Flashcards — ESL Vocabulary Study
What is the Flashcard game?
Flashcards presents vocabulary items one at a time with the English word on the front and the definition, example sentence and translation on the back. Students study at their own pace, flipping each card to check their understanding and rating themselves. The spaced repetition system tracks which words each student needs to review and brings them back at the right interval to move them into long-term memory.
Words are drawn from the ESLe College vocabulary database across Pre-A1 to C2 level, with example sentences and translations into nine languages including Chinese, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese.
How to play
Read the word on the front of the card. Think about the meaning before flipping. Click or tap the card to reveal the definition, example sentence and translation. Rate yourself honestly — Got it or Not yet. The system will return words marked Not yet sooner, and words you know well less frequently.
- Filter by level and topic to focus your study session
- Flip to see definition, example sentence and translation
- Rate each card to drive the spaced repetition system
- Due words — those scheduled for review — are shown first
Why spaced repetition works
Spaced repetition is the most research-supported method for moving vocabulary from short-term to long-term memory. Reviewing a word at increasing intervals — just before you are about to forget it — is significantly more effective than massed practice. Short daily flashcard sessions outperform long weekly ones because the review happens at the optimal moment for each individual word.