Learn German vocabulary as usable language, not isolated labels.

What to record

• Noun: article, singular, plural, meaning, and one natural sentence.
• Verb: infinitive, important irregular forms, the case or preposition it governs, and one sentence frame.
• Adjective or adverb: meaning plus a common contrast or collocation.
• Source and context: where you met the word and which meaning was intended.

Choose frequency and relevance together

High-frequency words deserve early attention, but personal relevance matters too. A learner moving to Germany may need apartment and administration vocabulary before literary terms. Keep a small active queue so review remains sustainable.

Recall before rereading

Look at a prompt, attempt the answer, and only then reveal it. Recognition feels fluent but does not guarantee recall. Short, repeated retrieval with corrective feedback produces a more honest picture of what you know.