Drill one exercise type with practice rounds
You'll run a short round of one exercise type, such as typing only, over words you've already studied. Nothing in the round changes when those words come back for review.
What you need
- At least one active deck with words you've already got right in a normal session. A word you get right there usually isn't due again until a later day, and until then practice rounds can use it.
- Words that are due, and words you haven't learned yet, wait for your normal session.
1. Open Practice
On web, open the page menu at the top left of the header (its icon and name show the page you're on) and pick Practice. You can also go to /practice.
On iOS and Android, tap the Practice tab.
The page is titled Extra practice. The line under the title says the round doesn't change when cards come back.
2. Pick a language pair and decks
Two menus under the title choose what the round draws from. Each one only appears when there's a choice to make.
- The language menu shows the pair's two flags and the name of the language you're learning. Open it to switch to another pair. A round sticks to one pair, so every answer and every option is in the same language.
- The deck menu starts at All decks. Open it and tick the decks you want. Tick a deck again to untick it. With nothing ticked, the round uses every deck in the pair.
The counts on the exercise rows change to match what you picked. Vocards remembers your deck choice for each pair on that device. Paused decks aren't included.
Note: On iOS and Android, the two menus are stacked fields under the title. The deck list stays open while you tick decks, and gets a search box when it's long.
3. Pick an exercise
The page lists four choices:
- Typing: you type the word.
- Multiple Choice: you pick the answer from a few options.
- Gap-fill: you fill the word into an example sentence.
- Mixed practice: Vocards picks the exercise for each word.
Each row shows how many of your words it can use, for example "12 of 40 words" or "All words (40)". A row that can use none is dimmed and reads Click to see why (Tap to see why on iOS and Android). Click it to open a short explanation: the reason, the numbers behind it, and a What you can do section.
Click or tap an available row to start the round. When you pick Typing, Multiple Choice or Gap-fill, every word in the round uses that exercise, even if you've set it to Off in Exercise mix.
4. Set the round length (optional)
Under Round settings, set Words per round. It's 10 by default and goes from 5 to 100. On web it's a slider. On iOS and Android it's a stepper.
This number is only for practice rounds. Your normal sessions keep their own Cards per session size. The app remembers your round length on the device you set it on.
If fewer words qualify than your round length, the round is shorter.
5. Play the round
Answer the words the same way as in a normal session. At the end, the summary offers Another round: Typing (or whichever exercise you picked), which starts a new round of the same exercise.
If you leave in the middle, the round waits on Home as an unfinished session with a name like "Practice · Typing", so you can pick it up later.
Which words a round uses
A round picks from words you've already met that aren't due yet. A word you missed in a session counts as due, so it waits for your next normal session. Words you answered in an earlier session today go to the back of the line, so back-to-back rounds don't repeat the same words.
Open How practice works (the question-mark button next to the title) for the same explanation in the app. Its Why some words don't show up section lists why a word can be left out:
- Due words. They wait for your normal review, where a right answer moves them forward.
- New words. You meet a word on a flashcard first.
- Typing. The word has to be something you can type: at most two words and 24 characters. Typing isn't offered at all when you're learning Japanese, Chinese (Simplified or Traditional), Cantonese, Arabic, Hebrew or Persian. For those languages the page shows a note under the rows, such as "Typing isn't available for Japanese yet."
- Gap-fill. The card needs an example sentence with the word in it.
- Multiple choice. You need at least 4 practice words, so there are wrong options to show next to the right one.
Note: On iOS and Android, the help button sits next to the Extra practice title and opens the same explanation.
Practice never changes your schedule
Every word in a practice round is practice only. A right answer doesn't move a word up, a wrong answer doesn't move it down, and no review date changes.
"Practice", "Review Anyway", "Keep practicing": which ones change the schedule
Several buttons use similar words. Only answers on words that are due or new move a review date.
| What you see | Where | Changes the schedule? |
|---|---|---|
| Practice | Web page menu, and a tab on iOS and Android | No. It opens the practice rounds described above. |
| Practice Again | The start button on a deck page, when nothing in the deck is due or new | No. Nothing in that deck is due or new, so every card is practice. |
| Review Anyway | The All caught up! screen, and Home when nothing is due or new | No. Nothing is due or new, so every card is practice. |
| Keep practicing | The session summary, when the deck has more cards than the session used | Partly. Any due or new cards left in the deck come first and count as normal. The rest are practice. |
| Another round: Typing | The summary after a practice round | No. It's another practice round. |
In a normal session, the flashcard answer is what moves a word: Got it! or Not yet on web, Got it! or Not yet on iOS and Android.
If something goes wrong
| You see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Meet some words first | You have no decks yet, or all your decks are paused. The page also shows this when it couldn't load your words. | Create a deck, or resume a paused one (on web, Resume Learning on the deck page). If you do have active decks, check your connection and reload the page, or pull down to refresh on a phone. |
| Nothing to practice yet | No word in this language pair is ready for practice. The message under it says the words are all due, but you also see it when your words are new (you haven't learned them in a session yet) or when your decks are empty. | Click or tap Start your review and finish the session it starts. The words you get right join the practice pool until they're due again, so come back to Practice afterwards. If your decks are empty, add words first. |
| The Typing row is dimmed, with a note under the rows that typing isn't available for your language | Vocards doesn't offer typing for that language. | Pick Multiple Choice, Gap-fill or Mixed practice. These words still come up in the other exercises. |
| The Typing row is dimmed, with no note | None of your practice words is short enough to type (at most two words and 24 characters). | Add cards with a single word or a short phrase on the front. Typing becomes available once you've learned some of them. |
| The Gap-fill row shows fewer words than the others, or is dimmed | Some cards have no example sentence that contains the word as it's written on the card. | Edit those cards and add an example sentence that uses the word in that exact form, or use Complete details on the deck. |
| The Multiple Choice row is dimmed | Fewer than 4 words in this pair are ready for practice. | Finish a normal session. The words you get right join the practice pool. |