Looking for an effective way to learn and remember French vocabulary? Spaced repetition is a science-based method that helps move new words into long-term memory.

In this interview, we speak with Philip Chant, founder of Jambo and a French student himself, about his French-learning journey, how spaced repetition works, and how his app can help language learners build their French vocabulary.

1- How did the Jambo journey begin?

Spaced repetition was discovered by a German psychologist, Hermann Ebbinghaus, in the 1880s. His research culminated in the ‘forgetting curve’, a graph that shows memory decay is not linear – it’s very steep at first and then flattens out as time goes on.

In practice this means we forget most of what we learn within the first 24 hours, but what we retain beyond a day or two decays at a slower rate and stays with us for a longer time.

This gave rise to spaced repetition – if we are reminded of a fact at ever-increasing intervals (the points at which we are just about to forget it again), the information eventually moves from short-term to long-term memory and we essentially remember it forever.

Once I was aware of Ebbinghaus’s findings, I knew that if I wanted to dramatically increase – and hold on to – my French vocabulary, I had to find a flashcard app that utilised SRS.

2- What is the advantage of Jambo compared to other apps on the market?

As I mentioned above, there are many flashcard apps out there and I tried about six of them, but none of them really worked for me.

Among the downsides were: SRS systems that kept showing me the same cards; intrusive video ads that interrupted my concentration; study sessions that finished before I had guessed all the cards correctly; complicated and frustrating set-up menus; poor navigation; and unreliable syncing between desktop and mobile.

So one night in bed, I had my ‘Eureka!’ moment and said, “build it yourself!”

And here it is at jambo.cards.

How and why is it better than all the other apps I tried, including some which have thousands of users?

In one sentence: Jambo has spaced repetition (SRS) at its core and everything else has been (and continues to be) built around usability. Because the only flashcard app that will work for you is the one that makes it easy to use every day.

Here are eight advantages over the other apps.

1. SRS at the core Jambo shows you flashcards on a 1, 3, 7, 14 and 30-day cadence. That’s five perfectly timed reviews that take a word you first forget in five seconds to being locked into long-term memory forever.

2. Super simple Create your own cards in seconds:

a. Type them in one by one (and get them auto-translated to save time).

b. Import a CSV file and Jambo will convert the special characters back into accents and special characters.

c. Point to a website or upload a PDF and say “give me flashcards based on this information”.

3. Built for language The dedicated Translator translates into and out of French (and 30 other languages) and gives you multiple meanings (eg, ‘entretien’ = ‘interview’ or ‘maintenance’).

4. Gender specific The translator specifies the gender of a word when it’s not obvious. For example, “l'hôtel (m)” or “les toilettes (f)”.

5. Two-way learning To learn foreign vocabulary you need to learn the language in both directions (French-to-English and English-to-French). Jambo can automatically flip the deck for every study session.

6. Hear it spoken Jambo lets you play the words on your card with industry-leading 11Labs audio spoken by a human.

7. On desktop and mobile Jambo is a website for your computer and a PWA (progressive web app) for your phone, which means it delivers a native app-like experience on any device and that they’re always in sync.

8. Responsiveness Whether you send feedback from within the app or by email, every comment gets read by a human and issues resolved within minutes.

3- Would you say that spaced repetition is especially useful for adults learning a language over the age of 50?

I retired last year at age 60 and Jambo is the first time I’ve used the spaced repetition system - but it certainly works!

Spaced repetition is effective for everyone but it may suit those of us in our middle and older years – for four main reasons, I think.

1. To get your French vocab into long-term memory, you need to play the long game. And if you’re over 50 you’re probably used to that. Whether you’re watching your pension pot grow, laying down some wine or nurturing your garden, you (unlike Gen Z) appreciate that things take time. With SRS, tell yourself that it will take a year (not a week) to master (not just learn) 3000-5000 new words.

2. Spaced repetion requires discipline. You really do need to use it every day – a little and often. Those SRS intervals of one, three, seven, 14 and 30 days are based on daily usage. The discipline required for ‘quotidien’ use probably fits the over-50s more than the under-30s.

3. It’s easy, gentle learning. Past 50, we may fear that we are in “old dogs, new tricks” territory but SRS is more about being reminded than learning. The Jambo algorithm means that 50%-83% of the flashcards you see every day are ones you have seen before. It’s much easier and much more effective than cramming – what we probably did at school the night before an exam!

5- How to get started with Jambo

1. To use/install Jambo, follow these instructions

iPhone / iPad

Ouvrez jambo.cards dans Safari (et dans aucun autre navigateur).
Appuyez sur le bouton Partager (carré avec une flèche vers le haut, en bas de Safari).
Appuyez sur Ajouter à l'écran d'accueil .
Assurez-vous que l'option « Ouvrir en tant qu'application web » est activée.
Appuyez sur Ajouter .

Androïde

Ouvrez jambo.cards dans Chrome.
Appuyez sur le bouton menu (trois points, en haut à droite).
Appuyez sur Installer l'application / Ajouter à l'écran d'accueil .
Appuyez sur Installer .

Private and personalized French lessons with French à La Carte

Private French lessons in person with French à La Carte

Private and personalized French lessons with French à La Carte can be a great complement to vocabulary practice with Jambo.

French à La Carte is specialized in one on one lessons in Paris and online.

We offer tailor-made French lessons with highly qualified native French tutors.

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Lessons in the evening & on the week-ends
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Exam preparation ( TCF, DELF, DALF)

Jambo: A Spaced Repetition App to Learn French Vocabulary