Spaced Repetition: The Algorithm Serious Learners Trust

Anki users know. There's a reason medical students swear by it. There's a reason polyglots call it essential. Spaced repetition is the closest thing to a cheat code for memory. And most language apps either don't use it or use it wrong.

The Forgetting Curve

In 1885, Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered something important: you forget things in a predictable pattern. After learning something new, your memory of it decays exponentially—fast at first, then slower. But if you review at just the right moment, right before you'd forget, you reset the curve. Each time you do this, the curve gets shallower. Eventually, the information sticks forever.

Why Most Apps Get It Wrong

True spaced repetition requires tracking each piece of information individually and scheduling reviews based on your personal performance. It's computationally intensive and doesn't fit neatly into lesson structures. So most apps approximate it. They show you "review" sessions that are more about keeping you engaged than optimizing memory.

Anki gets it right. So does dubchat. Every card you learn is tracked. Every pronunciation attempt is recorded. The algorithm knows exactly when you're about to forget something and brings it back at the optimal moment.

The Serious Learner's Edge

Spaced repetition isn't glamorous. It doesn't have the dopamine hits of streaks and leaderboards. But it's what actually transfers information into long-term memory. If you're serious about learning, you need the real algorithm—not a gamified approximation.