I don't know whether it's useful to study vocabulary in a big block of time, say for several months. I think it's better to look at the vocabulary in context. If you have that context or if you see the vocabulary in reading or hear the word in a drama, the word will likely stick.
So I am in a quandary. Because I have heard or read some of the vocabulary elsewhere, these words are easier to remember.
So I think I need to supplement the learning of the vocabulary with a little reading.
I am going through the Voca Training book more quickly. I am not writing down the word each time in exercises; sometimes I am saying the word only. This saves time. Also I am reading the word aloud too. I think it helps to hear the word.
So watching movies in the past has helped. I have heard the word in the past in movies and am familiar with the word; therefore it is easier to memorize.
I think I have to supplement my memorization with some reading.
I don't know whether to read easy readers or read the news at this stage.
I don't want to overwhelm myself at this stage. I don't want to spend too long looking things up.
I think if I like the topic, the words are going to stick in my head. For example, I studied an episode of King Gwanggaeto and learned the vocabulary. The words have stuck in my head but I don't know whether the words are really that useful.
I might try all of these things and see what works best.
The problem with studying newspapers is that I have to prepare a lot of materials and have certain materials at hand. I need to print off the article. I have to have a pad for making a list of vocabulary. I need to look up a dictionary.
I think watching a drama episode I enjoy and watching with subtitles and looking up the words in a dictionary and writing the vocab in a notebook, and then memorizing the words is the way to go to break the monotony of learning from vocab books. This will improve my intonation and pronunciation as well.
Gradually, I will build up more and more words and improve my ability to read newspaper articles.
Then I can try news articles and make my own vocab lists.
It really depends on the quality of the vocab books out there. If the high school/college level voca books are good - that is, there are vocab lists and translations - then I will use these voca books and move onto news articles only when I've exhausted the vocab books.
