Your unfair advantage in language exams
Language exams rest on vocabulary, and vocabulary is where forgetting shows most. Words, collocations, kanji and hanzi arrive by the thousand, and each one has to be ready the moment you read or hear it.
The advantage isn't a shortcut. It's a study method: pulling answers from memory and reviewing them just before they fade, instead of rereading, highlighting and cramming.
5 programs · 12,727 cards · organised by public exam outlines
What your memory has to carry for language exams
Different exams, the same problem: a lot to hold, for a long time, recalled on demand.
Volume
Thousands of words and characters, each with readings, meanings and usage.
Speed
Recognition fast enough to keep up with a passage or a recording.
Production
For writing and speaking, recalling the word yourself, not just recognising it.
Why the old way fails for language exams
Rereading, highlighting and cramming are the most common ways to study, and they feel productive. The research says they're the weakest.
Rereading
Reading down a word list again is the classic way to feel you know words you can't yet produce.
Retrieve it
Tested students recalled 61% of a passage a week later; students who reread it four times recalled 40%.
Roediger & Karpicke (2006), Psychological Science
Highlighting
Highlighting new words in a text marks them; it does not bring them back before you forget them.
Test yourself
A review of ten techniques rated highlighting and rereading low utility, and practice testing high.
Dunlosky et al. (2013), Psychological Science in the Public Interest
Cramming
Cramming a list the night before works for tomorrow. Language needs the words for years.
Space it
Word pairs reviewed across four days were recalled 54% of the time; the stack crammed the day before the test, 34%.
Kornell (2009), Applied Cognitive Psychology
The numbers behind the method
Published finding about the method, not NoReread results. Each one is shown with the conditions it was measured under.
recalled a week later: kept testing vs only restudied
This study used foreign-language vocabulary. Continuing to test pairs kept about 80% a week later.
College students learned 40 Swahili–English word pairs. Pairs that kept being tested after first recall were recalled about 80% of the time a week later; pairs dropped from testing but restudied, 36%.
Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319(5865), 966–968.
Published finding about the method, not NoReread results.
recalled on day 5: one stack reviewed daily vs stacks crammed
One big stack reviewed daily beat small stacks crammed on single days.
25 students learned GRE-type word pairs over four daily sessions with the same number of study trials. One large stack reviewed every day: 54% recalled on day 5. Small stacks each crammed on a single day: 21%. The stack crammed the day before the test: 34%. Experiment 2.
Kornell, N. (2009). Optimising learning using flashcards: Spacing is more effective than cramming. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23(9), 1297–1317.
Published finding about the method, not NoReread results.
assessments of spaced vs massed practice, reviewed together
Across hundreds of verbal-recall studies, spacing beat massing.
A quantitative review of 839 assessments in 317 experiments (184 articles) on verbal recall. Spaced learning beat massed, and the gap between sessions that produced the best retention grew as the retention interval grew.
Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380.
Published finding about the method, not NoReread results.
See the research
Three short loops. Two chart published results exactly as reported; the forgetting curve is an illustrative model and is labelled as one.
The forgetting curve, with and without reviews
An illustrative model, not measured data: after one exposure, memory decays quickly toward zero over 30 days. With reviews on days 1, 3, 7 and 14, each review restores it and it decays more slowly each time, staying high at day 30.
Ebbinghaus, H. (1885). Über das Gedächtnis. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig.
Illustrative model, not measured data.
Testing yourself beats rereading, a week later
Bar charts from Roediger & Karpicke (2006), Experiment 2. Five minutes after studying, students who read a passage four times recalled 83%, read three times and tested once 78%, read once and tested three times 71%. One week later the order reversed: 40%, 56% and 61%.
Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255.
Published finding about the method, not NoReread results.
Spacing beats cramming
From Kornell (2009), Experiment 2: over four days, one stack of 20 word pairs reviewed every day versus four stacks of five each crammed on one day. On day 5, spaced pairs were recalled 54% of the time, massed 21%, and the stack crammed the day before 34%. Across three experiments spacing beat massing for 90% of participants, yet after the first session 72% believed massing worked better.
Kornell, N. (2009). Optimising learning using flashcards: Spacing is more effective than cramming. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23(9), 1297–1317.
Published finding about the method, not NoReread results.
Language programs
Ready-made decks, organised by each exam's public outline. Open any program to try its free sample cards.
TOEFL iBT
6 decks · 3,849 cards
IELTS Academic
7 decks · 3,919 cards
PTE Academic
5 decks · 1,690 cards
JLPT N1
12 decks · 2,399 cards
HSK 1
6 decks · 870 cards
| Exam | Questions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| TOEFL iBTReading ~50 items, Listening ~47 items, Writing 12 items, Speaking 11 items (counts vary as the test adapts) · Approximately 2 hours (section testing time about 90 minutes) | Reading ~50 items, Listening ~47 items, Writing 12 items, Speaking 11 items (counts vary as the test adapts) | Approximately 2 hours (section testing time about 90 minutes) |
| IELTS AcademicListening 40 questions, Reading 40 questions, Writing 2 tasks, Speaking 3-part interview · 2 hours 45 minutes (Listening, Reading, Writing); Speaking 11–14 minutes, sometimes on a different day | Listening 40 questions, Reading 40 questions, Writing 2 tasks, Speaking 3-part interview | 2 hours 45 minutes (Listening, Reading, Writing); Speaking 11–14 minutes, sometimes on a different day |
| PTE Academic65–75 questions across 22 question types (Speaking & Writing 9, Reading 5, Listening 8), per the post-7 August 2025 format · About 2 hours (Speaking & Writing ~76–84 min; Reading ~23–30 min; Listening ~31–39 min; forms are balanced for total length) | 65–75 questions across 22 question types (Speaking & Writing 9, Reading 5, Listening 8), per the post-7 August 2025 format | About 2 hours (Speaking & Writing ~76–84 min; Reading ~23–30 min; Listening ~31–39 min; forms are balanced for total length) |
| JLPT N113 question types in Language Knowledge・Reading and 5 in Listening; item counts vary by administration · 165 minutes of test time (Language Knowledge・Reading 110 min; Listening 55 min since December 2022) | 13 question types in Language Knowledge・Reading and 5 in Listening; item counts vary by administration | 165 minutes of test time (Language Knowledge・Reading 110 min; Listening 55 min since December 2022) |
| HSK 1About 40 items total (Listening and Reading) · About 40 minutes including time to complete personal details | About 40 items total (Listening and Reading) | About 40 minutes including time to complete personal details |
How NoReread puts it to work
1. Cards from public exam outlines
Each program is organised by its exam's publicly available outline, so the decks follow the structure you will be tested on.
2. Recall first, then flip
Every card asks before it tells. That moment of pulling the answer from memory is the retrieval practice the research measures.
3. Reviews scheduled before you forget
An SM-2 schedule brings each card back just as it starts to fade: sooner if you missed it, later if you knew it.
Each card is a word or character with its meaning. You recall before you flip, and the schedule pushes well-known words weeks out while new ones come back daily.
What does "hypothesis" mean in academic writing?
A proposed, testable explanation for an observed phenomenon, put forward before evidence is gathered; the plural is 'hypotheses'. Researchers test, support, reject, or confirm a hypothesis.
Learn first, then retain.
Flashcards are a memory tool. Learn the material first, then use NoReread to retain it and refresh what you already know. It doesn't replace studying the subject.
Cards are created from publicly available sources and may contain errors. Check anything you rely on against your official materials.
Straight answers
Is NoReread enough to prepare for language exams?
No, and we won't pretend otherwise. Flashcards are a memory tool. Learn the material first, then use NoReread to retain it and refresh what you already know. It doesn't replace studying the subject.
What does “unfair advantage” mean here?
The advantage is the study method: retrieval practice and spaced review, instead of rereading, highlighting and cramming. It is not a promise of a pass or a score. The numbers on this page are published findings about the method from the studies cited, not NoReread results.
Will this improve my speaking and writing scores?
It helps you remember vocabulary, which those skills use. Speaking and writing also need practice with feedback.
Is the vocabulary tied to the official exam lists?
Programs follow the public syllabi and word lists where they exist. Check anything you rely on against the official materials.
Can I rely on the cards being accurate?
Cards are created from publicly available sources and may contain errors. Check anything you rely on against your official materials. We're not experts in every field we cover, and NoReread does not guarantee exam results.
Is NoReread affiliated with the organizations behind these exams?
No. NoReread is not affiliated with or endorsed by the organizations whose exams and outlines it references, and exam names are trademarks of their respective owners.
How can I try it?
Every program page shows 6 free sample cards per deck. The All-Access annual plan starts with 7 days free, then $119.99/year, or you can buy a single program for life from $7.99.
Exam names are trademarks of their respective owners. Content disclaimer · All the research
Study language exams the way memory works
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