Spaced Repetition (SRS)

Putting a new word into short term storage is relatively easy, but if you don't see it again for a long time then it will be forgotten. That’s where the Spaced Repetition System (SRS) comes in. If you’ve ever used Anki before you’ll be familiar with this concept. The Spaced Repetition System is built on decades of research into how memory strengthens through active recall and spaced intervals. When you first learn something, your brain forms a fragile neural connection. If you don’t revisit it, that connection weakens — that’s the forgetting curve. Each time you successfully recall an item just before forgetting it, your brain reconsolidates that memory — the connection literally grows stronger and more efficient.

SRS uses this principle algorithmically: it schedules reviews at increasing intervals based on your past performance. We currently use the intervals: 6 hours, 10 hours, 1 day, 2 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months. After the last level the card is effectively buried and you won’t see it again (unless you wait 10 years). If during a review session you get an item right on your first try, it moves up to the next level. If you get it wrong, then it stays on the same level. On this site we don’t punish mistakes by downgrading an item to the previous level.

So that’s the crux of it — the mnemonics work with your highly visual human brain to create the associations in the first place between the word and the meaning and reading, and the SRS system strengthens those connections until they’re solid. Some words will stick in your mind the very first time with very little effort; some you’ll make mistakes on and will come up more frequently until the connection gets stronger. Don’t sweat the mistakes, it’s part of the learning process and that’s what the SRS system is there to help you with.