How Vocabulary.com works
Build vocabulary with activities that adapts to each student
A smart, award-winning adaptive engine
Vocabulary.com has crafted a smart, award-winning adaptive engine that helps learners systematically improve their vocabulary.
We understand how students learn words
Learners have answered over 7 billion questions on Vocabulary.com and we use this data to understand how each individual masters (and forgets) new words. With millions of questions answered daily, our engine continually fine tunes itself for anyone at any level.
Personalized learning
With each question a student answers, VocabTrainer™ evaluates their knowledge on a 20-level scale and adjusts the student's learning plan to meet their needs. We use each individual's vocabulary level and their past answers to identify the unique gaps in their vocabulary knowledge. VocabTrainer then systematically challenges them with questions selected just for that learner.
The right words
By comparing answers from all of Vocabulary.com's learners, VocabTrainer™ identifies trends and common gaps for different levels on our scale. We can identify which words students are ready to learn and which words they are likely to need help with at each level. VocabTrainer™ incorporates these words into the student's daily vocabulary exercises.
The right questions
As students answer basic questions correctly and progress toward mastering a word, VocabTrainer™ poses harder questions that stretch the student's knowledge. With dozens of questions for each word, VocabTrainer™ is able to test nuance and peripheral meanings in addition to a single definition. With ten different types of questions—including questions based on images, synonyms, and real world examples—students learn each word's multiple meanings and understand them in context.
The right timing
Knowledge and recall can decline over time, so our adaptive engine also takes into account the timing of learning a word. VocabTrainer™ tracks how long it has been since a learner was asked about a word and automatically includes brush-up questions. With this spaced repetition, support for long-term retention is built into our model.