Practical German learning guide
Spaced repetition for German: use it without gaming it
Spaced repetition is a scheduling tool, not a substitute for understanding. It works when each review asks for genuine retrieval and the rating describes what happened.
What spacing solves
Without a schedule, easy words consume the same time as fragile ones. Spacing delays what is stable and returns what is difficult while another successful recall can still strengthen it.
Rate the memory, not your mood
Use Hard when the answer failed or needed heavy prompting, Medium when it arrived slowly, and Easy only when it was immediate and complete. Generous ratings create pleasant sessions and weak memories.
Do not earn points from repetition loops
A repeated card should strengthen the same word, not inflate the number of words studied. Vokabahn counts a unique word once per day and awards its daily XP once, even when Hard brings it back.
Add context outside the scheduler
Read, listen and write. Encounters in real German create additional cues that no flashcard interval can manufacture on its own.
Repair a word that keeps failing
Open its word page, check the article or verb forms, listen to the audio and notice the example. Then make one personal sentence before returning it to Study. Repeatedly pressing Hard without adding a better cue records the problem but does not solve it.