Most learners use all three at some point — a vocabulary notebook, a phone app, maybe an Anki deck someone recommended. But they often use them randomly, without thinking about what each one is actually good at. The result is a lot of study time that feels productive but doesn’t translate into real French ability. Here’s an honest look at each method and when to use it.
The Core Problem: Passive Review vs Active Retrieval
Before comparing tools, it’s worth understanding what actually drives vocabulary retention. The key variable is active retrieval — forcing your brain to recall information from memory rather than simply recognising it when you see it again.
Researchers call this the “testing effect” or retrieval practice effect. Studies consistently show that testing yourself on material — even if you get it wrong — produces stronger long-term memory than re-reading the same material multiple times. This single principle explains most of the differences between the three tools.
You can learn more about the underlying mechanisms in the article on the science of language learning.
Flashcards: The Case For and Against
Traditional paper flashcards
A physical card with se souvenir de on one side and “to remember” on the other is a genuine active recall tool — you see the French and have to produce the English (or vice versa) before flipping. The act of self-testing, even on paper, works. The drawback is that paper decks don’t schedule reviews intelligently. You’ll over-review cards you already know and under-review the ones you’re about to forget.
Anki (digital spaced repetition)
Anki is the gold standard for vocabulary retention. It combines active recall with spaced repetition — showing you cards at the exact interval that maximises long-term retention. The algorithm is built on Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve: if you rate a card “hard” today, Anki will show it again tomorrow. If you rate it “easy,” it might not reappear for three weeks.
The honest downside of Anki: it requires daily commitment. Miss a week and you return to a pile of 300 overdue cards, which is demoralising. It also requires upfront effort to build or choose a good deck — a poorly designed deck with decontextualised single words is far less effective than one that uses sentences and audio.
For most serious French learners, Anki used consistently for 15–20 minutes a day is probably the single highest-return vocabulary tool available. The full guide to memorising vocabulary effectively explains how to build and use a deck that actually works.
Who flashcards work best for
Learners who can commit to a daily review habit, particularly for high-frequency vocabulary, verb conjugations, and fixed expressions. Not ideal for grammar rules or nuanced concepts that need context to make sense.
Handwritten Notes: Slower, But Surprisingly Effective
Writing things down by hand is slower than typing, but that slowness is actually an advantage. The process of paraphrasing, organising, and handwriting notes forces you to process information more deeply — what cognitive scientists call “elaborative encoding.”
Handwritten notes work particularly well for:
- Grammar structures: Writing out a conjugation table or a rule about pronoun placement in your own words creates a stronger memory trace than copying from a textbook.
- Vocabulary in context: Writing down a new word alongside the sentence where you encountered it, plus your own example sentence, is more effective than isolated word-translation pairs.
- Personal error logs: Keeping a notebook of mistakes you make repeatedly — especially in speaking or writing — is one of the most underused study tools. Seeing your own errors in your own handwriting has a different psychological weight than a digital notification.
The main weakness of notes: they’re terrible for review at scale. Re-reading notebooks is a largely passive activity. You recognise the information but you’re not retrieving it. Notes are excellent for initial learning; they’re weak as a long-term review system.
Language Apps: Useful Supplements, Not Core Tools
Duolingo, Babbel, Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone — language apps are the most popular way people start learning French, and for good reason. They’re frictionless, gamified, and accessible. But they have real limitations that matter once you’re past A1.
What apps do well
- Getting a beginner started with basic vocabulary and simple phrases
- Building a daily habit through streaks and notifications
- Providing listening exposure to natural-paced French
- Drilling pronunciation at a basic level
Where apps fall short
- Gamification incentivises completing lessons, not actually learning — you can finish a Duolingo unit while barely retaining anything
- The vocabulary selection is often arbitrary rather than frequency-based
- Grammar explanations are shallow or absent
- Speaking exercises typically accept a wide range of pronunciations, giving false confidence
- There’s a ceiling around A2–B1; apps rarely get learners to genuine intermediate competence on their own
The most honest summary: apps are good for building a habit and maintaining exposure. They’re poor substitutes for structured study. Using Duolingo for 15 minutes as a warmup or wind-down is fine; relying on it as your primary study tool is not. For a broader look at what’s actually worth your money, the article on the best free and paid tools to learn French covers the full landscape.
How to Combine All Three
The most effective learners don’t choose one tool — they use each one for what it does best:
| Tool | Best for | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Anki / Flashcards | High-frequency vocabulary, long-term retention | Requires daily habit; context-free |
| Handwritten notes | Grammar, personal error logs, contextual vocab | Passive review; doesn’t scale |
| Apps (Duolingo etc.) | Building habit, beginner exposure, maintenance | Shallow; low ceiling; gamification over learning |
A practical combination: use Anki daily for vocabulary review, keep a paper notebook for grammar notes and error tracking, and use an app occasionally for low-effort maintenance when you can’t do a full session. The notebook feeds the Anki deck — when you encounter a new word in your notes, add it as a card. The two systems reinforce each other.
The Honest Answer: What Works Best
If you can only use one tool, Anki wins. The combination of active retrieval and spaced repetition is the most evidence-backed vocabulary learning method available, and French has enough high-frequency vocabulary that you’ll be using it for a long time.
But the real question isn’t which tool is best in theory — it’s which one you’ll actually use consistently. A paper notebook you use every day beats a perfect Anki deck you abandon after a week. The best system is the one that fits your actual life. Think about how to fit French study into a full-time schedule before you commit to any tool that requires a fixed daily routine.
Start with the tool that removes the most friction and build from there. You can always add more sophisticated systems once the habit is established.