The forgetting curve
In 1885, psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus measured on himself how fast he forgot lists he had learned. Result: forgetting is very fast at first, then slows down. Most of what is not reviewed disappears within the first days.
He also observed the reverse: each time you relearn, the next forgetting is slower. Memory is not filled in one go; it is consolidated each time you recall.
The principle: review right before you forget
Spaced repetition means reviewing information at increasingly long intervals: the next day, then two days later, then four, a week, two weeks… Each review lands just as the memory starts to fade, and extends it longer than the previous one.
Research strongly supports it: a synthesis of over 300 experiments (Cepeda et al., 2006) shows that, for the same study time, spaced reviews give much longer-lasting memory than massed reviews. It is the opposite of cramming the night before, which works for the next day and is gone the following week.
How LexiLoop applies it
In the app, each word has its own due date. You see the word, try to remember it, then say honestly how it went:
| Your answer | What happens |
|---|---|
| Easy | The word comes back later next time: 1 day, then 2, 4, 7, 14, 30 and 60 days. |
| Hard | It counts as correct: the word progresses, but comes back at the same interval instead of spacing out. |
| Don't know | The word comes back in the current session, then the next day. Your progress on it is halved, not erased. |
A word counts as learned after five correct answers in a row, spread over several weeks. Beyond four days, due dates are slightly shifted at random, so that words learned the same day don't all come back at once.
You don't have to plan anything: the app works out the words to review each day, and a few minutes are enough.
Applying the method, with or without an app
- A little, every day. Ten new words a day is over 3,000 in a year.
- Always with an example. An isolated word is forgotten; a sentence gives context.
- Test yourself, don't reread. Hide the translation, search your memory, then check.
- Be honest. Tapping "Don't know" when you didn't know is what brings the word back at the right time.
Start with TOEIC vocabulary or irregular verbs.
Now put it into practice
Estimate your score in 20 minutes with our free TOEIC test, then review vocabulary at the right time with the LexiLoop app.
Frequently asked questions
How much time a day does spaced repetition take?
Ten to fifteen minutes is enough. Regularity matters more than length: a short daily session beats a long weekly one.
What if I skip a day?
Nothing serious: due words simply wait until the next day. Forgetting is still slower than if you had never reviewed.
Does spaced repetition work for grammar?
It works for anything you memorise: vocabulary, expressions, irregular verbs, prepositions. For grammar, review example sentences rather than rules.