It was one of the coffee breaks when a colleague popped the question."What do you do to revise vocabulary?" I was kindled by it to find out more satisfying. So the search for activities to revise lexical items began. I realised that revision of lexical items was something I mostly expect students to do themselves. I was wrong overestimating their independence in keeping vocabulary. I have to recycle lexical items more often, even if it makes me feel like I’m stealing students’ time and preventing them from learning something new. Take students who forget anything just five minutes after you’ve taught, like an Alzheimer’s patients. You will see how vital it is. But how?

 ·       Revise previously learnt lexical items in the beginning of the lesson, as a warm-up.

·   To make it more fun, you can disguise it in a memory game. Simply tell students to listen to each classmate in order and add up one word after repeating formerly uttered ones themselves. Good to fix any pronunciation mistakes before they get fossilized as well.

·      Demonstrate visuals, realia and ask. Playing with the order or the speed of them can help you get some more attention and excitement.

·     Form groups or pairs and give them a limited time to write up as many words as then can on a topic you've taught before.

·    Brainstorm on the board, drawing a map of related lexical items. This will also give them an idea about how to keep their own vocabulary notes. Handy and organised.