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A vocabulary plan
Reading a list of 500 words once does almost nothing. Seeing a word in a sentence, recalling it a few days later, and meeting it again a week after that is what makes it stick. Here is a plan built on that.
Little and often beats a lot at once
Memory works by retrieval: every time you pull a word back out of your memory, it gets easier to find next time. So the plan is to learn a few words a day, in context, and then test yourself on them again after a day, a few days and a week.
Test yourself, don’t just re-read
Re-reading a word list feels like studying but builds little. Covering the meaning and trying to recall it, then checking, is what builds memory. Flashcards are made for exactly that.
How to solve them
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1
Why memorizing long lists fails
A word read once in a list has no story, no sentence and no second meeting. Within days most of it is gone. Fewer words, met several times, last much longer.
Next step: In sentencesWeak200 words read once on a Sunday
Most are gone in days
Strong10 words a day, recalled again later
They stay
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2
Learn every word in a sentence
A sentence shows how the word is used and gives your memory a picture to hold on to. Write your own sentence about something in your life: it sticks better than a textbook one.
Next step: Spaced reviewBaretedious = boring
Easy to forget
In a sentence“Filling in the same form ten times was tedious.”
A memory to hold
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3
Review just before you would forget
Review each new word after about a day, then a few days later, then a week later. Each successful recall pushes the next review further out.
Day 1learnin a sentenceDay 2recallcover and rememberDay 4recallagainDay 8recalland again laterNext step: Word familiesShortcutMissed it? Back to the start
If you cannot recall a word, move it back to the next day. Words you keep missing are exactly the ones that need more meetings.
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4
Learn words in families
Group a new word with its relatives: the root it shares with other words, its opposite, and a close synonym with a different strength. One study session then covers several test words.
Next step: A daily routineRoot familyspect: inspect, spectator, perspective
all about looking
Oppositesample ↔ scarce
plenty ↔ not enough
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5
A 15-minute daily routine
Five minutes on new words, ten minutes recalling old ones. Done every day for a few weeks, that adds up to hundreds of words you actually know.
Next step: In the app5 minutes10 new words
meaning + your own sentence
10 minutesReview due words
cover, recall, check
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6
The same method, done for you
In the ASVABIFY course, Word Knowledge follows this method: about 1,300 test words, each in a short scene, with reviews scheduled for you, over a 130-day path. The flashcards on these free pages work the same way on a smaller scale.
Free hereFlashcards on every topic
tap to flip, again or got it
In the app1,300 words over 130 days
reviews scheduled for you
4 traps in the answer choices
The test writes its wrong answers on purpose: each one is what you get if you make one of these mistakes.
One big session
300 words on one weekend:
Wrongfeels productive, mostly forgotten
Right10 a day, reviewed later
Re-reading instead of recalling
Reviewing your list:
Wrongread it again
Rightcover the meaning and recall it
Words without sentences
Learning “ample”:
Wrongample = plenty, nothing else
Right“We had ample time to finish.”
Never reviewing
After learning a word:
Wrongmove on forever
Rightmeet it again after 1, 3 and 7 days
5 questions at test level
Pick an answer, then read why. No timer, no account.
Tedious most nearly means:
Show the answer
A. A tedious task is long and dull, like filling in the same form again and again. Short and easy do not fit. Tedious most nearly means boring.
We had ample time to finish the test. Ample most nearly means:
Show the answer
B. Ample means more than enough. “Too little” is the opposite. Ample most nearly means plenty of.
Concise most nearly means:
Show the answer
C. A concise answer says a lot in few words. Wordy is the opposite. Concise most nearly means brief.
The guard dog was hostile toward strangers. Hostile most nearly means:
Show the answer
D. A guard dog that is hostile to strangers acts aggressively toward them. Friendly is the opposite. Hostile most nearly means unfriendly.
Vivid most nearly means:
Show the answer
B. Vivid colors or memories are strong, bright and clear. Dull is the opposite. Vivid most nearly means bright and clear.
10 flashcards
Tap a card to flip it. Keep the ones you miss until they stick.
All 10 cards known.
You finished a vocabulary plan.
Practice score: not taken yet Take the practice
All Word Knowledge topicsSee this topic move.
In the course, every topic is drawn step by step on a whiteboard while a voice explains it, with timed practice tests and a plan for your test date. The first lessons of every module are free.
