What is Spaced Repetition? How to Use it for Studying and Language Learning

Have you ever studied for hours on end, only to find yourself relearning everything when you tried to review the material on exam night?

If you've ever been in that situation, you might think that the problem is with your study method or even your intelligence.

Forgetting information is a natural part of how our brains work. In the 1800s, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus conducted an experiment in which he memorized nonsense syllables.

What he found was that he forgot most of what he memorized after one hour. Then, he continued to forget information at a slower rate as time passed.

So, how can we solve this problem?

One solution to our natural forgetting tendency is spaced repetition. However, applying it could feel frustrating and confusing in the beginning.

What is spaced repetition?

Spaced repetition, in simple terms, is reviewing what you've learned at increased intervals.

You shouldn't review the material when you can remember everything easily, and not when you almost forgot everything. During your review sessions, you should be able to recall most of the information, but also struggle to remember some of it.

There isn't an exact interval between your review sessions, as it differs from person to person and depends on the difficulty of the material.

A study has found that the intervals between your study sessions affect how long you'll remember the information. So, the longer the gap between your study sessions the longer you'll retain information. [Source]

What improves your memory even more is combining both spaced repetition and active recall.

During your review sessions, don't just reread everything, but try to recall information. Recalling information that you don't fully remember could be frustrating, but that's what strengthens your memory.

Active recall can help strengthen your memory and make it last longer. So, don't just reread the card, but try to retrieve information from your memory. A study has demonstrated that long-term retention can be 2 to 3 times greater when using active recall than traditional learning methods like re-reading. [Source]

In one study two groups of students were asked to learn the Athenian Oath. The first group heard the oath read for six times in a row, while the second heard it for three times at increased intervals.

Both groups were tested immediately and after four weeks. The first group slightly outperformed the second group on the immediate test. However, in the delayed test the group who heard the oath at increased intervals outperformed the one who only heard it 6 times in a row. [Source]

Spaced Repetition Tools and Methods:

Now that you know the benefits and scientific evidence of spaced repetition, you might be wondering how to use it in your studies.

There are many platforms and apps dedicated to spaced repetition, but I'll mention the most popular ones as well as traditional method.

1. SuperMemo:

This is the first software dedicated to spaced repetition. It allows users to review material at increasing intervals. The platform provides language courses from beginner to advanced level. You can also create your own flashcards on SuperMemo.

2. Anki:

Anki is similar to SuperMemo. It uses your rating of how difficult a card was to answer or whether you couldn't answer it at all to determine when it will appear again.

On Anki, you can create your own flashcards or use the ready-made ones by other users. You can find ready-made flashcards on many topics, such as languages, medicine, and art.

3. Quizlet:

This platform allows users to create their flashcards or use ones created by other users. It has several study tools, like Flashcards, Learn, and Test. Each tool provides different features.

The flashcard tool allows learners to shuffle the cards manually and sort them into ''still learning'' and ''know'' groups.

4. Leitner Box:

This is a physical version of spaced repetition. One version of this system includes 3 boxes of flashcards. Each box represents a level of difficulty.

Box 1 is for new cards or cards from Box 2 that you couldn't answer or found hard to answer. Cards from Box 1 are reviewed daily.

Box 2 is for easy cards from Box 1 and cards you couldn't answer from Box 3. You review cards from Box 2 every other day.

Box 3 is for easy cards from Box 2. Cards from Box 3 are reviewed around every week.

How to Create Effective Flashcards:

To benefit from spaced repetition, you need to make good and effective flashcards.

1. Gather Information:

Focus on important information. You don't need to create a card for all the material you're studying. You can go through the textbook or lectures you're studying and highlight important information or create cards for topics your professor emphasizes.

2. Make Concise Cards:

Flashcards should include specific information. A broad question is less helpful than a precise one, like asking for a certain name or a historical date.

Your card shouldn't include too much information. Each point should have its own card, as this can make your learning process more organized.

3. Add Visuals:

Visuals like images, flowcharts, or tables make remembering information easier as they could simplify information.

4. Add context:

When using flashcards for learning new vocabulary, try to use the words in context. So, if the front of the card includes a word, put the meaning of the word and example sentence on the back. You can also make the front a fill-in-the-blank question, with the word on the back.

Conclusion:

Whether you're studying for school or learning a new language, retaining what you've learned can be really hard.

However, research has found that both spaced repetition and active recall can help learners retain information longer and slow the forgetting process.

This method is simple to apply whether you choose traditional technique or digital platforms.