Studies have shown that, after one week, you have a 20 percent higher chance of remembering the words that took a bit longer to recall and a 75 percent higher chance of recalling words that were really challenging to recall. But there is also a third category of words: the ones that were at the tip of your tongue right before you remembered them. These are the words you’re about twice as likely to recall one week later.
The trick, then, is to recall a word at the moment when you are about to forget it.
The spaced repetition system utilizes this knowledge to improve your long term memory. The spaced repetition system uses flash cards at different intervals and tells you which words to practice, and when.
Memory researchers discovered that one month is the ideal interval to recall a word so that you can remember it in the long term. Most spaced repetition systems use this interval, so you can learn the word today and be reminded of it in one month, just before you’re due to forget it.
This system works brilliantly and can be used for words as well as grammatical concepts. For example, in only four months, you could memorize 3600 flash cards with about 90 to 95 percent accuracy.
Children learn languages by listening, not by studying. If you really listen to a language, you will not only learn words, but grammar, too. This way is also more fun than poring over grammar books.
Start with sound. Learning the sounds of new words makes them easier to remember.
Another advantage of you learning a language’s sounds first is that it will help you learn grammar faster.