Many of us who completed our education some time ago will have memories of the humble flashcard. A piece of card, usually white, upon which we would write vocabulary to be remembered, significant dates or scientific formulae. Things have moved on now, we are all in a digital world…aren’t we?
While there are several apps which you can use to make digital flashcards, there are many reasons why I still recommend my students use physical flashcards. Here are just a few:
- A quick, condensed way to review the material that you need to learn.
- Small and easy to carry in a pocket
- Can be “jazzed” up with coloured pens and highlighters to make it easier to remember key information
- The very act of writing flashcards and deciding what the key points are, is, in itself, an act of revision
- Modern research suggests that physically writing the notes, rather than typing them, helps you to remember the information more easily.
Not only should we consider why a physical flashcard is a good revision tool, but we should also think about HOW we use them. Do we sit down for an hour or more, pouring over the words and hoping they stick? Or do we visit them often, for shorter periods of time?
This latter idea is called “Spaced repetition” and is a great way to improve your memory for vocabulary (and dates, formulae, key themes etc). The idea is that our brains can only focus for a certain amount of time. In addition, regular repetition of facts, vocabulary and concepts is a good way to move it from short-term to long-term memory. After all, we didn’t learn to talk in one long study session, and I certainly didn’t learn to tie my shoe-laces in one practice.
For spaced repetition to work well, for example with vocabulary learning, we need to commit to taking positive action about the items we do not remember so well in the first session or two. It may look like this:
Day 1 – Sit down with your flashcards, go through them one at a time, look to see the answer when needed. Go through them again, and make two piles – the terms you remembered and the ones you did not remember yet. Go through the “Not yet” pile one more time. If any are still remaining in the “Not yet” pile, then use them to make a sentence.
Day 2 – Sit down with the flashcards and try them the other way around (e.g. look at the English and try to remember the German). Be very honest about your “Yes, I got it!” and “Not yet” piles. Repeat the “Not yet” pile. Make sentences with them. Hopefully the pile is getting smaller.
Day 3 – Just use the “Not yet” pile to see if you can remember them.
Day 4 – rest
Day 5 – Practice with all, being brutally honest. If there are any left in the “Not yet” pile, then see what else you could do to help. Could you write them out 5 times? Write three different sentences for each one?
The photo you can see with this blog is of two flashcards made by one of my French students, to help remind them of how to form different tenses in French. Note the use of different colours and the different way each is laid out. This is done deliberately to help the student to have a separate “mind’s image” for each tense, helping them to differentiate between them.
PS – Flashcards are now available in a range of colours, so you can have a different set per topic, or subject! You can also get them in small sizes, linked with a metal ring.