Law flashcards that actually work

Why flashcards work

A flashcard makes you pull the answer from memory before you see it. That act of retrieval is what strengthens memory. Roediger and Karpicke (2006) called it the testing effect: people who quiz themselves retain more than people who reread.

The second lever is spacing. Hermann Ebbinghaus described the forgetting curve in 1885: without review, material fades quickly. Review just before you forget and the trace becomes more stable each time, so the next review can come later. Cepeda and colleagues (2006) confirmed this spacing effect across more than 300 experiments.

Dunlosky and colleagues (2013) rated common study techniques. Only practice testing and distributed practice received the top rating for usefulness.

Common flashcard mistakes

• Too much text on one card. One card, one question.
• Reading the back before answering yourself. Then there is no retrieval.
• Reviewing every card equally often. Easy cards waste time, hard ones come too rarely.
• Only using cards right before an exam. Cramming does not last until the state exam.
• Learning definitions without cases. Knowledge also has to be applied.

Flashcards in Lexxington

The German course has 1,116 flashcards and 300 definitions, ordered by subject and lesson, plus cards on the state law of your federal state.

Reviews on a schedule

Swipe a card right if you knew it, left if it should come again, and the app calculates the next date. Cards that stick come back at growing intervals; cards that wobble come back soon. Each day you see only what is due.

Rate first, then reveal

Before answering you say how sure you are. Errors made with high confidence stick especially well once corrected. Butterfield and Metcalfe (2001) described this as hypercorrection.

From card to case

Each definition has cases where you apply it, so the knowledge does not stay abstract. How to structure a case is explained in solving German law cases.

Speed round and paragraph dating

Two game modes complement the cards. In the speed round you decide under time pressure for 60 seconds. In paragraph dating you match questions to the right provision.

What belongs on a good law flashcard

A good card asks a precise question with a clear answer. In law that mostly means definitions, the order of tests, provisions and distinctions between similar concepts.

• Definition: “What is a taking under § 242 StGB?” Answer: breaking another’s custody and establishing new custody, not necessarily the thief’s own.
• Provision: “Where is receipt of a declaration between absent parties regulated?” Answer: § 130(1) sentence 1 BGB.
• Structure: “Name the steps of the proportionality test.” Answer: legitimate aim, suitability, necessity, appropriateness.
• Distinction: “How does robbery differ from extortion by force?” Answer: in the courts’ view, by whether the item is outwardly taken or handed over.

Long explanations belong in the lesson, not on the card. The card retrieves the core; the lesson supplies the context. In Lexxington they are linked: from each card you can go to the matching lesson and to the provision in the statute.

Cover instead of just looking

Lessons can work like flashcards too. In Lexxington each part of a lesson sits behind a card, for example “Name the six points”. You say the answer first and then reveal it. Reading turns into retrieval.

A routine that lasts

1. Start each day with the cards that are due, usually ten to fifteen minutes.
2. Learn new cards after the matching lesson, not before.
3. Swipe honestly. Too generous and you see hard cards too rarely.
4. For a stubborn card, ask Lexxi for an explanation and an example.
5. Even on busy days, clear at least the cards that are due.

More on the method in learn German law and on the science page.

Frequently asked questions