to remember / to memorize

[rtf]

各位好：

 

 

 

A: 你在念课文吗？

B: 不，我在记生词呢

A: 这一课的生词你都记住了没有？

B: 没有

 

Please,in 我在记生词呢  is 记生词 'I`m remembering new words'  (doesn`t make much sense to me)

or  'I`m memorizing new words'?

 

Reason I ask is my dictionary gives 记 as 'to remember', as for 'to memorize' - it`s 记忆,so it should be 

B: 不，我在记忆生词呢

 

 

谢谢。

[somethingfunny]

This isn't going to be much help from a grammar point of view, but its more appropriate to use 背单词 in this situation.

 

我在背单词呢

 

The go to method of the Chinese student learning English because progress is measurable, ability easily tested and it's exceptionally easy to look like you're working hard when really you're doing nothing at all.

[rtf]

 

 

The go to method of the Chinese student learning English because progress is measurable, ability easily tested and it's exceptionally easy to look like you're working hard when really you're doing nothing at all.

 

?

[Lu]

While it's not good to use it as the only method, it's not like 背生词 doesn't take hard work.

 

OP: I too would use 背生词. 记生词 sounds a bit unnatural to me (but I'm not a native speaker). Other options might perhaps be 学 or 念. I would use 'memorise' for the process of getting them firmly into your head and 'remember' for finding them again in your head when you need them. (But I'm not a native English speaker either.)

[Shelley]

To memorise is the acting of committing to memory the new words, remembering is the act of calling to mind the the new words you have memorised.

 

You can't remember something you haven't memorised or learnt. You can remember other things like the smell of hot coffee or your partners perfume but if you haven't learnt it is theirs you can't remember its theirs.

 

 

[rtf]

Thanks,everyone.

 

For some reason it`s going in the wrong direction,maybe  it`s my fault, as my question wasn`t clear enough.

I have no problem whatsoever with what the different between 'to memorize' and 'to remember' is .My question is: can 记 mean 'to memorize',i.e. 'to commit to memory', 'to learn by heart',so as when asked 'What are you doing?' I could answer 'I`m learning (by heart) new words','I`m memorizing new words (so I can retrieve them in the future)'，

[somethingfunny]

OK, sorry things got a little off topic there.  The simple answer is: No.

 

For "commit to memory", "learn by heart", "memorise" etc. you should use 背

 

If you wanted to use 记 then you would be more likely to use the word 记住 which would be like "to remember (a thing/name/date etc.)

 

And while we're on the subject, you can use 记一下 for "to make a note of".

 

 

And yes, while learning new vocabulary does take hard work when done properly, the standard method I see being employed of just writing the same words over and over again doesn't take a lot of effort and isn't very effective.

[Messidor]

Chinese(mainland) say both 背单词 and 记单词 to mean "memorize words".

There may be regional difference of the frequency of the usage between them, but it won't make any difference if you used them interchangeably.

e.g.

你在干嘛呢？  What are you doing?

我在记单词呢 // 我在背单词呢。 I'm memorizing words.

记好了吗 / 记住了吗？ // 背好了吗？ Have you finished? ( sometimes this means "do you remember all of them now" )

[rtf]

Thanks,Messidor.