I want to investigate vocabulary learning, particularly of a foreign language.

My proposed experiment would teach people Spanish vocabulary and pair it with an English synonym. I'd like to use different English words. Ones that are cognates, somewhat related, and unrelated to the Spanish word. If possible, I'd like to use the same Spanish words with different English words.

Then, a day or so later, I'd ask them to recall the Spanish word when shown the English word.

My goal would be to show that when you pair a vocab word with a similar word, it's easier to remember. And I hope there would be a gradual effect for words that are slightly related.

Thoughts, problems? This is mostly just for my own records, but feedback is always welcome.