Electronic Flash Cards

This is an online tool for learning words. Learning words (vocabulary) is a crucial part in learning any language.

The tool is based on the simplest method of learning words: flash cards. Flash cards are traditionally a bunch of paper or plastic cards, with a word on one side, and the translation on the other. You learn words by looking at the cards in random order and trying to remember the translation without looking at it on the back. You shuffle the cards and repeat the exercise until you remember all the words without looking on the back side of the cards.

The technique is simple and it works. All you need to do is repeat and repeat. However, preparing the cards on paper or plastic is a lot of work. This is where this site helps. All you need to do is make a list of the words you want to learn, type them or copy & paste into the interface. As an extra treat, you don't need to worry about translation of the words, the site automatically does that for you using internet dictionaries.

Step 1: create a word list: Copy and paste the list of words you want to learn into the web page and select appropriate dictionaries that will be used to automatically translate your words. (If you cannot find a suitable dictionary, you can ask us to add a new one.)
If you are lazy to make your own word list, you can import from our sample word lists.
Step 2: begin the exercise: The words you listed up in your word list will appear in random order. The meaning is hidden at first, you are supposed to try to remember it, and perhaps formulate example sentences. Simply click on the word to reveal the automatic translation.

That's pretty much it. In addition to the essentials above, there are more cool features.

You can mark words you already know, so they don't come up again. Eliminating the entire exercise set this way can be very satisfying.
What if in the middle of your exercise you have to leave your computer? Nothing. It's OK to close your browser, and when you come back, you can continue exactly where you left off.
You can restart an exercise session from the beginning at any time.
You can have multiple word sets, with different dictionaries.

At this point I guess you know well enough to use the tool. So I suggest you stop reading and go create a word list. Or if you've already done that then go begin the exercise. Of if you are still hungry for more details (which I seriously doubt), then go ahead and keep reading.

1. Create word lists

A word list is exactly what it sounds: a list of words.

You can have maximum 1000000 words in a list.
You can have maximum 100 word lists.
Typically you will want to have separate lists for various purposes. For example, a list for practicing English words, another for German words, etc.

Word lists have associated properties:

Name: this can be anything you want. This parameter is for you, to be able to distinguish your various word lists. It is ok to leave it blank.
Dictionaries: the dictionaries to use when displaying the meaning of words. To have more dictionaries added to the site, use this page.
Exercise set size: this is best to explain through my personal example. I use lists with hundreds of words, but it's easier to exercise with about a dozen at a time. So for example with a list of 123 words and exercise set size 10, a set of 10 (random) words of total 123 are displayed in a random order. Then when I'm done with those 10 words (marked all of them as done), another set of 10 random words are chosen from the rest (not including previous sets) and a new exercise begins. This is the default behavior. If you don't specify an exercise set size, it will be set to 10.

2. Learn words through practice

It is easiest to explain with an example. Let's say you have a word list with 123 words, and exercise set size of 7. When you start the exercise, 7 random words will be chosen from the total, and displayed in random order. As you keep practicing, you will begin to remember the words, and mark them as done, so that words that you already know don't keep popping up. In the end there will be just one word left. When you mark the last word, a new round of exercise begins, with a new set of 7 words. Things to note:

Each word in the list appears in only one exercise set. That is, if a word was used in a previous exercise set it will not appear again in a subsequent round.
What happens if you logout or close the browser without finishing the exercise? Nothing. The state of the exercise is preserved. You can stop and continue anytime.
What happens if you edit the word list and remove or add some words? What will happen to the ongoing exercise? Nothing. The ongoing exercise will not be updated. Even if you removed some words from the list, they are not removed from the exercise. Likewise, even if you added some words to the list, they will not bt add to the exercise. Changes in the words will take effect when the exercise is restarted.

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