Spaced repetition for the TCF Canada: the D+1, D+3, D+7 schedule that makes it stick

Information learned once fades quickly if it is not reviewed. Spaced repetition uses this effect: instead of rereading several times in a row, you revisit the information just before you forget it, at increasingly long intervals. Each successful recall strengthens the memory trace and allows you to space the next one further apart.

For the TCF Canada, the method applies to everything you must retain: vocabulary, expressions, structures corrected in writing, recurring comprehension traps. It takes little time each day but demands regularity.

Four categories pay off most. Vocabulary in context: a full sentence rather than an isolated word. Writing corrections: the faulty sentence on one side, the corrected version on the other. Grammar structures: a rule and an example. Comprehension traps: the type of distractor and how to avoid it.

Each card should fit in a short question and a short answer. If a card takes more than ten seconds to read, split it. The quality of cards matters more than their number.

After creating a card, review it the next day (D+1), then three days later (D+3), a week later (D+7), two weeks later (D+14), and a month later (D+30). If you succeed, the card moves to the next interval; if you fail, it returns to D+1.

The schedule is not rigid: the idea is to increase the interval progressively. Difficult cards come back more often, mastered cards move apart, and your daily session stays short.

Prepare five boxes numbered 1 to 5. All new cards go into box 1, which you review daily. A card answered correctly moves to the next box; a missed card goes back to box 1. Review box 2 every three days, box 3 weekly, box 4 every two weeks, and box 5 monthly.

The system also works in a spreadsheet or in a card app that manages intervals automatically. Choose the tool you will actually use every day: consistency matters more than the tool.

In your daily session, review the cards that are due first, then create five to ten cards from your latest correction or listening session. Set a ceiling for new daily cards, for example ten: beyond that, the review pile becomes unmanageable.

At the end, choose two cards and use them in a new sentence, written or spoken aloud. This production step turns recognition into active use, which is what speaking and writing demand in the exam.

AI correction calibrated to TCF criteria returns precise feedback on your productions: each priority error can become a before-and-after card. You build a deck that looks like you, based on your own difficulties, rather than a generic list.

Pack Ayoub’s history keeps your attempts: once a week, go through your last three corrections and create the matching cards. After four weeks, you will have a deck of about forty well-targeted cards.

Creating too many cards at once: the review pile overflows and you give up. Using cards without context: an isolated word is quickly forgotten. Skipping review days: spacing loses its effect if the backlog builds up. Never producing: recognising a card is not the same as using it in a sentence.