Vocabulary Notebook and Flashcard Methods That Work: Spaced Repetition Explained

How to organise a vocabulary notebook, make effective flashcards, and use the Leitner box and spaced repetition to keep new words for good.

Meeting a new word once doesn't make it yours. Without review, most new vocabulary fades quickly, a pattern first described by the psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus in the 1880s as the forgetting curve. The remedy is spaced review.

The forgetting curve

Ebbinghaus found that memory of new material drops steeply soon after learning, and then levels off. Reviewing just before you forget resets the curve, and each time the memory lasts longer. This is the basis of spaced repetition.

A good notebook entry

Whether on paper or in an app, record each word with:

The word (and its part of speech)
A short definition in your own words
An example sentence, ideally one you wrote
Synonyms and antonyms
Collocations or word partners
Word family (noun, verb, adjective forms)
Pronunciation notes, if tricky
Where you found it, and the date

This takes a minute but makes the word far more usable.

Organise by theme

Grouping words by topic, such as travel, emotions, work or science, helps you recall related words together. Alternatively, keep a chronological list, and use tags or highlighters.

Flashcards

Cards force you to recall, and recall strengthens memory more than rereading.

Front: the word, or a sentence with a gap. Back: definition, example, synonym.

Tips:

One word per card.
Use your own words.
Include an example sentence.
Test in both directions: definition to word, and word to definition.
Keep cards small and simple.

The Leitner box system

The German science journalist Sebastian Leitner popularised a simple system in the 1970s:

Prepare five boxes (or piles).
New cards go in Box 1.
Review Box 1 daily. If you answer correctly, the card moves up to Box 2. If not, it stays in Box 1.
Review Box 2 every few days, Box 3 weekly, Box 4 every two weeks, and Box 5 monthly.
If you get a card wrong in any box, it returns to Box 1.

Cards you know well are reviewed less; troublesome ones appear more often.

Spaced repetition schedule

If you don't use boxes, a simple schedule works: review a new word after a day, three days, a week, two weeks and a month. Mark words you find hard, and review them more often.

Digital versus paper

Paper: slow and tactile, which helps some people remember.
Digital: searchable, easy to edit, and can automate scheduling.

Choose what you'll actually use.

Daily habits

Add five to ten new words a day, not fifty.
Review before adding new ones.
Do a short session, ten minutes.
Use the words in conversation or writing within a day or two.

Test yourself actively

Cover the definition and try to recall. Say the word aloud. Write sentences from memory. Passive rereading feels comfortable but works poorly.

Remove words you know

After a word has been correct several times in a row, retire it, or keep it in a rarely reviewed box.

Keep it enjoyable

Add drawings, mnemonics or humorous examples. Emotional and vivid associations help memory.

Common mistakes

Adding too many words at once.
Skipping reviews.
Copying definitions without understanding.
Never using the words.

Practice

Choose ten words from your current reading, create cards with your own example sentences, and review them on the schedule above for two weeks.

Build your vocabulary with meanings, synonyms and examples in English Dictionary →