The Vemlit learning guide
A ten-minute routine for English vocabulary revision.
A long word list can make revision feel endless. Start with a few useful words, check what you can recall and leave yourself a reason to return.
1. Choose words you have actually met.
Take three to five words from a lesson, a book or an article. Choose words that help you understand something you care about. A word you recognise in tomorrow’s reading is more useful to your current study than a difficult word you have no reason to use.
In Vemlit, look up each word and save it to your bank. Check its meaning in the original sentence before saving it. A word may have several meanings, so the first dictionary definition is not always the one you need.
2. Keep the meaning and an example together.
Read the English explanation, use the Chinese meaning if it helps, then look at an example. Notice whether the word describes an action, a person or an idea. Listen to its pronunciation as well as looking at its spelling.
Now make a short sentence about your own day. If you are unsure whether it sounds natural, compare it with the dictionary examples or ask your teacher. Do not try to memorise every meaning at once.
3. Close the answer and try to recall it.
Look at the meaning or listen to the word, then type it without copying. Check both the spelling and whether it is the word you intended. Seeing an answer and producing it yourself are different tasks.
If you get it wrong, read the answer, notice what you missed, and try again after another word. In Vemlit’s practice, missed words return for extra attempts, while familiar words receive fewer hints. Use the feedback to decide what needs attention rather than rushing for a perfect score.
4. Meet the word beyond the exercise.
Spend the last few minutes reading a short passage. Try to work out an unfamiliar word from the surrounding sentence before looking it up. Save only a few useful words so tomorrow’s list stays manageable.
After reading, explain the main point in one sentence. Answering comprehension questions gives you another reason to pay attention to how the words are being used.
5. Come back for another short review.
Return on another day and attempt the word before opening its definition. Give more time to words you still struggle to recall. If a word feels easy, move on to using it in a new sentence or recognising a different meaning.
A ten-minute session is a starting point, not a required duration or a promise of results. Adjust the number of words to your workload. For DSE or IELTS preparation, keep practising reading, writing, listening and speaking too; a vocabulary bank cannot measure an entire exam level.
Your next session, in four lines.
- Choose: three to five useful words from something you read.
- Understand: check the relevant meaning and one example.
- Recall: type the word before revealing the answer.
- Return: revisit difficult words and use them in context.