https://verbamor.com/blog Notes on language learning, the science of memory, and building Verbamor. en Verbamor support@verbamor.com (Colin Taylor) Mon, 13 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/testing-effect https://verbamor.com/blog/testing-effect Retrieval practice beats restudying in hundreds of experiments. What Roediger and Karpicke found, and what it means for your flashcards. Memory science Colin Taylor Tue, 07 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/sleep https://verbamor.com/blog/sleep Consolidation, slow-wave sleep, and the studies showing sleep after learning protects new words. Memory science Colin Taylor Mon, 06 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/interleaving https://verbamor.com/blog/interleaving Interleaved practice feels worse and works better. The studies on shuffled vs. blocked practice. Tactics Colin Taylor Sun, 05 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/dual-coding https://verbamor.com/blog/dual-coding Two memory routes beat one. The science of images on flashcards, from Paivio to Carpenter's wry catch. Memory science Colin Taylor Sat, 04 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/cramming https://verbamor.com/blog/cramming Massed practice vs. distributed practice, the fluency illusion, and why 20 minutes a day beats 2 hours the night before. Tactics Colin Taylor Fri, 03 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/frequency-curve https://verbamor.com/blog/frequency-curve Zipf's law, lexical coverage, and why the first few hundred words of a language are wildly undervalued. Memory science Colin Taylor Thu, 02 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/forgetting https://verbamor.com/blog/forgetting The forgetting curve is old, brutal, and remarkably precise. What Ebbinghaus figured out in 1885, and why it still runs your review schedule. Memory science Colin Taylor Sun, 28 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/input-vs-cards https://verbamor.com/blog/input-vs-cards The input-only crowd and the flashcard grinders are both half right. What incidental learning research says. Tactics Colin Taylor Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/grading https://verbamor.com/blog/grading The scheduler believes every grade you give it. What metacognition research says about why we over-grade, and a rubric that fixes it. Tactics Colin Taylor Thu, 18 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/desirable-difficulty https://verbamor.com/blog/desirable-difficulty The harder-feeling study method keeps winning. Bjork's framework for why, and how to tell good difficulty from bad. Memory science Colin Taylor Thu, 11 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/cognates https://verbamor.com/blog/cognates Cognates are easier to learn and slower to forget, per the research. False friends are the tax on that gift. Tactics Colin Taylor Thu, 04 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/native-audio https://verbamor.com/blog/native-audio Your memory stores words as sound before anything else. The case for ear-first vocabulary, from Baddeley to high-variability training. Memory science Colin Taylor Thu, 28 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/speaking-anxiety https://verbamor.com/blog/speaking-anxiety Language anxiety takes a measurable bite out of performance. The research, and what actually lowers it. Tactics Colin Taylor Thu, 21 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/fsrs https://verbamor.com/blog/fsrs Difficulty, stability, retrievability: the three-number model behind modern spaced repetition scheduling. Product Colin Taylor Thu, 14 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT https://verbamor.com/blog/plateaus https://verbamor.com/blog/plateaus Why month 8 feels slower than month 2, and what deliberate practice research says about getting unstuck. Tactics Colin Taylor Thu, 07 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT