that you have to do for yourself! A teacher can't do it for you.. You have to find the system that works for you. Do it after class with all the new vocabulary that you learned in class.

Developing a good memory is key to learning a language. But you'll have to train that memory -- it probably isn't good enough yet.