Spaced Repetition Courses

Lingua Fortis was designed to solve two major problems language learners face.

The first is that traditional language-learning materials often prioritize relatively rare words and phrases while underemphasizing the high-frequency content that makes up the majority of language use.

For example, a study of three first-year German textbooks found that between 29% and 44% of the vocabulary they taught did not rank among the 4,000 most frequent German words. Meanwhile, the textbooks included only 53%–64% of the most frequent 1,000 words.[1]

However, because a relatively small, broadly distributed core vocabulary accounts for a disproportionate share of general language use, mastering it first maximizes coverage across the widest range of conversations.

The second problem is that learners often spend a large portion of their study time memorizing grammar rules, but memorizing rules does not translate into being able to apply them spontaneously in a conversation.

To truly become fluent in a language, we need to internalize its grammatical patterns to the point where they are instinctual. This comes not from memorizing rules alone, but from developing muscle memory through massive amounts of repeated exposure to and production of the patterns we are trying to learn.

Built from the language people actually use

Lingua Fortis’s Spaced Repetition Courses were designed to do two things:

• Prioritize the highest-frequency vocabulary and word patterns.
• Develop your instinctual grasp of how to use this high-frequency core vocabulary.

There is a major gap between the words people intuitively think would be the most common and the words that actually constitute the majority of our speech.

Therefore, we base our course content on an analysis of 4 to 5 million sentences of real-world language use, so you can be sure that you are learning the most important words and structures first.

These are the broadly reusable scaffold words that will provide the structure of your conversations regardless of subject.

Learning them first is the most efficient and systematic way to maximize your vocabulary coverage of any given conversation or piece of language content. Maximizing vocabulary coverage is critical for getting to the threshold where you understand enough of the language to use it in the real world.

Muscle memory over memorization

Memorizing vocabulary lists and grammar rules will not make you fluent.

You need to develop an instinct for the language where correct usage genuinely feels correct and incorrect usage does not.

This is why we always show vocabulary in context.

It is through repeated exposure to and production of words in context that we develop our language instinct. By reading the sample sentences, listening to the audio, and repeating out loud, over time we begin to internalize the grammar of our language.

The goal is to get to the point where you automatically choose the correct usage even when you do not know the grammar rule that explains why.

This is what separates the automatic, reflexive command native speakers have of their language from beginners who consciously construct sentences rule by rule and word by word.

Three complementary ways to train

We currently offer three courses. These are designed to be complementary so you can mix and match or just choose the one that best suits your needs.

• General Pattern Training teaches high-frequency word combinations. Just as certain individual words are much more common than others, many word combinations are much more frequent as well. It's beneficial to learn them as distinct units so you can instinctually produce them in conversation like native speakers do.
• Vocabulary Training focuses on individual high-frequency word forms. The word combinations in the General Pattern Training course will naturally repeat individual high-frequency words in different combinations, so this course was designed to focus on individual words to broaden your overall vocabulary faster.
• Verb Training focuses on verbs in their conjugated forms. Because certain conjugations are much more common than others, this course prioritizes the forms you are most likely to encounter and use. Verbs merit their own course because expanding your command of verbs produces large gains in the range of actions, experiences, and ideas you are able to express.

All three courses rely on the same two principles: start with the highest-frequency content and focus on training your instinctual command of the language through repeated exposure.

How the Courses work

Study each item in context. Every card includes a high-frequency word or pattern, a sample sentence, and audio.

1. Choose a daily goal. Start by deciding how many new cards you want to study each day. The default is five.
2. Study each item in context. Every card includes a high-frequency word or pattern, a sample sentence, and audio.
3. Listen and repeat. During the new card study cycle, you will see each new card five times in shuffled order. Listen to the audio and repeat the sentence aloud, matching its pronunciation as closely as possible.
4. Complete scheduled reviews. After the new card cycle is completed, each card will be scheduled for later review using a spaced-repetition algorithm.
5. Review cards are dynamic. Scheduled Review Cards test a variety of skills such as recognition, listening, and writing. The card types will be more difficult based on your current level in the language and how many times you have reviewed this content successfully before.

Always repeat the sentences aloud.

This is a fundamental part of the training that will make the mental and physical actions of producing the language automatic.

The more times you have repeated a certain structure in practice, the easier it will be to produce it spontaneously in conversation.

One of the most important parts of this system is in how we schedule the cards for review again at a later date.

When you remember an item successfully, the system can wait longer before showing it again. When you struggle to remember it, the next review arrives sooner.

This is called spaced repetition and it is one of the most powerful tools we have for efficiently acquiring vocabulary.

Dynamically spacing reviews over time based on how well you remember the content improves your long-term retention of what you are studying.

This method is also highly efficient in that it concentrates more of your study time on material at risk of being forgotten while reducing unnecessary reviews of material you already know well.[2]

It is worth keeping the daily new-card goal manageable.

Five cards may initially seem low, but every new card creates future reviews. Adding too many at once can quickly produce a workload that is difficult to sustain.

Who are the Courses for?

The Spaced Repetition Courses are a great place to start with Lingua Fortis, especially for beginners.

Beginners receive a guided path through the highest-frequency words and patterns. This vocabulary will serve as the solid language foundation upon which their further language studies will be based.

This will also help them efficiently get to the critical threshold where they understand enough of the language to learn from native content such as novels and films.

Advanced learners can also benefit from the Spaced Repetition Courses.

Even advanced students often have unexpected gaps in their otherwise strong language skills, particularly if they haven’t used a frequency-based approach before.

The Courses provide a systematic way to fill those gaps while strengthening muscle memory for structures the learner might know but still require conscious thought to produce.

One important thing to bear in mind is that these are not courses that you are looking to “finish.” There is far too much content in each of them to realistically do that.

Rather, these courses are designed to serve as a resource for continually training and expanding your language skills.

Language learning is ultimately the development of a skill, not the accumulation of a fixed collection of facts.

The Spaced Repetition Courses provide the structure for effectively training that skill by prioritizing the highest-frequency language content, teaching it in context, and training it until you can use it reflexively and spontaneously.

References

1. Silke Lipinski, “A Frequency Analysis of Vocabulary in Three First-Year Textbooks of German,” *Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German* 43, no. 2 (2010): 167–174.

2. Tatsuya Nakata, “Effects of Expanding and Equal Spacing on Second Language Vocabulary Learning,” *Studies in Second Language Acquisition* 37, no. 4 (2015): 677–711.