Flashcards
Flashcards are an invaluable tool for all language learners as they allow vocabulary to be learned, checked, and re-learned during even the shortest of free times. Whether the flashcards are made by hand, printed or on a handheld device, the ease of use of being able to reinforce your vocabulary learning wherever you are makes flashcards an extremely effective tool.
Flashcard Software
Flashcards for Windows
Mobile Flashcards
Flashcards Delivery
Vis-Ed - Study Card sets
Printable Flashcards
Make Your Own Flashcards
Flashcards - The Vocab Learning Tool
Flashcards are by far and away the most time and cost effective method of brushing up on vocabulary, grammar, or sentence structure that there is for the language learner. Flashcards in their most basic form are just pieces of card with foreign words on one side and your own language words (or pictures) on the other. Some people put more than one on each card to save space, but the principle is the same: When you feel you have a spare minute or so—sitting at traffic lights, on an elevator, waiting to see someone—quickly whip out the cards and test your knowledge. Look at the foreign word and try and remember what it means, then turn it over to check if you were right. Keep doing this throughout a whole pack of cards until you are sure you know the entire vocabulary list. Then make some more.
Making Flashcards
Simple flashcards like this can be made by yourself with some inexpensive index cards and a marker (or printer). You can also make your own flashcards using computer software and then print them off in bulk. There are many software programs that allow you to do this such as Vtrain and Memorize-it. They make life much easier and allow you to make as many cards as you like with whatever vocabulary you are aiming at.
Ready-Made Flashcards
Some people may not have the time (or the inclination) to sit and make several hundred flashcards to help them learn vocabulary. Thankfully there are some excellent places where you can pick up ready made flashcards for almost any language and then just print them off. One of these sites is the excellent Flashcard Exchange which allows you to make your own flashcards but also share the flashcards you make with other flashcard exchange members. This is where the site shines: They claim over twenty million flashcards made by other users, covering almost every language you can think of (they had Esperanto and Welsh) and usually give you more than one choice of set for printing. This is a fantastic resource for language learning and has a good community feel to it. It is also FREE.
Windows Flashcards
Computer flashcards may seem like a strange choice at first, as the original idea of flashcards was to fill in those small gaps that appear throughout a busy day and the idea of testing your vocabulary on a computer screen seems rather redundant to some. Computer Flashcards certainly do have a place for some people—particularly those people who spend a a lot of time in front of a monitor. If your work puts you in front of your computer screen for hours on end, what better way to take short breaks, and learn a language, than switching windows periodically to check your flashcards.
One of the upsides of computer flashcards is their abiltity to include superior images or photos, which is essential for you visual learners out there. Lingvosoft, a subsidiary of ectaco have flashcards for a wide range of languages and are worth checking out, but if you want free flashcards from a top of the market company you should try Free BYKI™ Lite download by Transparent Language.
The lite version is obviously supplemented by the more extensive but not so free BYKI™ Deluxe.
Flashcards for Mobile Phones
Nowadays nearly everybody has a mobile phone and they are one of the few things that we carry around with us constantly whatever we are doing. This has made them an ideal vehicle for the flashcard programs. Instead of stuffing a thick pack of cards in your pocket, just pull out your phone when you have a spare five minutes and learn some words. It has never been so easy. There are many companies that deal in mobile phone language software now and for a more extensive list visit our mobile phone software page. Lingvosoft (Ectaco), Mobilesoft, and Declan Software both have specific flashcard programs for a number of languages. Many other companies make programs for your mobile for individual languages and often specific mobile phone operating systems. See your phone's online application store for more details.