You learn a lovely new Spanish word on Monday. On Tuesday you still know it. By Friday it has quietly packed its bags and left. Sound familiar? You're not bad at languages. You're just fighting your brain's natural habit of forgetting, and almost everyone who has ever tried to remember Spanish vocabulary has fought the same battle.
The good news is that there's a simple, well-tested way to make words stay. It's called spaced repetition, and once you start using it, your vocabulary stops leaking. In this post I'll explain how it works, give you a review schedule you can follow with just a notebook, show you how to make good flashcards, and share the mistakes I see most often. ¡Vamos!Let's go!Used to cheer someone on or get moving.
Why you forget Spanish words so fast
In the 1880s a German psychologist called Hermann Ebbinghaus tested his own memory with lists of nonsense syllables. He found that we forget new information very fast at first, and then more slowly. That drop is now known as the forgetting curve.
He also found something hopeful: every time you review the information, the curve gets flatter. You forget more slowly. After a few well-timed reviews, the memory holds for weeks, then months.
Think about how this plays out with a word like la ventanathe windowA feminine noun, so it takes la.:
- You learn it today. Without review, a big part of it is gone within a day or two.
- You review it tomorrow. Now it lasts a few days.
- You review it again a few days later. Now it lasts a week or more.
- One or two more reviews, and ventanawindowThe window of a house, car or train. is simply yours.
Most of us do the opposite. We read a long word list ten times in one evening before a test, feel confident, and then lose most of it within the week. That's cramming, and it fills your short-term memory, not your long-term one.
What is spaced repetition?
Spaced repetition means reviewing a word just before you're about to forget it, with the gaps between reviews getting longer each time.
Two ideas make it work:
- Spacing. Reviews spread over days and weeks beat reviews squeezed into one session.
- Recall, not rereading. You look at the English and try to pull out the Spanish from memory (or the other way round), before you check the answer. That small effort of remembering is what makes a word stick. Rereading feels productive, but your brain does much less work.
Put the two together and you study fewer minutes, yet remember far more. It's a perfect fit for busy students and professionals.
A simple spaced repetition schedule for Spanish
You don't need any special software to start. Here's a schedule that works well with a notebook or a pile of paper cards:
| Review | When | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Same day, a few hours later | Cover the Spanish, say it from the English |
| 2 | Next day | Same test, out loud |
| 3 | 3 days later | Test both directions |
| 4 | 1 week later | Use the word in a sentence |
| 5 | 2 weeks later | Quick check |
| 6 | 1 month later | Quick check, then it's a "known" word |
If you get a word wrong at any step, it goes back to the start. No shame in that! The schedule simply gives it more attention because it needs it.
The box method: spaced repetition with paper
A popular paper system is the Leitner box, named after the German writer Sebastian Leitner, who described it in the 1970s. Here's my simple version:
- Take five boxes, envelopes or rubber-banded piles, and number them 1 to 5.
- All new cards go into box 1.
- Review box 1 every day, box 2 every two or three days, box 3 once a week, box 4 every two weeks and box 5 once a month.
- Get a card right? It moves up one box.
- Get it wrong? It goes all the way back to box 1.
Very quickly you'll see that easy words climb to box 5 and stop taking your time, while tricky words keep coming back until they behave. That's the whole beauty of it: your time goes exactly where it's needed.
Using a flashcard app
Flashcard apps do the scheduling for you. You see a card, try to remember, then tell the app how easy it was. The app decides when to show it again. If you like your phone, this is very convenient, especially on a commute.
Paper or app, the principle is identical. Pick whichever one you'll actually open every day.
How to make Spanish flashcards that actually work
A bad flashcard is just a word and a translation. A good flashcard gives your memory something to hold on to. Here's what I recommend.
Always learn the article
Never write just "mesatableA feminine noun.". Write la mesathe tableA feminine noun, so it takes la.. Spanish nouns have a gender, and the eltheUsed with masculine nouns. or latheUsed with feminine nouns. in front tells you which. If you learn the article from day one, you won't have to guess later. Hindi speakers know this idea well: in Hindi too, nouns are masculine or feminine, and the rest of the sentence changes to match.
Learn small chunks, not lonely words
Instead of cerrarto closeA regular -ar verb. on its own, learn cerrar la puertato close the doorA useful everyday chunk.. Instead of hambrehungerA feminine noun that takes el in the singular., learn tengo hambreI'm hungryLiterally, I have hunger.. Chunks are what you'll actually say, and they carry grammar for free.
Add a picture or a personal sentence
Write a sentence about your life on the back: Mi oficina está en Gurgaon.My office is in Gurgaon.Location takes estar. Personal sentences are easier to remember than textbook ones because they mean something to you.
Test in both directions
Spanish to English checks that you understand. English to Spanish checks that you can say it, which is harder and more useful. Do both.
Say it out loud
Every time you review a card, say the Spanish out loud. You're training your mouth as well as your memory, and you'll notice pronunciation problems early.
Here are a few cards to try right now. Read the Spanish, say the English in your head, then flip.
Flashcards tap a card to flip it
How many new Spanish words a day?
Less than you think. For most learners, 5 to 10 new words a day is plenty.
That may sound slow, but do the maths. Even 7 words a day is close to 50 words a week, and over 200 a month. Because spaced repetition keeps them, those words are still with you three months later. Compare that with learning 40 words in one excited evening and keeping only a handful.
Also remember that new words create future reviews. If you add 30 words today, they'll all come back for review tomorrow, then again in three days, and your daily pile will explode. A steady trickle keeps your review time short and pleasant.
Mistakes that make spaced repetition fail
Spaced repetition is simple, but a few habits can quietly break it.
Skipping review days
The schedule only works if you show up. Miss a week, and the cards pile up. If that happens, don't panic and don't add new words. Just clear the old pile over a few days, then carry on. Poco a pocoLittle by littleProgress comes step by step..
Adding too many words
This is the most common one. Enthusiasm is great, but more new cards mean more reviews. Keep new words small and steady.
Making cards too long
One card, one idea. "la ventanathe windowA feminine noun." is a good card. A card with six words, a grammar rule and a full paragraph is not. If a card keeps failing, split it.
Peeking too soon
Give yourself a real chance to remember, even if it takes a few seconds. That struggle is the part that builds memory. If you flip the card instantly, you're just rereading.
Learning words you'll never use
Start with the words of your own life: your job, your family, your city, your food. If you work in IT, words like la reuniónthe meetingA feminine noun, very useful at work. and el correothe emailShort for correo electrónico. will come up far more than words for farm animals.
Only using cards
Flashcards get words into your memory. Real use keeps them there. Use your new words in a sentence, a message to a classmate or a short diary entry. A word you've used once in real life is worth ten reviews.
Pairing spaced repetition with real conversation
Here's something I've seen again and again: students who know lots of words from cards can still freeze when they have to speak. That's because recognising a word on a card and pulling it out in a conversation are two different skills.
So use spaced repetition as one part of your learning, not the whole of it:
- Cards get the word into memory.
- Listening shows you how the word sounds in real speech.
- Speaking and writing make you pull the word out when you need it.
Whether you're a student at a language school or learning on your own, the pattern is the same: regular review plus real use is the combination that works.
A 10-minute daily review routine
Here's how to fit all this into a busy day:
- Minutes 0–6: Review today's due cards. Say each one out loud.
- Minutes 6–8: Add 5 new words, each with its article and a short example.
- Minutes 8–10: Write two sentences using words from today's review.
That's it. Ten minutes, every day, on the metro or with your evening chai. If you want a fuller plan, my post on how to learn Spanish in 20 minutes a day builds this review into a complete daily routine.
Where to start: the first 100 words
Not sure what to put in your first deck? Start with high-frequency words: greetings, numbers, days, family, food and the most common verbs. My list of everyday Spanish words is a good first source. Once you've got those, add words from your own life and work.
And here's a bonus for Hindi speakers: a few Spanish words already sound familiar to you. Have a look at Spanish words that sound like Hindi for some easy wins to add to your first deck.
Keep going
Spaced repetition won't make you fluent overnight, and nothing honest will. What it does is stop the leak. Every word you learn stays learned, and over months that adds up to a real, usable vocabulary. Start your first deck today with ten cards, review them tomorrow, and keep going.
If you'd like your new words to turn into real conversations, join one of my live batches on Google Meet. Groups are small, up to 5 students, so you get to use your vocabulary out loud in every class. Have a look at the A1 batch if you're starting out, or message me and we'll find your level together. ¡Venga!Come on!A friendly push to get going.