What is Spaced Repetition?
Spaced repetition is a method of growing your brain’s ability to remember what Spanish words you learned. The idea is simple: by testing yourself at steadily-growing intervals, you can improve your chances of remembering something not only tomorrow, but also for years to come. When you space out your learning over time, you forget more slowly!
How does spaced repetition work?
Think of your brain as a muscle, like your bicep. If you want to get stronger arms, you could go straight to the heavy weights and try to lift hundreds of pounds on your first day in the gym (not recommended). On the other hand, you could start by lifting some 5-pound weights and give yourself some time to rest. The next time you come to the gym, try lifting 7 pounds. A few days later, try 10 pounds. By working your way up to heavier and heavier weights in each workout, you’ll get stronger each time. Your brain works in similar ways. Your brain’s version of lifting progressively heavier weights is remembering things over longer and longer periods of time.
Why should I use spaced repetition?
On SpanishDictionary.com, we take into account your individual performance on each vocabulary word to determine how much time should pass in between your study sessions. This approach has the potential to triple the amount of Spanish vocabulary you retain long-term, while saving you countless hours of study time.
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