Spaced repetition: what it is and how to use it
Spaced repetition means reviewing information at increasingly longer time intervals. It is one of the best-supported study techniques in memory research and fits vocabulary learning perfectly.
The forgetting curve
In the late 19th century, psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus studied how we forget what we memorize: forgetting is fast at first and slows down over time. Each time you recall a memory just before it fades, it becomes firmer and takes longer to forget. That is the idea behind the "spacing effect": spreading out your reviews works better than cramming them together.
An example schedule
There is no single rule; this is a rough guide:
- First review: the same day or the next.
- Second review: after 3 days.
- Third: after a week.
- Fourth: after 2-3 weeks.
- Later ones: more and more spread out (a month, several months).
If you miss a word, bring it closer again: review it tomorrow and restart the ladder of intervals.
How to apply it without special tools
- Leitner boxes: use several boxes (or folders). New words start in box 1 and are reviewed daily; if you get one right it moves up to the next box, reviewed less often; if you miss it, it goes back to box 1.
- A spreadsheet with the next review date for each word.
- Apps that schedule reviews for you.
Getting the most out of it
- Recall before looking: the effort of retrieving the word is what strengthens the memory.
- Small cards: one idea or word per card.
- Be consistent: reviews only work if you do them; a few minutes a day.
- Do not build up debt: if you skip a week, ease back in instead of trying to catch up in one day.
- Drop what is not useful: if a word is not useful to you, remove it.
And in LexiDrop
LexiDrop is not a spaced-repetition flashcard app with a fixed-interval algorithm, but it shares the underlying idea: words you miss, and mastered words you have not seen for a while, come back to your review list, and a word counts as mastered once you get it right 3 times in a row. Playing a few minutes every day helps you keep that rhythm.