Quizlet

Listen while you read:

Part 1: (to the end of ‘Print your flashcards’)

Part 2: (practise your spellings to play a typing game)

Part 3: (How to join quizlet to end)

What is Quizlet exactly? We start with flash cards. Students can make their own, or choose from millions of flash cards sets created by others. But that’s just the beginning – once you’ve got flashcards, you can use several study modes including multiple choice tests and study games. You can add images and listen to audio, and even study on the go with one of dozens of Quizlet-compatible mobile apps.

From ‘About Quizlet‘

Parts of this guide

Quizlet has many different functions, so there are a lot of parts to this guide. Click on any of them in this list to go straight there:

• Why use Quizlet?
• How to find flashcards
• How to use the flashcards
• Print the flashcards
• Practise your spellings
• Learn the words
• Test yourself
• Play a matching game
• Play a typing game
• How to join Quizlet
• Your dashboard
• Groups
• Make your own flashcards
• Go mobile!

Why use Quizlet?

The site is very easy to use and allows you to study the vocabulary you want  to learn in many different ways. You can make your own sets quickly and easily or use sets created by other people. There is a lot of variety and repetition, making it much more fun than traditional lists of vocabulary. You can also use the site to study other subjects, including everything from history to biology and much more besides.

You don’t have to sign up to use the site, but I would highly recommend it. Find out how here.
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How to find flashcards

To help you out, I have created groups of flashcards for different levels of English learners. All of these groups contain only English, sometimes with pictures to help you understand the words.

• A1 beginner
• A2 elementary
• A2+ pre-intermediate
• B1 intermediate
• B2 upper intermediate/FCE preparation
• C1 advanced/CAE preparation
• C2 proficiency/CPE preparation

If you want to study something different, first click on ‘Find Flashcards‘ or the ‘Find something to study…’ box.

Type in a keyword related to what you want to study, for example “idioms”, and click “Search”.

As you can see, there are 1,631 sets, which is quite a lot! To reduce the number of sets and help you find exactly what you’re looking for, click on one of the ‘Subtopics’ on the left.

I click on ‘English idioms’ and now only have 428 sets:

You can reduce this more if you want to by clicking on another subtopic or choosing to show only ‘sets with images’. I like using photographs, so I have chosen to only show the 14 English idioms sets with images. To preview exactly what is in the set, you can point your mouse at the name without clicking on it. This set has English idioms with descriptions in English:

This set has English idioms with translations into Turkish:

If possible, I think it’s best to study using only the language you are trying to learn, so I have chosen set 1.

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How to use the flashcards

Once you have chosen the set you want to study, click on the title and it will take you to the set page:

The flashcards show you both the word/phrase and the definition/picture at the moment. Click on the tick next to ‘Both Sides’ in the top right corner to show only the definition and picture.

Read the definition then click anywhere on the card to check the word/phrase.

Use the buttons in the top left corner to make the cards bigger, mix the order of the words or hear the words/sentences being pronounced – it is computer pronunciation, so there are sometimes problems with the stress in the word, but most of the time it is correct.

Use the arrows to move through the flashcards and familiarise yourself with the words.

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Print the flashcards

If you don’t want to use the computer too much, you can print the vocabulary in a few different forms. Underneath the blue box is the word ‘Print’. Click on it.

Choose what form you want to print the words in (as a list, a table or as flashcards):

If you’re not sure, click on the different forms to preview them. When you’re ready, click ‘Open PDF’:

This will automatically open your .pdf reader (such as Adobe Acrobat or Preview). You can then print the flashcards from there as you would any other .pdf file.

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Practise your spellings

When you think you know most of the words, click on the ‘Speller’ button underneath the flashcards.

Listen to the word, look at the picture and read the definition.

Click ‘replay audio’ on the left if you want to listen again. Above the replay button there is also a menu where you can choose whether the computer should speak fast or slowly.

Write the word/phrase in the box with the correct spelling and press enter/return on the right of your keyboard.

If you make a mistake like the one below (don’t learn this!), the computer corrects you and spells the word you didn’t know:

You can then try again to help  you remember:

When you have finished, the system shows you your progress:

If you sign up with Quizlet, the site will remember this and you can continue from where you stopped the last time you used the site.

You can continue with this mode to keep improving your spellings, or you click ‘Back to Set page’ in the top right corner.

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Learn the words

Click on the ‘Learn’ button underneath the flashcards.

This mode remembers what you do and don’t know:

Look at the picture, read the definition and write the word/phrase. If you can’t remember it, click ‘Give Up’:

The computer marks the word as ‘Incorrect’ and gives you the answer to copy:

Sometimes your answer might be only a little different from the computer, so you can tell it that you were right:

Be careful with this though: sometimes the article can’t be changed or the ‘s’ that you forgot has to be there

If you sign up with Quizlet, the site will remember which words you have studied and you can continue from where you stopped the last time you used the site.

When you fancy a chance, click ‘Back to Set page’ in the top left corner.

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Test yourself

Click on the ‘Test’ button underneath the flashcards.

There are four types of question in the Quizlet tests:

• written: look at the picture and write the word/phrase;
  
• matching: match the five words/phrases to the correct definitions/pictures by writing the letters in the boxes;
  
• multiple choice: read the word/phrase, then choose the correct definition/picture;
  
• true/false: look at the word/phrase and decide if it is the correct one for the definition/picture shown.
  

Answer all of the questions, then click ‘Check Answers’ at the bottom. The computer will give you your score:

Oh dear! Looks like I need to practise more...

If you sign up with Quizlet, the site will remember your test score and you can try to do better the next time you use the site.

When you have finished, click ‘Back to Set page’ in the top left corner.

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Play a matching game

Click on the ‘Scatter’ button underneath the flashcards.

Click ‘Start Game’

You will see some of the words/phrases from the set you are studying and the matching definitions/pictures:

Click on any word/phrase and drop it on to the correct definition/picture. If it is right, the word and the definition will both disappear. You can also drop the definition/picture onto the word/phrase. Which one did I find first?

When you have matched all of the vocabulary, you will see your time and the list of fastest times.

You can click play again and try to be faster. You can see your fastest time in the top left corner, near the Quizlet logo. You can also see your time for the game you are playing.

If you sign up with Quizlet, it will remember your fastest time so that next time you log in you can try to be faster.

When you are ready to play another game, click ‘Back to Set page’ in the top right corner.

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Play a typing game

Click on the ‘Space Race’ button underneath the flashcards.

Click ‘Start Playing’:

You will see a definition/picture. Write the matching word/phrase into the box at the bottom of the page and hit return/enter on your keyboard. If you are right the definition/picture will disappear. If you are wrong, it won’t, so keep trying!

If you really don’t know a word/phrase, you will see a box with the correct answer for you to copy. You will also lose a life in the bottom right corner:

For every word/phrase you write correctly, you will get points and go up levels, as well as gaining extra lives. As you go up through the levels the pictures move faster, so you have to type more quickly.

Don’t worry if you’re a slow typer though: the computer learns this and will go more slowly on level 1 to give you more time to write.

When you have lost all of your lives, you will see the high score board. If you want to see your name on it, you need to sign up with Quizlet.

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How to join Quizlet

With Facebook

If you use Facebook and don’t mind attaching it to other websites, joining is very easy.

Click ‘Login with Facebook’, then complete your information in the pop-up window:

Finally, click ‘Allow’ in the next box which appears.

Without facebook

Click ‘Sign Up’ in the top right corner of the window.

Complete the information in the boxes and click ‘Sign Up’:

The next page will tell you about the difference between free Quizlet and Quizlet Plus. Everything I have shown you on this post can be used on free Quizlet. You need to pay if you want to use your own pictures to make flashcards or if you don’t want to see advertising while you are using the site. If you don’t want to pay, click ‘Continue to Free Quizlet’ at the bottom of the page:

You need to go to your email and confirm your email address to remove this message:

When you click on the confirmation link in your email, you will see this window:

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Your dashboard

Once you have joined the site, your dashboard will show you all of the sets which you have studied in the past or which you have created yourself. To see it, click ‘My dashboard’ at the top of the page:

You can click on the name of any set to see the set page again.

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Groups

To help you out, I have created groups of flashcards for different levels of English learners. All of these groups contain only English, sometimes with pictures to help you understand the words.

• A1 beginner
• A2 elementary
• A2+ pre-intermediate
• B1 intermediate
• B2 upper intermediate/FCE preparation
• C1 advanced/CAE preparation
• C2 proficiency/CPE preparation

After you have joined Quizlet and confirmed your email, you can click on any of the groups above and go to the group page. If you want to, you can click ‘Join Group’ on the right to get emails every time I add flashcards to the set.

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Make your own flashcards

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this is how you make your own flashcards…

Click ‘Make Flashcards’ in the menu bar at the top of the page:

This is what you will see:

Write a title and a description for your set. If you want to make it easier for other people to find, add some words in the ‘Subject’ box. For example, ‘English’ or the name of the book you found the words in.

Choose a language for each side of your flashcards. Of course, the language on both sides should be English but you could put translations in the definition box if you feel you need to.

Next, add some words and definitions. If you can’t think of a definition, click ‘auto-define’ and the computer will help you. You could also look at an online dictionary. If you have more than 5 words, click on the ‘Add Row’ text or press the ‘tab’ (->|) button on your keyboard and it will give you more boxes.

Sometimes, definitions aren’t the best way to learn a word – my definitions in the picture above aren’t great! Tick the box next to ‘Add Images’ then click ‘Search Images’:

Quizlet searches Flickr to find pictures which match the word you typed in the first box. Sometimes these are suitable, sometimes not, so you might have to type different words in the search box to find a suitable picture. When you find a picture you like, click ‘Use this image’ underneath the picture.

It will then appear above your definition, like this:

When you have added all of the text and images you need, click ‘Create Set’ at the bottom of the page:

You now have a set with all of the words you want to learn:

If you want to correct a mistake or add more words later, you can easily do this in two ways. In the menu bar on the left, click on ‘Edit this set’:

OR Go to the bottom of the page and click ‘Add or remove terms from this set’:

Both of these links will take you to the same page where you made the flashcards.

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Go mobile!

If you have a smartphone or a tablet computer you can download apps to help you practise words on Quizlet.

Go to the bottom of any page on Quizlet and click on ‘Mobile‘:

Then choose your operating system and choose an app. If you have an app which you like using for Quizlet, please tell us about it in the comments.

I hope you enjoy using Quizlet and find this guide useful!