How to learn vocabulary and make it stick
What actually makes words stick: what memory research says, how to train your ear, and the small habits that keep a language going. The app shows one of these each day.
Advice for any language
- Learn new words as the last thing before bed, and review them first thing in the morning — your brain consolidates memories while you sleep.
- Struggling to recall a word before the answer appears is not failure — that effort is exactly what builds the memory. Guessing wrong and then seeing the answer teaches more than re-reading ever does.
- Fifteen minutes every day beats two hours once a week. Each short session catches your words right before you'd forget them.
- Forgetting is part of the plan. When you miss a word, the app simply brings it back sooner — that's the system working, not you failing.
- Don't add too many new words at once — 10–20 per session is the optimal number.
- Say new words out loud, don't just read them. Words your mouth has produced stick better than words your eyes have seen.
- Mix a few old words into every session alongside the new ones. Switching between remembering and learning feels harder — and that extra effort is exactly what makes both stick.
- Type a short sentence with a new word about your own life into the Dictionary — it will be translated, and you can add it to a Word List for practice. Words tied to personal experience are the hardest to forget.
- Link a strange new word to a picture or a funny association — the sillier, the more memorable.
- Play every new word's sound at least once instead of guessing from the spelling — unlearning a wrong pronunciation later is far harder than hearing it right the first time.
- Learn words in the company they keep. “Make a decision”, not just “decision” — set phrases are what fluent speech is built from.
- When a word finally sticks, collect its relatives almost for free: “decide” brings along “decision” and “decisive”. Related words prop each other up in memory.
- Watch out for words that look exactly like one in your language — they don't always mean the same thing. When a familiar-looking word behaves strangely, look it up: it may be a false friend.
- Met a word you couldn't remember while reading or studying? Look it up in the Dictionary and add it to a Word List for learning and practice.
- Heard a word you don't know? Write it down the way it sounds, then find it in the Dictionary or your Word Lists — the filter matches partial words.
- Pick listening material where you understand roughly two-thirds. Too easy teaches nothing; too hard teaches frustration.
- You don't have to catch every word. Listen for the overall meaning first — the details come with time.
- Try shadowing: play a short clip and repeat right on top of the speaker, copying their rhythm and melody. Ten minutes a day noticeably improves both pronunciation and listening.
- For reading, pick texts where you understand almost everything without a dictionary — children's books and graded readers are perfect. Lots of easy reading beats a struggle with hard texts.
- Tie your practice to an existing habit — with morning coffee, on the commute — so it happens without deciding each day.
- On a busy day, don't skip — shrink. Three words keep the habit alive, and the habit is worth more than any single session.
- A word you keep missing isn't hopeless, it just needs more meetings. Difficult words get extra attention automatically — keep showing up.
- Learning themed batches — food, travel, weather — helps words reinforce each other. Try the Topic lists.
- If you find it hard to type answers in time during Practice, open Settings (the gear icon in the top right) and slow down the timer.
- Memory grows in the gaps between reviews, not in extra repetitions — that is why a word takes months, not days, to become permanent. In your garden that is about half a year to the glowing flower; press ? there for the whole ladder.
Tips for learning German
- For German nouns, always learn the article as part of the word: it's “der Tisch”, never just “Tisch”.
- When you learn a German verb, glance at its forms — recognizing “ging” as “gehen” unlocks half of real texts. And you can practice a verb's forms directly from the “Verb forms” word list.
- Practice in both directions. Recognizing a German word and producing it from your own language are two different skills — flip the direction now and then.
- The best way to start understanding German by ear is nature documentaries: clearly enunciated speech at a slow pace, describing exactly what you see on screen.
- Just starting to listen to German? Reduce the playback speed, turn on subtitles, and write down new words to add them to your learning and practice exercises.
- Once you can follow the gist, switch the subtitles to German instead of your own language. Hearing and reading the same words at once ties sound to spelling.
- Learn the lyrics of one German song you truly like. The melody replays in your head for free — and carries the words along with it.
- Narrate small moments of your day to yourself in German — what you're cooking, what you see from the bus. It's free speaking practice, and nobody hears your mistakes.
Tips for learning English
- When you learn an English verb, glance at its forms — recognizing “went” as “go” unlocks half of real texts. And you can practice a verb's forms directly from the “Verb forms” word list.
- Practice in both directions. Recognizing a English word and producing it from your own language are two different skills — flip the direction now and then.
- The best way to start understanding English by ear is nature documentaries: clearly enunciated speech at a slow pace, describing exactly what you see on screen.
- Just starting to listen to English? Reduce the playback speed, turn on subtitles, and write down new words to add them to your learning and practice exercises.
- Once you can follow the gist, switch the subtitles to English instead of your own language. Hearing and reading the same words at once ties sound to spelling.
- Learn the lyrics of one English song you truly like. The melody replays in your head for free — and carries the words along with it.
- Narrate small moments of your day to yourself in English — what you're cooking, what you see from the bus. It's free speaking practice, and nobody hears your mistakes.