the.com/flashcard
A tiny index card that makes forgetting feel like a personal failure.
means A small card with a word, image, or fact on it, used for memorizing information through quick repeated self-testing.
from A straightforward compound of 'flash' (a brief, quick burst, as in a glimpse) and 'card' — the word simply describes the method: a card is flashed before the learner for a split second to test instant recall. It emerged alongside modern classroom teaching methods, when 'flash' had already picked up its sense of 'momentary or rapid' in English, making the name almost embarrassingly literal for how the thing works.
- origin
- Used since early 1800s for teaching reading and arithmetic
- science
- Works because testing beats rereading for memory
- secret weapon
- Spaced repetition apps exploit how fast you forget
- paradox
- Making them teaches more than reviewing them