You'll get a new deck of up to 50 cards on a topic you describe, which Vocards writes for you in the background while you do something else.

What you need

• A Vocards account, on the web or in the iOS or Android app.
• An internet connection.
• AI credits. Every account gets 500 free every 30 days. A generation is charged for the AI processing it actually uses, so there's no fixed price per deck or per card.

On the web, click the round AI Credits meter in the page header to see your balance and the date it resets. On iOS and Android it's in Settings.

1. Open the create form

Click Add (+) in the header, choose New deck, then Describe a topic ("We write the cards for you" ). If you don't have a deck yet, the sheet opens straight on the new-deck choices.

Note: On iOS and Android, tap the Add button (a +) on Home, then New deck and Describe a topic.

The form opens on Create and auto-fill. The other tab, Create empty, makes a deck with no cards in it.

2. Choose the two languages

Set I speak and I'm learning. I speak starts as your app language.

If you pick the same language for both, you get a definition deck. The form says so: "Same-language deck – the back side will show definitions, and example sentences will hide the target word."

3. Describe what you want to learn

Type it into What do you want to learn?, for example "Job interview expressions" or "Travel phrases for beginners". The description can be 3 to 500 characters. If it's shorter, the form shows "Please provide more details" under the field when you click away from it.

The field also takes a photo or a file through Attach file. That's a different way to build a deck and isn't covered here.

4. Set the level and the number of cards

• Maximum number of cards: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40 or 50. It starts at 10. It's a maximum, and the deck can come out smaller.
• Difficulty Level: optional. Pick from Beginner (A1) to Proficient (C2), or leave it on Select level (optional).

The level only guides what gets written. It isn't saved with the deck, so you can't see it or change it afterwards.

Note: On iOS and Android the level field is called CEFR Level (optional) and starts on Any level. Under Maximum number of cards the app adds "The card count depends on the topic" .

5. Name the deck, or let Vocards name it

Open More options if you want to choose the name. Deck Name says "Leave empty to name it automatically" . Leave it empty and the deck is named from your description.

Note: On iOS and Android the field is Deck Name (optional), with the hint "Auto-generated if empty" .

6. Create the deck

Click Create. The app takes you to Home, and the new deck shows up there while it's written: a tile marked Building with what it's doing, such as Preparing phrases... and then a count of the cards done so far.

You don't have to wait. The generation runs on the server, so you can leave the page or close the app. The deck is created early and cards are saved into it a few at a time, so Open on the tile takes you in to watch them arrive.

Note: On iOS and Android the deck appears on Home under Building.

What you'll see

Each card has:

• the word or phrase in its dictionary form, on the front
• its translation on the back, or a definition in a same-language deck
• one or more example sentences, each with its translation in a two-language deck
• the part of speech, the register (such as formal or informal) and a note on when it's used
• in a Japanese, Chinese or Cantonese deck, a reading of the front (furigana, pinyin or Jyutping), shown above the characters once you turn the card over (more on readings)

Both sides can be played aloud, with two exceptions: Persian and Uzbek have no audio, so a Persian or Uzbek side of a deck can't be played. Catalan, Afrikaans, Galician, Basque and Icelandic use a plainer standard voice.

The cards go straight into the deck. There's no separate step to accept them first.

Check and edit the cards

Open the deck and go through the list.

• Click a card to open it. Change any field, then click Save Changes.
• To remove a card, open its More options menu (⋯) and choose Delete.

Note: On iOS and Android, tap a card to open it. Save Changes and Delete Card are at the bottom.

Add more cards later

In the deck, click Add Cards and switch to Generate many. Pick where the new cards come from:

• More like my existing cards (selected at first) reads the deck's topic and the cards already in it, and writes new ones that fit. Add extra instructions lets you steer it, for example toward verbs only.
• Describe a topic or add a file takes a new description, the same way as step 3.

Choose Maximum number of cards and click Create Cards. The new cards arrive in the deck the same way, and use credits the same way.

Suggest more cards at the end of a learning session opens the same form.

Note: On iOS and Android, the + at the top of the deck opens Single Card and Generate many with the same choices.

Add one word at a time

When you have one word in mind, use Single Card in the same Add Cards dialog.

1. Type the word or phrase into Expression to learn. It can be up to 200 characters, in either of the deck's languages.
2. Click Create with AI. The rest of the card is filled in, and the card is added to the deck when it's ready.

When you stop typing, Vocards checks the word. If it looks like a typo, Did you mean? offers a fix, or Which did you mean? when there's more than one reading. Click a suggestion to use it. If the text doesn't look like a word at all, you see "This does not look like a word or phrase. You can add it anyway." The check costs no credits and never stops you adding what you typed.

If the word is already in the deck, the form says so, for example "'hola' is already in this deck.", with a View it link to it.

Limits

• Up to 50 cards per generation. For a bigger deck, add more with Generate many afterwards.
• A topic description of 3 to 500 characters, and a single word or phrase of up to 200.
• A deck name of up to 100 characters.

If something goes wrong

Once the deck has cards, start learning it: Your first learning session.