Language learning: vocabulary, memory and apps

Which games actually teach you Spanish, how to switch them to Spanish, which words are worth saving and what to do so they don't stay locked inside the game.

How many hours it takes to learn a language: FSI and Cambridge estimates by level, the hours converted into a real calendar, and why short daily sessions beat rare marathons.

How to invent handles for words that refuse to stick: the keyword method, what makes an image work, which words need no mnemonic at all and why it never replaces review.

How to write down Spanish words so they stick: what to record besides the translation, what to leave out, how to store your notebook and when to come back to it.

Where the 80% figure comes from, why coverage isn't comprehension, and what the first thousand words actually buy you. How many words you need for 95% and 98%, and when a frequency list stops working.

What comprehensible input actually means in numbers, why «just watch shows in Spanish» usually fails, how to build a ladder of material, and what to do so the words you meet don't evaporate.

At night the brain consolidates what you studied by day. How sleep and vocabulary memory are connected, why short sleep costs you twice, and how to build evening reviews.

The words-learned counter measures actions, not memory. How to test yourself in an hour on a hundred random words, which three numbers to track and what to do with the result.

Ready-made word lists are built for everyone at once, not for you. Here's why a personal collection sticks better, how to build one from shows, books and work, and when a frequency list still makes sense.

The narrow set of Spanish words and phrases you actually need in an interview: responsibilities, results, teamwork, prepositional verbs and what to say during a pause. With examples and a two-week plan.

The Leitner system is a flashcard method with five compartments and growing review intervals. How to build it out of paper in one evening, where it breaks, and how an app does the same thing.

Ninety minutes of cramming and ten minutes a day are not the same effort arranged differently. Why marathons evaporate, and how to build a daily habit that actually holds your vocabulary.