Remove familiar words from the stack

Familiar words are the ones that fit right into a sentence, not the ones whose translation you recognized. They get in the way in the pile when they keep coming up every third day and you just swipe them away without saying a word. The archive is the place for them. The index cards remain; they’re just out of the way. Deleting would be the other option, and I’d regret it as soon as I needed the word again at the counter.

I archive slowly. A word I’ve said aloud three times correctly, on different days. Not twenty times on a single Sunday just because I want to “clean up” the stack.

When It’s Learned

The example sentence was out there. In the language group or on your own—not just in your head. “I know it” while swiping is the button for that, and it lies if you press it out of impatience. Then the card comes back too late, or it’s considered known and is missing when you need it. Better to go over it one more time. Doing it again isn’t a flaw. It’s the spacing SRS refers to: one day, three, seven, thirty, ninety. Known words have already gone through this process.

If you’re unsure, leave the card in the stack. Being unsure and archived creates a gap.

The Archive Isn’t a Graveyard

You can retrieve what you put away too soon. A word from work that suddenly goes missing again comes out of the archive and back into the stack, with the same sentence. Don’t retype it if it’s still there. Index cards are patient. Your urge to tidy up isn’t. That’s why you shouldn’t archive everything that feels easy. What feels easy on Monday might be gone by Tuesday when you’re on the phone.

The due count in the widget goes down when you archive honestly. It’s supposed to go down because the cards are in place, not because you want to make the counter look good. A pretty counter with an empty mouth is the old lie.

What Stays in the Stack

Everything you’ve rewritten this week. Everything with a sound that still trips you up. Everything whose sentence you can’t complete without glancing at the card. These aren’t familiar words, even if the translation looks easy. The current vocabulary words on the widget should be exactly these. Three to seven. The rest of the collection stays in the app—invisible on the screen but visible in the deck—as long as it’s due.

Here’s how to find the archive: known words. How the intervals work: SRS.

Once a week, not every night

Look at five cards that you’ve been able to say without hesitation for a month. Move them to the archive once you’ve truly mastered the sentence. Then stop. Don’t go through half the stack just because the widget shows a high number. That high number is work, not clutter. Say eight of them aloud today. The rest tomorrow. Familiar words are the small pile on the side—not the goal of emptying the stack. “Empty” isn’t German. “Empty” is a tidy system.

Sometimes I take back a card I put away too early. That’s not a step backward. That’s the sentence that was missing at the counter. Back into the stack—say it aloud once, then use the normal intervals. Don’t archive it right away just to keep the number small. The number can grow if there are gaps in your speech. It can go down if the sentence is right. Both are the same button, just on different days. Index cards forgive this correction. A deleted word does not forgive it, because you first have to create it anew, often without the old example sentence. Five cards a week, not fifty. The rest remain due and will be said. Eight today, loud enough that you can hear yourself. The nice counter can wait.

{{SpeakingGerman}} lets you skip familiar words without losing them. You provide the proof with the sentence, not with the button alone.