This is the best way to learn new words (and actually remember them!)

Yeah, I know the title looks a bit like an advert, but I promise you this is not a sales pitch. I will not try to sell you anything in this post, so don’t worry.

However, I do want to tell you about how this app can speed up the way you study vocabulary and improve how well you can remember words. Let me introduce you to Anki!

If you are like me, you have tried lots of different ways to memorise new words, right? However, no matter what I tried, I always seemed to forget the words after a few days. This meant that I wasted so much time because I had to go and learn the same words over and over again. This went on for years, until I found Anki.

Anki is a free* flashcard app that shows you flashcards again and again over a period of time. It is really powerful for learning anything but it is especially useful for people like us, language learners!

It uses scientific research to help you learn a new word in less time and also remember it for longer than using most other vocabulary learning methods.

It basically works in 4 steps:

• Learn a new word
• Create a flashcard for it
• Review that word
• Review it enough times that it is stuck in your head forever

The big difference between this, and traditional flash cards is that it can predict when you are going to forget a word, and then show you that word just in time, to make sure it stays in your head.

If you are like me, and you forget new words really quickly, this is the golden ticket you have been waiting for, but is it really that good?

The first major benefit of Anki is that is knows what you need to study and when you need to study it. When you are learning vocabulary on your own, it can be hard to know which words you need to review from your huge list of words, right? Anki will work that out for you. It knows which words are in the danger zone of being forgotten, so it will prioritise them for you. The best part is that it is all automatic!

Another big advantage is that you can use this app on your smartphone as well, meaning that you can study anytime, anywhere. It is a great thing that you can use to fill that 10 minutes on the train to work, or for 15 minutes at lunch. You can even use it to replace scrolling on Twitter (Or X… whatever) while you are on the loo!

It is also hard to know when you need to review words… after a day? after a week? after a month? Anki will also take care of that for you too. It uses a spaced repetition system to schedule all of your reviews for you. This means you don’t need to worry about when you should review these words, all you have to do is open the app!

All of this means that you only spend time on what you need to study and less time planning and organising your materials. This is going to increase your efficiency by a massive amount compared to other methods and the result is that you will learn new words faster and forget new words less. If you are like me, this really does seem like the answer to my prayers. However, it is not as perfect as it might seem.

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The big downside is that Anki can’t completely replace studying vocabulary, it is just a part of the process. Learning new words can be broken down into three steps:

1. Finding new words to learn
2. Researching the meaning, usage, and pronunciation of this word
3. Review this new word enough times that you can remember it

Anki can’t really help you with the first 2 steps in this process. You still need to go out into the world and find the words you want to learn, whether that is through listening to stuff like podcasts, or reading your favourite books in English, or maybe you prefer finding word lists online that will help you learn words by grouping words together by topic or level. Either way, Anki can’t do that for you.

You will also need to go out and learn what these words mean before you can add them to Anki, so you had better not throw away that dictionary just yet. For each word you want to learn, you still need to learn what it means, or translate it into your own language** and you need to understand how to use it correctly. Don’t forget to learn the pronunciation too!

Anki is also a little daunting to get set up when you are getting started with it. There are lots of options and stuff that can be a bit overwhelming. I spent quite a while thinking to myself “What does this button do?” or “How can I make it do that?” and that can really turn people off. It does take more work to set up than something like quizlet, but it is soooooo much more powerful that if you can work it out, it is worth every second! If you need a bit of help, you can download my getting started guide at the end of this article!

Another downside is that it can become a bit repetitive, seeing the same cards over and over again, but sadly, most other study methods have this same problem, so it is something that you will just have to learn to live with. So, you might be asking yourself, is Anki worth my time? The answer is…

We have an expression in English “Horses for courses” and this means that everybody is different and is good at different things. The same is true when it comes to language learning, and there is no “one-size fits all” system here. What works for one person, might not work for you.

However, I know that Anki works for me. I have been using it for years and I am always surprised when my students tell me they have never heard of it, or that they have never given it a go. You have nothing to lose by giving it a try and it if works for you, you will find a big improvement in your vocabulary level.

If you are looking to get started with Anki, you can download my “Getting started” guide for free and I will guide you through the process so you can get started with this app today!

* The iOS app costs about $20 but there are free versions out there like AnkiApp
**This is a bad idea because it means you will need to always translate in your head when using English. Learning to think in English is way better!