Learn words in phrases, not in isolation
"Postpone" alone is harder to recall in conversation than "postpone the meeting" or "postpone until next week." Learning a word already attached to how it's actually used makes it far easier to retrieve when you need it in a real sentence.
Focus on frequency, not obscurity
A learner's time is better spent mastering the 500 or so words that come up constantly in everyday conversation than chasing impressive but rare vocabulary. Everyday fluency comes from comfort with common words, not occasional use of unusual ones.
Use new words within 24 hours
A new word used in an actual sentence — spoken or written — within a day of learning it is far more likely to stick than one left unused. This is one reason vocabulary sessions that include speaking practice work better than vocabulary sessions that are just reading and memorising.
Group words by topic, the way conversations actually happen
Real conversations cluster around topics — a doctor's visit, a school event, a work update. Learning vocabulary in topic clusters, rather than alphabetically or randomly, mirrors how you'll actually need to retrieve it later.