Learn Latin vocabulary that stays
In short
Words stay when you test yourself on them instead of just reading them through, and review them at growing intervals. A flashcard box with seven stages brings every word back after 1, 3–4, 7, 14, 30, 90 and 180 days – words you already know less often, difficult ones more often. For verbs, learn the principal parts from the start.
Test yourself instead of reading through
If you read a vocabulary list five times, you feel as if you know it. In the test, the word still won’t come to mind. The reason: reading trains recognition, but what you need is recall. Learning research shows that active retrieval keeps knowledge much longer than simply rereading (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).
So the rule is: only look at the answer once you have tried one yourself – in your head, on paper or in the app. A wrong attempt is not a setback but part of learning.
Review at growing intervals
Cramming the night before helps for the next morning, but hardly for the next test. Spaced review works better (Cepeda et al., 2006). The easiest way to organise it is a flashcard box: each word sits in a stage, and the stage decides when it is due again.
| Stage | Name in the app | due again after |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | täglich (daily) | 1 day |
| 2 | halbwöchentlich (twice a week) | 3–4 days |
| 3 | wöchentlich (weekly) | 7 days |
| 4 | halbmonatlich (fortnightly) | 14 days |
| 5 | monatlich (monthly) | 30 days |
| 6 | vierteljährlich (quarterly) | 90 days |
| 7 | halbjährlich (half-yearly) | 180 days |
If you know a word at the first attempt, it moves up one stage. If you don’t, it starts again at stage 1. That way the difficult words automatically come up more often, and no time is lost on the easy ones. Disce ludens works exactly like this.
Practise both directions
Recognising ager does not mean you can give the Latin for “field”. For translating from Latin, the direction Latin → meaning is usually enough. But if you have to form words or put sentences into Latin, you should also practise the other way round. Disce ludens keeps two separate boxes for this, Latin → German and German → Latin, so that the directions do not distort each other. The app is in German: exercises, hints and meanings are German, as in the original.
Learn more than one word
- Several meanings. Many words have more than one: agere means to drive, to carry on or to negotiate. If you know them all, you can pick the right one in the sentence.
- Principal parts. Learn the principal parts of verbs too, otherwise you won’t recognise the perfect in a text. Disce ludens I practises them in a lesson of their own.
- Word families. altus (high, deep) and altitudo (height, depth) are easier to learn together than apart.
- Traces in English. Many Latin words live on in English: agere gives “agent” and “action”, aedificium gives “edifice”. Such bridges help you remember.
A simple plan
- Take in new words in small portions, not the whole lesson at once.
- Test yourself briefly every day on the words that are due; the box tells you which.
- Don’t just look up wrong words – recall them again straight away.
- Before a test, don’t cram new words; go through the weak stages instead.
With a vocabulary trainer, the app does the planning. If you prefer paper flashcards, you can apply the same rules with a card box.
Digital or on paper?
Both work, as long as you recall and review at intervals. The differences lie in everyday use:
| Paper flashcards | Vocabulary trainer in the app | |
|---|---|---|
| Remembering | Writing cards yourself helps the first time round. | Typing the answer also forces you to recall. |
| Planning | Keep track of stages and dates by hand. | The box decides what is due. |
| Checking | You check yourself and are often generous. | Every answer is checked, spelling included. |
| Distraction | none | The phone can distract – best to turn notifications off. |
A good mix: write new words into an exercise book by hand, review them with the box in the app.
Try it
A real exercise from Disce ludens:
Disce ludens I · Vocabulary trainer, German → Latin
What is the Latin for “until now” (German: bis jetzt, bisher)?
Error points: 0
© Disce ludensWhat Disce ludens does – and what it doesn’t
What Disce ludens does
- Plans the review itself: seven stages from 1 to 180 days.
- Tests both directions in separate boxes, weakest words first.
- Comes with 1,565 words, matching Disce ludens I and II.
What it doesn’t do
- No vocabulary packs for individual textbooks.
- Wegener’s word list cannot be changed; your own words go into a card box of your own.
- No pronunciation; Latin is read and written.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fastest way to learn Latin vocabulary?
Not by reading through, but by testing yourself: answer first, then compare. On top of that, review at growing intervals, most easily with a flashcard box. Words you know come up less often, difficult ones more often.
How often should I review vocabulary?
Briefly every day, the words that are due. In a flashcard box with seven stages a word comes back after 1, 3–4, 7, 14, 30, 90 and 180 days – as long as you know it at the first attempt every time.
Should I learn Latin → English or English → Latin?
For translating from Latin, Latin → meaning is usually enough. If you also have to form words or translate into Latin, practise the other direction as well, ideally in a separate box. In Disce ludens the meanings are German: Latin → German and German → Latin.
Do I have to learn the principal parts too?
Yes. Without principal parts you won’t recognise perfect and participle forms in a text. Disce ludens I practises the principal parts of common verbs in a lesson of their own.
Is there a free Latin vocabulary trainer?
The Disce ludens demo includes 20 words in the vocabulary trainer, without an account or email address. All 1,565 words are available from €9 a year.