Vocabulary Builder
Master SAT & GRE level words with quizzes, flashcards, and progress tracking
How this trainer works
Words are kept in your browser. Each one is either learning or marked as known, and the progress bar is simply known ÷ total. Nothing is uploaded.
The quiz shows one word and four options — the right answer plus three others drawn at random from the same list. That means a pure guess is right about 25% of the time, so a score below that is noise rather than knowledge.
Why four options and not more
More options lower the guess rate but make each question slower to read. With four, a guess lands one time in four; with six it is one in six. The gain shrinks while the reading cost keeps growing, which is why four is the common choice.
Because the distractors come from the same list, they get harder as your list gets more similar words. A list of closely related terms is a harder quiz than a mixed one, at the same number of options.
Getting an honest score
Marking a word known after one correct answer overstates what you remember — recognising a word among four choices is easier than recalling it. Two signals are worth watching: whether you get it right again after a gap, and whether you can produce the meaning before looking at the options.
The trainer keeps a day counter so you can see when you last practised. Spacing practice out costs the same total time but leaves more behind than doing it all at once.
자주 묻는 질문
What score counts as real knowledge?
Above chance. With four options a pure guess is right a significant share of the time, so anything near that is noise.
Where are my words stored?
In your browser only. They are not uploaded and will not appear on another device.
Why do the wrong options feel so close?
Distractors are drawn from your own list, so a list of similar words produces a harder quiz.
Should I mark a word known after one correct answer?
That tends to overstate recall. Recognising a word among four choices is easier than producing it from memory.
How scores are produced
계산 가정
- Progress is known words ÷ total words in your list.
- The quiz draws three distractors at random from the same list, so chance level is about 25%.
- Words and progress are stored in your browser only.
이 결과를 쓰면 안 되는 곳
This is a practice aid, not a test. Do not treat the progress figure as a measure of proficiency for exams or placement.
Spacing, and why it beats repetition
Reviewing a word ten times in one sitting feels productive and is mostly wasted. The same ten reviews spread over two weeks produce far better recall, because each review that happens just as the memory starts to fade does more work than one that happens while it is still fresh. That is the whole idea behind spaced repetition.
A simple schedule is enough to get most of the benefit: review a new word the same day, then after one day, three days, a week, two weeks, a month. Push a word further out each time you recall it correctly, and pull it back to the start when you do not.
| Review | Gap since last | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | same day | encoding — getting the form right |
| 2nd | 1 day | catching what did not stick |
| 3rd | 3 days | first real retrieval |
| 4th | 1 week | consolidation |
| 5th | 2 weeks | durability check |
| 6th | 1 month | maintenance |
Recall, not recognition
Reading a word and its meaning side by side is recognition, and it is much easier than what a test or a conversation asks of you. Cover the meaning, say it out loud, then check. The small effort of failing and correcting is what makes the review count — a review you sail through teaches less than one you nearly miss.
Learning a word in a sentence beats learning it alone, because a word’s meaning is tied to the company it keeps. One short example sentence per entry is usually worth more than a second synonym.