In the last post I talked about how Frazely uses spaced repetition to make sure you review words at exactly the right time. But the when is only half the story. The how matters just as much - and that’s the topic of today’s post.
At first Frazely had just one review style - writing. You saw the English sentence, and had to type the missing word in your target language, letter by letter, for each word in your word list. I know, I know, it sounds quite brutal. And it really was - especially since I’ve been using it to learn Arabic. But I have a slight OCD when learning languages, and my logic goes - if you can’t spell a word, you don’t really know it.
Thank goodness Caro had a different idea ;). She was using Frazely for Polish and Spanish, and she had a very different philosophy. She wanted to focus on actually understanding what she hears, and couldn’t care less about spelling. After a few late-night debates about which approach was “correct,” we landed on the obvious answer: why don’t we include all of them?
So now Frazely has five different ways to review. And here’s what each one does and why it works:
1. Flashcards - guess English
You see a word in your target language and guess its meaning. That’s it.
Review with Frazely using flashcards - practice reading comprehension (Example - Persian)
This one trains your reading comprehension - you’re recognizing the word in the language you’re learning and pulling up the meaning. It’s a low-pressure way to go through a lot of vocabulary quickly, or for languages where you’re not very confident with the script yet. I’m using it for Arabic and Persian, because reading is still quite challenging for me. I always make sure to read both the word and the sentence - to get the most out of every review.
2. Flashcards - guess Target Language
The classic reverse flashcard - you see the English meaning and produce the word in your target language.
Review with Frazely using reverse flashcards - recall the word in target language (Example - Persian)
This one, in my opinion, is the actual test of your knowledge, because you need to come up with the foreign word by yourself - which is what you actually need to do when you speak or write. Unlike in the previous version, you can’t just guess the meaning from context. I use it for all my languages, and for best results I also make sure to say the answer out loud (whenever I’m alone in the room ;)).
3. Listen and guess
You hear the audio and guess the meaning (or the word).
Review with Frazely using audio exercises - practice listening comprehension
This one is Caro’s favourite. Her main goal in Spanish is to be able to understand conversations. Listening comprehension is its own skill completely separate from reading. You can recognize a word on paper and still completely miss it in conversation. This exercise trains your ear. For Spanish learners especially, where words flow together fast, this kind of practice makes a real difference.
4. Fill in the characters
An interactive exercise where three characters of the word are missing, and you click them back in - in the right order - from a set of options.
Review with Frazely with fill-in-the-blanks exercise - practice spelling in an interactive way (Example - Persian)
This sits nicely in the middle ground between flashcards and full writing. You’re engaging with the spelling and structure of the word without having to produce everything from memory. It’s especially good for tricky scripts or unfamiliar letter combinations. For example for Arabic letters that look almost identical, or Polish words with six consonants in a row, etc - this exercise makes you slow down and actually look at what the word is made of. It’s interactive and a bit game-like (it’s probably the closes to Duolingo Frazely will ever get).
5. Writing
You see the English translation, and you type the entire word from scratch.
Review with Frazely with writing exercise - practice writing and spelling in your target language (Example - Persian)
This is the ultimate test of your target language. You not only have to guess the word from translation, but you also have to spell it correctly using a full keyboard, not just a limited set of options. It’s the hardest exercise, and it’s the most satisfying when you get it right.
For Arabic, where short vowels often aren’t written and you have to just know the word, this is the real test. I hate it and love it at the same time. Caro usually turns this one off, and that’s also a vald approach. Whether you want to practice spelling depends completely on your goals, and that’s why we made it possible to choose the exercises that suit you.
One more thing: Speaking
You’ll notice we didn’t list speaking as a review mode. That’s because every exercise can be a speaking one, it’s just up to you to make it one. Because the truth is no app can make you open your mouth. At some point, you just have to say the things out loud. What we can do is give you the words and sentences with great quality audio. The rest is on you. Whenever you’re doing any exercise, just say what you hear. It costs nothing and it really works.
How to customise your reviews
By default, all five exercise types are turned on, and they show up in random order. We think this is the best default - it keeps sessions varied, trains all your skills, and honestly makes reviews more fun when you’re not doing the same thing over and over.
But you can turn any exercise on or off individually, to fully match your learning preferences and needs. Simply click on the settings icon in the top right corner and tap any exercise name to turn it on or off.
Customize your review session - turn any exercise type on and off to match your learning style
Make the most out of your reviews
We did our best to provide you with a powerful, customizable tool to help you maximise your learning efficiency. Here’s the key two things to remember:
Review daily. Even the best language learning app only works if you show up. Try to review your words every single day. It doesn’t have to be long - even ten minutes in the morning compounds over time.
Say things out loud. When you hear a word, repeat it. When you guess correctly, say it. It’s the closest thing to speaking practice that a review session can offer, and it genuinely helps words stick.
Every word you save in Frazely comes with an example sentence, so you’re never just memorizing isolated vocabulary - you’re always seeing it in context. Pair that with five different ways to practice, and reviews stop feeling like a chore and start feeling like something you actually look forward to.
Or at least, that’s the goal. We’re working on it ;-).
Suggestions are always welcome!