# How to Learn IELTS Vocabulary with Spaced Repetition (Without Forgetting It All) > Most IELTS word lists are forgotten within weeks. Here is how to use spaced repetition to keep words for Writing and Speaking, step by step. Source: https://web-aws-test.toey.app/en/blog/ielts-vocabulary-spaced-repetition-how-to-remember-words Published: 2026-11-03T20:22:48.219751+00:00 Updated: 2026-11-03T20:22:48.219751+00:00 Category: vocabulary Tags: ielts-vocabulary, spaced-repetition, lexical-resource, collocations, ielts-writing, self-study --- If you want to learn IELTS vocabulary with spaced repetition, the idea is simple: review each word just before you would forget it, and let the gaps between reviews grow. I have tried the other way, a long list read once on the bus, and a week later it was mostly gone. This guide shows what to put on a card, how to schedule reviews, and how to make sure the words end up in your Writing and Speaking, not just in your flashcard app. ## Why word lists fail Reading a list feels productive because every word looks familiar while it is in front of you. Recognition is not recall. In the exam, nobody shows you the word; you have to produce it while you are also thinking about your argument, your tenses and the clock. Forgetting is also normal. A word you met once fades quickly, and a word you meet again just as it starts to fade stays much longer. Spaced repetition is a way of scheduling those second, third and fourth meetings so that you spend your time on the words that are about to slip, not on the ones you already know. ## Decide what is worth a card The biggest mistake is making a card for every unknown word you see. Your deck grows faster than you can review it, and you quit. Be strict. A word deserves a card only if it passes two tests: 1. You could use it in an IELTS answer (an essay, a Task 1 report, a Speaking part), not only recognise it in a Reading passage. 2. It is not already in your active vocabulary. Words that appear only in one Reading text, such as a rare species name or a technical term, can be looked up and forgotten. Words that describe change, cause, opinion or comparison are worth keeping, because you will need them again and again. ## Put a phrase on the card, not a single word A single word on its own is hard to use. A phrase tells you how the word behaves: which preposition follows it, which words sit next to it, what register it has. Compare these two cards. Weak card: front "mitigate", back "to make less severe". Better card: front "mitigate ___", back a sentence you could actually write: > Governments can mitigate the effects of congestion by investing in public transport. The second card teaches the collocation (mitigate the effects of) and shows the word in the kind of sentence that appears in Task 2. When you review it, say or write the full sentence from memory. That is much closer to what the exam asks you to do. One more rule: write your own example sentence where you can, about a topic you might really get, such as education, technology, health or the environment. A sentence you made yourself is easier to remember than one copied from a dictionary. ## Make the card test recall There are three simple card shapes that work well for IELTS: - **Gap-fill.** Hide the target word in a sentence and try to recall it. This trains the exact skill you need in Writing. - **Meaning to word.** Show a short definition or a Vietnamese or Japanese gloss and recall the English phrase. Use this sparingly, because translation can make you think word by word. - **Collocation pair.** Show the first word and recall the partner, for example "draw ___" and then "a conclusion". Avoid cards that ask you to recognise a word and nothing else. They are the easiest to answer and teach the least. ## A review schedule you can keep You do not need a complicated algorithm. If you use an app that schedules for you, trust it. If you want to do it by hand, a common pattern is to review a new card: - on the day you learn it, - the next day, - after about three days, - after about a week, - after about two weeks, - and after about a month. When you get a card wrong, bring it back to the start of that ladder. When you get it right easily, let the gap grow. The exact days matter less than the habit: short reviews, every day, with the oldest cards first. A realistic load is ten to fifteen new cards a day plus whatever is due. If your reviews climb past about 20 minutes, stop adding new cards for a few days. Reviews are the work; new cards are optional. ## Move words from the deck into your output A card you can answer is not yet a word you can use under pressure. Spaced repetition gets the word into long-term memory; output practice makes it available. Two habits close the gap. **Reuse in Writing.** After each practice essay, look back at the words you reviewed that week and ask which of them could have improved a sentence. Then rewrite two or three sentences using them. For example: > Weak: A lot of people think technology makes children lazy. > Rewritten: A widespread concern is that technology discourages children from thinking independently. Notice that the rewrite is not just fancier. It is more precise, and it uses a phrase (discourage someone from doing something) that you would have on a card. **Reuse in Speaking.** Pick three words each day and tell yourself a thirty-second story that includes them, out loud. It will feel odd for a week and then it will feel normal. In Speaking, natural use matters more than rare words, so a phrase you can say smoothly beats an impressive one you stumble over. ## Keep an eye on accuracy Using a new word wrongly costs more than not using it at all. The Lexical Resource criterion rewards range, but it also looks at precision and natural collocation. Before a word goes into your active list, check three things: its part of speech, its usual partners, and whether it is formal, neutral or informal. A good learner's dictionary shows all three in one entry. If you write practice answers, get them checked, by a teacher, a study partner or a tool, and look for the vocabulary errors in particular: wrong preposition, wrong word form, wrong register. Add the corrected phrase to your deck. Your own mistakes make the most useful cards you will ever have. ## A simple weekly routine Here is a routine that fits around work or study: 1. **Every day, 15 minutes:** do the reviews that are due, then add up to ten new phrase cards from your reading or your corrected essays. 2. **Twice a week, 10 minutes:** choose three recent words and use each in a sentence for Task 2 or a Speaking answer. 3. **Once a week, 20 minutes:** write one paragraph on a practice topic and deliberately include four words from the week. Check them in a dictionary afterwards. 4. **Once a week, 5 minutes:** delete or rewrite cards you keep failing. A card that fails five times is usually badly written, not a bad memory. After four weeks you will not have the biggest deck, but you will have a set of words you can produce on demand, and that is what the exam measures. ## Common questions **How many words do I need for IELTS?** There is no official list or target. Aim for useful range on common exam topics rather than a number. **Should I use paper cards or an app?** Either works. An app saves you the scheduling; paper makes you write. Pick the one you will actually open every day. **Can I learn words from Reading passages?** Yes, but only the ones you could use yourself. Copy the phrase around the word, not the word alone. If you want a place to practise the Writing and Speaking side, see Toey's IELTS practice on the web: [IELTS on Toey](/en/ielts). ## FAQ ### What is spaced repetition for IELTS vocabulary? It is a way of reviewing words at growing intervals, just before you would forget them. A new word is reviewed the same day, the next day, then after a few days, a week, two weeks and a month, so you spend time on the words that are about to fade. ### Should I make a flashcard for every unknown word? No. Make a card only for words you could use in your own Writing or Speaking and that are not already in your active vocabulary. A rare word from one Reading passage can be looked up and left. ### Why should IELTS flashcards contain phrases instead of single words? A phrase shows the collocation, preposition and register of a word, which is what the Lexical Resource criterion rewards. A card with mitigate the effects of teaches more than a card with only mitigate. ### How many new IELTS words should I learn each day? Ten to fifteen new phrase cards a day is realistic for most learners. If your daily reviews take longer than about 20 minutes, pause new cards for a few days and clear the reviews first. ### How do I move words from flashcards into my IELTS essays? After each practice essay, pick words from your recent reviews and rewrite two or three sentences using them. Also say short stories aloud with three target words, so the words become available under exam pressure.