Well before children can read themselves they are able to learn from books with pictures. Looking through picture books such as Vocabulary Maps not only increases a child’s general knowledge and their understanding about the world but also promotes language acquisition.

Connecting pictures with words and actions in context makes it’s easier for the brain to understand and remember just like watching a movie is a sequence of images and videos put into a story. Pictures can set off emotions and bring back memories and feelings. This is why learning through visual imagery is such a powerful tool.

The Project

Vocabulary Maps and the Vocabulary Maps Workbook is the first context visualized workbook designed especially for visual learners who are just starting out learning a new language to a lower intermediate level.

This doesn’t mean that if you are at an intermediate to advanced level that it is not for you because brushing up on your vocabulary is always helpful for any language learner whatever the level. Learning with pictures isn’t just for children.

The workbook contains over 2000 words (verbs, nouns, idioms and phrases) all in context, 10 topics split into 100 maps. Topics range from travel and transport, food and cooking to human body and health etc. A vocabulary map always consists of the topic nouns connecting with verbs and phrases plus useful commonly used idioms!

Research has proven that visual learning leads to more verbal and nonverbal exchanges between parents and children, more chance to discuss topics because of the connections and also increases pro-activity and imagination in lessons.

ALSO READ: 6 VOCABULARY PUZZLES THAT STUDENTS CAN CREATE AND ENJOY!

Vocabulary Maps is a great tool for teachers

We have tested our vocabulary maps in over 70 schools in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and 60 homeschooling families plus language schools, private teachers and parents around the world.

70 % of testers found vocabulary maps very intuitive and easy to combine with the textbooks they use and 45 % of testers said that vocabulary maps make their teaching and lesson preparation even easier.

The workbook is available in English, German and Spanish on Kickstarter.com for $19 plus extra PDF printable packages are available for schools, teacher and parents who want to print out the maps, blank maps to practice spelling and memory and flash cards to create sequences and stories.

About the Authors

We are the Vocabulary Maps family: Tom, Suzi, William and Jasper! We are living and teaching English in the Czech Republic. We started this project in 2015 because we were both fed up with using typical columned, linear materials. So one day Suzi drew a map and we came up with Vocabulary Maps. We started studying more about how the brain works and found out that visual learning and context learning is something that our brain likes, so we combined these two facts into our maps and our students loved it! They started to remember more and were more proactive in the lessons. We have been working hard and having babies to create a workbook for visual learners like us.

 

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