Filipino hero Jose Rizal spoke over 10 languages, including Ilokano. For the most part he was self taught. The primary technique he used to amass such a knowledge of language was to learn 5 words a day, for a total of 1825 words a year! Considering that most languages use only 1000 words for 90% of all conversation, he would be considered fluent by most standards in less than a year!.
Dr. Rizal is a prime example of the importance of vocabulary. So to get your started on your way to learning I am providing you with a week's worth of words. Keep an eye out for patterns that will help you keep these words straight. Also don't forget about the mnemonics method we discussed earlier, it will help speed up the process. You can memorize these any order, so don't stress over the order I put them in.
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1. Ditóy- "here" close to speaker
2. Ditá- "there" far from speaker, close to listener
3. Idiáy- "there" far from speaker and listener
4. Daytóy- "this" close to speaker
5. Daytá- "that" far from speaker, close to listener
6. Daydiáy- "that" far from speaker and listener
7. Inumén- drink, noun
8. Baláy- house
9. Trabáho- work
10. Sáo- talk
11. Kótse- car
12. Eskuéla- school
13. Kanen- food
14. Kan- eat
15. Ala- get
16. Kuarta- money
17. Gatang- buy
18. Pan- go
19. Umay- come
20. Bigát- morning
21. Malem- afternoon
22. Aldaw- day
23. Rabii- night
24. Naimbag- good
25. Dakkel- big
26. Bassit- small
27. Napintas- beautiful
28. Naguapo- handsome
29. Nagasang- spicy
30. Natayag- tall
31. Banio- bathroom
32. Manok- chicken
33. Libro- book
34. Lalaki- male
35. Babai- female
There you go, a weeks worth of words to memorize. Of course you are not limited to just these 35, especially if there ones you already know. Learning a language is all about how much effort you put into it. Good luck!
Until next time, ditakayon.