Overview - Efficient Testing |
Quizing words that you already know well is a waste of your time. You need to concentrate on words that you do not know. WordBuddy can help you make efficient use of your time.
WordBuddy uses 'storage' boxes to hold your words. The 'Start' box holds words that you have never gotten correct. Each other storage box holds cards that you have gotten correct a certain number of times.
Storage Box |
Waiting Time |
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Start Box
|
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Box 1
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1 days
|
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Box 2
|
2 days
|
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Box 3
|
4 days
|
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Box 4
|
8 days
|
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Box 5
|
16 days
|
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Box 6
|
1 months
|
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Box 7
|
2 months
|
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Box 8
|
4 months
|
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Box 9
|
8 months
|
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Box 10
|
16 months
|
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Box 11
|
3 years
|
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Box 12
|
6 years
|
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Box 13
|
9 years
|
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Box 14
|
12 years
|
Every new word starts out in the Start Box. When you quiz a word, you move it between boxes. If you answer correctly, it moves up one to the next higher box. If you are wrong however, it jumps down three boxes. So you can slowly improve a word, but quickly go back to the beginning if you forget it one or two times.
After placing a word into a Storage Box, WordBuddy holds it there for a while. After that time it is taken out and quizzed again. A correct answer will put it into a higher box that is deeper into storage. More correct answers will place it even deeper, farther into the back of the closet. Boxes that are deep in storage have words that you know better. They are quizzed infrequently. Harder words are in your Starting Box and are frequently quizzed.
The chart here shows how long WordBuddy holds onto each card before giving it to you again to test. For example, you answer a question correctly and it ends up in box #1 on Monday. If you do another quiz on Monday, WordBuddy will not test that word again. On Tuesday, do a quiz and it will be retested.
The Start box, box one and two have very short waiting times. As you start to study a word, you will see it quickly a few times to make sure that you learn it. Higher boxes have much longer wait times. When you have answered a word correctly many times, you do not need to be re-tested often. If you wait a long time to test a word it will skip boxes if answered correctly (up to five boxes). For example, if you add a new word but wait three days to test it, a correct answer will then send it to box three while an incorrect answer will keep it in box zero.
If you every think that you know a word but still have a little doubt, you can click the 'Unsure' button. This will only move the word down one box. You can also click the 'Next' arrow at the top. The word will remain unaffected.
This system of spaced repetition is based on work done by a German psychologist named Sebastian Leitner in the 1970s. Good luck learning.













