Monday 17 October 2016

The Rationale for SRS

Spaced repetition systems. Who needs 'em?

Think about the rationale behind them. They are to remind you of words or phrases (sometimes even whole sentences) of what you want to learn, right?

So why do people need reminding?



Because otherwise it would take too long before they encounter those words again, by which time they will have largely forgotten them.

So SRS are good then, right? They serve a useful function.

But here's the thing: why would too much time elapse? It's because most people do too little. They process too little language. 

So what happens if they do the opposite. What if they get mega-dose exposure? They'd come across the words more frequently. Especially the most frequently used words i.e. the most useful. The ones that are worth internalizing.

Therefore, if you do enough reading and listening (or ListenReading) then there's no need for an SRS.

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