Once you have a set of vocabulary flash cards, you can use them on your own to review words, or work with one or more friends and quiz each other. If you’re using an on-line flash card application, the format of the cards and the different games and exercises will be there for you, but if you’ve purchased, printed, or penciled in your own set, we’ve provided some suggestions in this post for using your flash cards for fun and effective vocabulary review.

A good vocabulary flash card will have the definition of the word, how to pronounce it, and an example of the word used correctly in a sentence. Other useful additions to a flash card are synonyms and antonyms, related words and concepts, and visual clues (such as color-coding or images) that help you categorize and remember words. Here’s a sample of a typical flash card:

Side A

Side B

Quiz Yourself

The most basic use of flash cards is to look at a word and try to remember the definition you’ve learned for that word (written on the back). After you have studied a list of words, take those cards and shuffle them, then go through them one by one and check to see that you’re correctly remembering the definitions. If you miss one, set it aside for further review.

You can also use the definition side of a card (covering up the sample sentence) to work back to the original vocabulary word by looking the definition, synonyms, and antonyms provided.

Quiz Each Other

Working with other people can be fun and useful, too, as you get practice saying words out loud and understanding them when spoken. Make it a competition by dividing your flash card deck in half and taking turns to quiz the other person. If a word is missed, set that card aside – the person with the least amount of “missed” cards at the end wins.

Use the example sentences for a bigger challenge by having one person read the sentence without the target word, and having the other students fill in the missing word. You can do the same thing by reading out the list of synonyms and asking for the target word; use the antonym list to provide additional clues.

Flash Cards Are Portable

Take a dozen or so cards with you wherever you go, and you’ll be able to tuck in bits of study no matter where you are or how little time you have. If you commute by bus or train, review your flash cards instead of reading the newspaper. Study your cards at lunch, and ask your coworkers to help you by testing your knowledge of the words. Who knows, you might start a vocabulary-improvement movement at your office!

Which flash card system do you use? Leave your recommendations in the comments.