To remember a word long term, meet it again at widening gaps instead of studying it once and moving on. A new word is easy to recognise the same day and easy to lose two weeks later, because memory fades on a predictable curve. Reviewing at the right moments flattens that curve, and the moments are wider apart than most learners expect.
This guide sets out a review system you can run in ten minutes a day: when to review, how to review so it counts, a four-week schedule, and the habits that quietly waste time. It works alongside the word lists on this site, so you always have material ready.
Recognition during study feels like learning, but it is mostly familiarity. A word read on a list is available for a few minutes and then fades. The fix is not more time on the first meeting; it is a small number of well-timed returns. Three short reviews spread across two weeks do more than one long session, even though the total time is similar.
Repeated returns also build a second, more useful kind of knowledge: you stop recognising the word and start producing it. Production is what speaking and writing actually require.
A workable pattern for each new word is: same day, then one day later, then three days, then one week, then three weeks. Each successful recall earns a longer gap. If recall fails, shorten the gap instead of starting over, and count the word as new again.
| Review | Timing | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | same day, later | say the word and its meaning without looking |
| 2 | next day | use it in one spoken sentence |
| 3 | three days | write one sentence containing it |
| 4 | one week | find it in reading or listening, or make a new sentence |
| 5 | three weeks | recall it in a different topic context |
Keep twenty to thirty active words in the system at a time. More than that and the daily reviews start taking longer than ten minutes, which is the point where most learners quit.
Reading a word list again feels productive and changes very little. Recall does the work. Cover the meaning column and say what each word means; cover the word and say it from the meaning; say the word aloud in a sentence you have not used before.
Two active formats cover most needs. For meaning, use the word lists here — start with the first 50 words (A1) or move on to B1 words — and quiz yourself in both directions. For production, use the memory match game or the my-deck review tool, which bring words back without you planning the order.
After week 4, keep one day a week for the whole month's words. Weekly review of old material is what turns a four-week project into long-term memory.
Three habits cost most learners their progress. Rereading a list without covering anything gives a strong feeling of knowing and almost no retention. Learning isolated words without a sentence leaves you unable to use them. And reviewing only what you already know feels good but leaves the hard words untouched — the hard words are exactly the ones that need the reviews.
A fourth, quieter mistake is reviewing too much in one sitting. One long weekly session loses to five short daily ones, because the gaps between sessions are part of the method.
With active recall at widening gaps, most learners reach reliable recognition after four or five well-spaced reviews. That is far fewer than routine rereading requires, because each review happens just before the word would be forgotten.
Occasionally, and quickly. Familiar words still fade, and a fast recall check costs seconds. Spend most of the time on words you cannot yet produce in a sentence.
Both, in that order. A list gives you a set to manage and a way to schedule reviews; context gives you sentences, collocations and a feel for when the word fits. Use the list for review and reading or listening for use.
Shorten the gap rather than repeating the whole schedule. Put it back on a one-day review, then three days, then a week. Forgetting is information about timing, not evidence that the word is unlearnable.
Five to ten minutes. If it regularly runs longer, your active list is too big. Cut back to twenty words and let the schedule do the work.