Learning Strategies #156 - The One Guaranteed Way to Learn Words & Phrases for Good: Spaced Repetition Flashcards
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What if there was a guaranteed way to learn new words fast? You'd speak way more of your target language, right? Well, such a way exists. It's called spaced repetition flashcards, and you'll see just what makes this method powerful in just a bit. But first, if you don't yet have access to our language learning system, sign up for a free lifetime account right now. Just click the link in the description to get your free lifetime account. What is spaced repetition?

So first, let's talk about spaced repetition. What is it? And why is it so powerful for learning languages? First off, spaced repetition is exactly what it sounds like. It's learning that gets spaced out over time. Imagine this. You learn a new phrase today.

And instead of trying to memorize for the next 20 minutes so you can remember it forever, you just walk away for the day. But then you come back tomorrow to review, then again two days later, then again three days later, and so on. So you're spacing out your learning. You learn. You take a break.

you come back later. Why do it this way? There are two big reasons. First, you need repetition to learn anything. I mean, think about it. When was the last time you heard something once and it stuck forever? You'd be fluent by now if that worked. And second, your brain remembers better when you take breaks in between reviews. If you try to cram it all in at once, your brain has no time to process and you forget everything as quickly as you learned it.

But by spacing out your learning, you're giving your brain time to rest, process, and remember new words and phrases. So that's spaced repetition learning. And spaced repetition flashcards apply this spaced repetition method to help you learn the language and remember it for good. Instead of you having to remember when to review certain words, the flashcards do this for you and test you accordingly. How to use the spaced repetition flashcards inside our system.

Now, let's talk about how to use our spaced repetition flashcards. You'll find the flashcards in the vocabulary drop-down menu on our site. There, you'll see the 100 must-know words deck waiting for you. That's a ready-made deck you can start with.

But you can also make flashcard decks using words and phrases from our lessons, the 2000 core word list, words in your word bank, and our free vocabulary lists. So click Study and then Start Session to begin. Here's how it works. You'll see a word or phrase, and your job is to see if you know it or not.

Click Show Answer to check. If you got it right, mark it as Correct. If not, mark it as Incorrect. You can even rate how well you knew it by clicking on the spectrum from Correct to Incorrect. You can also set it as Mastered to never see it again. And here's where the flashcards put spaced repetition to work.

They start sorting the words based on how well you know them. The words that you don't know will show up until you get them right. For the words you know, these will start getting spaced out. You'll see them in two days, then five days, then 13 days, and so on. So you don't forget them over time. When you're done with a session, that's it. Come back tomorrow. How to customize your learning with spaced repetition flashcards.

The most common way to quiz yourself with flashcards is simple. You see the word in your target language and check if you know the meaning. But there are other ways to quiz yourself too. In the settings, you can choose from three modes. Listening, hear the word and check if you understand it. Production, see the translation and try to recall the word in the target language. Recognition, see the word and check if you know its meaning.

You can use one, two, or all three modes to learn even faster. So if you haven't tried learning with spaced repetition yet, give it a try. It's a guaranteed way to learn new words and remember them for good. And in the grand scheme, you'll learn much faster and spend less time on the actual vocab study.

So if you want to learn the language and get access to these learning tools and our learning system, sign up for a free lifetime account right now. Just click the link in the description to get your free lifetime account.