Academics · Adult Learning

Learn the words you need,
in the order you will forget them.

The words that matter to an adult learner come from real life: the doctor’s office, the job, a child’s school. Keep each one with its meaning in your own language and a sentence of your own. A five-box review schedule spaces out practice so you study each word just before you would forget it, and the organizer shows what is due today.

Add a wordWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Academics Suite pass, $149 for 137 items.

My words

The worked example is made up: a health word, a false friend for Spanish speakers and a work word that is overdue. Saved on this device only.

Loading the word form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Academics · Adult Learning$5

What you finish with
A record per English word or phrase: the word, home language, meaning, kind of word, an example sentence, where it is needed, its review box, the last review date and four checks. Works out the next review date (1, 2, 4, 7 or 14 days by box) and whether it is due; counts words due and words per box; flags due and overdue words, short example sentences and false friends.
Who it is for
Adults learning English as an additional language, in a class or on their own, and the teachers and tutors who help them.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per word. Prints one word, every word as a study list or a blank word card; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Academics Suite pass ($149) and the Caveat Suite pass ($299). Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Adult Learning space in Caveat Academics.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Add words you met this week.
  2. Write the meaning in your language.
  3. Write a sentence about your own life.
  4. Review what is due each day.
  5. Move up a box when right, back to 1 when wrong.

Add a word

Watch for false friends

False friends Spanish speakers often meetEnglishLooks likeBut the Spanish meansactuallyactualmentecurrentlyembarrassedembarazadapregnantlibrarylibreríabookstoreassistasistirattendsensiblesensiblesensitiveFalse friends Spanish speakers often meetactuallyLooks like: actualmenteBut the Spanish means: currentlyembarrassedLooks like: embarazadaBut the Spanish means: pregnantlibraryLooks like: libreríaBut the Spanish means: bookstoreassistLooks like: asistirBut the Spanish means: attendsensibleLooks like: sensibleBut the Spanish means: sensitive
Every language pair has false friends. When an English word looks like one you know, check the meaning before you trust it.

Why spaced review works

Memory research finds that reviewing a word after a gap, and making the gaps longer as it sticks, keeps it far better than studying it many times in one sitting. The five boxes are a simple way to do that on paper or here.

Your own sentence

A word is easier to remember when it is about your life: “My shift starts at six on Saturdays” beats a sentence from a list. The organizer asks for at least six words so the sentence has a picture in it.

Sources

  1. Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T. and Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: a review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3).
  2. Leitner, S. (1972). So lernt man lernen. Herder. (The box system for flashcard review.)
  3. Nation, I. S. P. (2013). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  4. Real Academia Española. Diccionario de la lengua española (dle.rae.es), for the Spanish meanings in the false friend table.

The worked example is made up. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.