Why do I keep forgetting Telugu words?
You forget Telugu words because memory decay follows a predictable curve, not because you're bad at languages. Left alone, a newly learned word fades fast at first and then more slowly, a pattern researchers have measured since the 1880s. Spaced repetition software works by reviewing each word right before you're about to forget it, which is a different timing strategy than most apps use, and it's why it works better for long-term retention.
Nillu (నీళ్ళు, water). Kaaram (కారం, spicy). You knew both cold last week. Today one of them takes you a full three seconds, and you're not even sure which one means "spicy" anymore. That's not you being bad at this. That's just what memory does.
What is the forgetting curve?
The forgetting curve is a description of how quickly you lose newly learned information without review, first documented by psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885. He memorized nonsense syllables, tested himself at intervals, and found that recall drops steeply within the first day or two after learning something, then levels off. The shape is consistent across people and material: fast drop, slow tail.
This matters for vocabulary specifically because words don't decay at the same rate. A word you've reviewed ten times and used in a sentence decays slowly. A word you saw once yesterday decays fast. Any review system that treats all your cards the same, reviewing everything every day or everything once a week, is out of sync with how your brain actually behaves.
Why does cramming not work for vocabulary?
Cramming fails long-term because it front-loads repetition into a short window and then stops, right when the forgetting curve is steepest. You'll ace the quiz on Friday and lose most of it by the following Friday. The repetition happened, but it happened at the wrong time: all at once, instead of spread out to catch the word right as it's slipping.
Spacing repetition across days, rather than compressing it into one sitting, is one of the most replicated findings in memory research. The gap between reviews is what makes each review effective. Review too soon and you're just re-reading something you still remember, which wastes time. Review too late and you've already forgotten it, which means relearning from scratch instead of reinforcing.
How does FSRS decide when to show me a word again?
FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler) schedules your next review for the point where your predicted recall probability is about to dip below a target, rather than using a fixed gap like "every 3 days." It tracks two numbers per card: stability (how slowly you're forgetting it) and difficulty (how hard it's been for you specifically). Every time you rate a card, both numbers update, and the next due date moves accordingly.
This is different from older systems that used fixed multipliers, like doubling the interval every time you got a card right. FSRS instead models an individual forgetting curve per card, per person. Two people learning nillu will get different review schedules if one of them is forgetting it faster. Mayu computes this client-side using the ts-fsrs library and never stores your recall probability, because that number decays continuously and would go stale the moment it's saved. It's recalculated fresh, from your stability and the time elapsed, whenever it's needed.
What do Again, Hard, Good, and Easy actually do?
Each rating tells the scheduler how your recall went, and each one changes your next interval differently. Again means you didn't know it, which resets the interval short and often drops the card back into learning. Easy means it was instant, which stretches the next interval out further than a plain Good would.
| Rating | What it means | Effect on next interval |
|---|---|---|
| Again | Didn't recall it | Resets to a short interval, card re-enters learning |
| Hard | Recalled it, but it was a struggle | Shorter next interval than Good |
| Good | Recalled it correctly, normal effort | Standard next interval for your current stability |
| Easy | Recalled it instantly, no effort | Longer next interval than Good |
There's no fifth option for "kind of sort of maybe." Pick honestly. Rating a card Easy when it actually took you a second doesn't help future-you; it just means the word comes back around too late, right when you've forgotten it again.
Why is the retention target 90% and not 100%?
The retention target is 90% because reviewing enough to hit 100% recall would mean far more reviews for a shrinking return, while dropping much below 90% starts losing real material. This number, called request retention, is the probability FSRS aims for at the moment each card comes due. Mayu sets it to 0.9 by default, which is the field-tested middle ground: push it to 0.95 and your daily review count climbs a lot for a small retention gain; drop to 0.8 and you save time but forget noticeably more. You can adjust it in settings, but 90% is where most people land and stay.
Try it
Pick one card you keep flubbing, rate it honestly next time instead of being generous with yourself, and let the interval do its job. Start with these three from the food deck:
| Transliteration | Telugu script | English | When to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| nillu | నీళ్ళు | water | asking for a glass at the table |
| kaaram | కారం | spicy | describing (or surviving) a dish |
| teepi | తీపి | sweet | ordering dessert, complimenting one |
A few things to try this week:
- Add one food word you actually mix up, like kaaram (కారం, spicy) versus teepi (తీపి, sweet), as two separate cards
- Rate Hard instead of Good when a word takes you more than a beat to recall, even if you got there
- Resist the urge to re-review a card early just because it feels good to get it right again
- Check your due count once a day instead of drilling the same ten cards on repeat
Aunties don't wait, and neither does the forgetting curve.
FAQ
Is spaced repetition better than flashcard apps that review everything daily? Yes, for retention per minute spent. Reviewing everything daily wastes time on words you already know solidly and under-reviews words that are actually decaying.
How often will I review a new Telugu word? It starts frequent, often within a day, then the gap widens each time you rate it Good or Easy, based on your personal stability for that card.
What happens if I rate a card Again by mistake? The interval shortens and you'll see it again soon. It's a minor setback, not a reset of your whole progress on that word.
Do I need to review every single day to make this work? No, but consistency matters more than intensity. A few short sessions most days beats one long cram session once a week.
Why does Mayu never show me a retention percentage? Retrievability decays every second, so a stored percentage would be wrong the moment you looked at it. It's computed fresh each time instead.
Try Mayu
Open your due cards and let Mayu run the schedule. Cheeky reminders included.
