The best way to build vocabulary in a new language is not to memorize lists of words, but to learn words that are relevant to your own interests. A great way to build vocabulary that will be useful to you is to use the text analyzer and vocabulary lists at:
http://www.online-spanish-course.com/
First, find something you are interested in reading in Spanish, copy it, and past it into the text analyzer page of the site. Press “Analyze Text” and then you can get an English translation of words you don’t know by passing your cursor over the word. Not only does this help you read an article that might be just beyond your level, but you can also add the new words to your own vocabulary list, and practice them daily until they are part of your vocabulary. The site lets you hear the pronunciation, select from multiple choice answers, or spell the word out yourself–you decide. And you also decide how frequently a word appears, and when to take it off your list. A good way to learn words that are meaningful to you! In my trial run, I found about 90% of the words in the article I used to be part of their database.
