Before I get into answering your question, an important distinction (telling the difference between two things) needs to be made. "Learning" and "memorizing" are not the same thing. Before memorizing, a word should be learned. Learning usually comes from exposure (contact with) to new words. Personally, I read to learn new words, but not everyone does this the same way. How do you learn words in your native language? Try doing the same in your target language. Now, as for memorizing words, it depends on what you're trying to memorize. If it's something of a common noun, I tend to just use pictures, not translations, to identify words. This also helps with thinking in the target language. It should be noted, however, that simple images are not nearly effective as elaborate ones. It might be worth your time to look into "visual mnemonic techniques for memorization." A quick search should help you find what you're looking for. For words that are harder to visualize, I imagine their components or related words; synonyms. Additionally, I do this with the use of a spatial repetition system called Anki. It's free for the computer and Android devices. It's really worth a look into if you haven't heard of it already.