Flash cards are a proven and effective way to memorize new words. Choose the app you like to expand your vocabulary easily and with fun.
Memrise
Cost: free
Unlike traditional card apps, where the user is given only the word and its definition, Memrise allows you to add whatever your heart desires to the card.
First, you pass a small knowledge level test, according to the results of which Memrise determines the optimal one. However, you can choose the course that you like best. Each flash card comes with a funny picture and memory development.
Vocabulary.com
Price: $2.99
It's a dictionary, but it works in a very similar way to flash cards. You create a list of words you would like to learn and the app adds them to your daily tasks. You answer questions, fill in the right words in the spaces, choose the correct definition, and earn points that give you a visual overview of your progress. During the game, you can at any time "flip" the word and see its definition.
Flashcards by Dictionary.com
Cost: free
You have probably used the popular web dictionary Dictionary.com. Its functionality is basic: you can choose one of the 70,000 word lists and practice on it, connecting written definitions with their translation or sound.
Noteworthy is the design of the application, which brings you back to your school days: it looks like a green chalkboard on which flash cards are drawn in chalk.
Quizlet
Cost: free
You can create your own word list or borrow it from others. Once you are sure that you know the words from the list well enough, you can take the test.
Learning to read sight words is an addition to learning to read by the phonetic method (a supplement to phonics instruction). Phonics is learning to connect letters with sounds, i.e. a phonetic approach to learning to read, and learning to read sight words is designed to speed up the child's familiarity with common words, therefore, it allows you to increase the speed of reading at the initial stage. The most effective way to teach sight words to children is through repeated repetition in the form of game exercises with flash cards.
Sight words are words that are important for a child to remember in order to learn to read and write. Having memorized sight words, the child will be able to recognize the whole word as an image, simply by looking at it - on sight - without the need to break the word into separate letters. Anyone who already reads fluently possesses this skill. Having learned to recognize the most common words of the English language in this way (most of which do not lend themselves to phonetic rules), it will allow you to read simple texts faster, without wasting time on “decoding” these words, and therefore achieve understanding faster. Other terms commonly used to describe sight words are service words, instant words (because you should recognize them instantly), snap words (because you should know them in a snap), and high frequency words. You can often hear - Dolch words or Fry words, these are the two most common lists of sight words in English.
Sight words are divided into two categories: Frequently Used Words - the words most often found in the English language, among them there are many function words: for example, as, it, do, will. It is necessary to memorize such words in order to speed up reading, and then there is no need to waste time on “decoding” these words letter by letter. For example, if a reader recognizes all the words in the Dolch Sight Words list, they can read 50% of any newspaper text or 80% of any children's book with comprehension. Non-Phonetic Words - words that do not lend themselves to phonetic reading rules, for example, buy, talk, come. Memorizing such words with “irregular” spelling helps not only to recognize these words, but also to recognize and read similar words: guy, walk, some. There are several lists of English sight words: the most used are the Dolch list and the Fry list. A lot of words overlap. Dolch Sight Words list has been known for longer. It was compiled in the 1930s-40s by Dr. Edward William Dolch, analyzing the most frequently used words in children's books of the time. Fry Sight Words list is a more up-to-date list covering the 1000 most used words. Dr. Edward Fry compiled this list in the 1950s (and updated it in 1980). A reader who knows all 1000 words from the Fry Sight Words list will be able to read 90% of the words of any book, newspaper, website. Many English teachers around the world use these sight words lists and customize them by adding the words needed for specific lessons.
Before the child starts learning sight words, it is very important that he has already learned to recognize the individual forms of letters (lowercase) and their typical sounds. Learning to recognize the forms of whole words should not replace learning to read by the phonetic method, it serves as a complement to it. In the first year of learning to read, English-speaking children are usually taught to recognize 100 high frequency sight words. We also follow this approach when we teach English as a foreign language to young children, that is, in the first year of learning to read, they should learn the same volume. The list of the first 100 words is the first 100 words from Fry Sight Words.
Custom Flash Card Creator
Make your sight words flash cards. Create a set of cards with words from the Fry Sight Words list and / or your own, necessary for a particular lesson. Custom Flash Card Creator works for you on our site.
Fry Sight Words list of 1000 words is broken into lists of 100 words. During the first year of study, usually the first 100 words are studied. You can view and print each list by hovering over the word "list".
Depending on your pedagogical task, you can choose the size for printing flash cards in 3 options:
- One card per A4 page: these large cards are easy to hang on the wall/board, suitable for playing on the floor.
- Two cards per A4 page: These medium-sized cards are suitable for younger children, have large print, and are large enough to play games with.
- Four cards per A4 page: Ideal for older students, these cards are great for playing games (eg memory, bingo, etc.).
To print cards, choose:
- Number of cards per page
- List of words you want to print and/or
- Type in the empty cells your words that you need
- Click the "CREATE" button and get the finished file in pdf format.
Cards with English words help in a short time to gain the necessary vocabulary or phrase stock. You can take ordinary pieces of paper or stickers, but they quickly wrinkle and wear out, so it’s better to buy special thin cardboard or thick paper from stationery. On one side of the card, write down the word or phrase in English, on the other side, the transcription and Russian translation.
learn to greet in englishAnother source is books. Here important words occur even more often. Listen carefully to the radio or read a book. When you hear an incomprehensible word or expression, write it out, translate it and add it to a new transcription card for even faster learning of English.
If it’s a completely dark forest with video, audio or books, then take the most commonly used topics in the dictionary or stupid words from the textbook. During the study, I found out for myself that the key to the language is verbs, and only then articles and prepositions (of course, after studying popular nouns). Therefore, I put special emphasis on cards with all persons, tenses and verb conjugations.
English flashcards are the best option for beginners. Due to their extreme compactness, you can learn new words wherever you like in small breaks of 10-15 minutes. And thanks to the special technique of breaks, the result will be very effective. see also How to learn English with pictures. Set of 333 flashcards with English words
A set of cards with common English words
In general, everything is individual. Each person's memory works differently. You must understand for yourself what pace and rhythm is right for you.