# Vocabulary Evidence Card: From Card Familiarity to Contextual Retrieval Copy this card into a private note for one real topic or task. Do not include passwords, customer records, unpublished documents, exam answers, medical privacy, or unauthorised third-party material. A final word list may be public without making source material, recordings, and feedback public. ## 1. Define the Task and Evidence Conditions ### Vocabulary Evidence - YYYY-MM-DD Real situation and audience:\ Task: listen / read / speak / write / exam / hand over\ Material, version, and source:\ What should another person understand, decide, or complete?\ Time and length limit:\ Permitted captions / dictionary / translation / search / AI / people:\ Privacy, copyright, confidentiality, exam, and expert boundary:\ First-encounter date:\ Parallel-task date: The target is not "items added." It is understanding, choosing, and retrieving under these conditions. ## 2. Preserve a No-Lookup First Encounter First-encounter start/end time:\ Gist, relationships, and next step before lookup:\ Details understood with confidence:\ Places that required guessing:\ Sentence or timestamp where meaning stopped:\ Sense/expression I tried then:\ Raw retelling, recording, cloze, or draft location:\ Did it complete the real task? yes / partly / no First check whether the barrier is lexical. Sound segmentation, syntax, background, layout, and attention can also break a sentence. ## 3. Build an Unknown-Item Decision Queue | Word/chunk | Task impact | Decision | Basis then | Next check | | ---------- | ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | ---------- | | | blocking / important / minor / none | skip / infer / quick lookup / learn / expert check | | | Five to eight chunks entering deliberate learning:\ Items to skip and why:\ Items requiring a primary source or expert:\ Items deferred because of capacity: ## 4. Record Eight Dimensions for Each Valuable Chunk Copy once per chunk: Word/chunk:\ Task function:\ Form, inflection, and derivation:\ Sound, stress, and connected speech:\ Current sense in my own words:\ Common collocation or sentence slot:\ Grammatical behaviour:\ Register, politeness, stance, and identity:\ Concept, referent, version, or domain boundary:\ Current retrieval time and required cue:\ One near-synonym/counterexample and difference: Do not copy an entire dictionary page to fill the fields. Keep only what can change understanding or use in this task. ## 5. Verify Sense, Collocation, and Source | Item to check | My candidate | Source, version, location | Result | Unknown | | ------------------------------- | ------------ | ------------------------- | ------ | ------- | | Sense | | | | | | Pronunciation | | | | | | Collocation | | | | | | Register | | | | | | Technical/institutional concept | | | | | Why this dictionary/corpus fits this task:\ Primary document / standard / code location:\ Check date:\ Who decides the high-risk term:\ What evidence would change the decision: AI examples and explanations are candidates, not sources. Frequency or confident model tone cannot decide high-risk terminology. ## 6. Design Unaided Retrieval Real intention or situational cue:\ Prompt allowed on first attempt:\ Prompt removed next time:\ Target retrieval time:\ Speaking task:\ Writing task:\ Person / time / topic / tone / mode to change: | Attempt | Condition | Actual expression | Retrieval time | Result | | ---------------- | ------------------------ | ----------------- | -------------: | ------ | | Original context | Answer hidden | | | | | Changed context | Source sentence removed | | | | | Real task | Audience and consequence | | | | Reproducing only the complete source sentence is not transfer. ## 7. Ask a Real Reader or Listener to Check It Meaning retold by the reader/listener:\ Relationship, certainty, and next step they heard:\ Place that required guessing or confirmation:\ Did the lexical choice change fact or responsibility?\ Task completed? yes / partly / no\ Real response or execution result: | Feedback | Type | Decision | Reason | Used in parallel task? | | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | ------ | ---------------------- | | | necessary repair / acceptable variant / register / style | accept / partly / reject / defer | | | ## 8. Record the Error and Minimum Repair | Error sample | Type | Likely gap | Change only this | Retest condition | | ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | ---------------- | ---------------- | | | form / sound / sense / collocation / grammar / register / slow retrieval / transfer | | | | Chunks correct on cards but failed in the task:\ Chunks heard but not written:\ Chunks read but not heard:\ Acceptable variation mislabelled as error:\ Items needing a split card, lower volume, or more background: ## 9. Record AI and Tool Use Tool / model / version and date:\ First encounter and candidate that existed before use:\ Request: sense contrast / collocation candidate / cloze / counterexample\ / audience simulation / error classification / parallel task\ / other\ Scope generated or rewritten by the model:\ Content that may be invented or outdated:\ Dictionary / corpus / primary source / human verification:\ What I accepted, rejected, or deferred, and why:\ Retrieval task after closing the tool: ## 10. Test Delayed Retention and Transfer | Time | Remove | Change | Output | Result | | -------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------ | ------ | | Same day | Answer and gloss | Original topic | Contextual recall | | | Day 1 | Source sentence | Sentence and people | Spoken/written retrieval | | | Days 3-7 | Recent cue | Mode or audience | Parallel input/output | | | Day 14 | Old cards and feedback | New topic, same task | Timed real output | | | Day 30 | All practice prompts | Real material/consequence | Full delivery | | Chunks still retrieved in time:\ Chunks successful only in the original item:\ Most frequent returning error:\ Did the real task require less guessing or rework? ## 11. Score and Decide What to Keep Score each item `0-2`: `0=no evidence/not completed`, `1=cue-dependent or unstable`, `2=independent under the current condition`. | Item | Same day | Day 7 | Day 14 | Evidence reason | | ----------------------------------------------- | -------: | ----: | -----: | --------------- | | Recognise it in sound and text | | | | | | Judge current sense and task impact | | | | | | Use fitting collocation, form, and register | | | | | | Retrieve without prompts under time | | | | | | Deliver intended meaning to reader/listener | | | | | | Transfer after topic, audience, or mode changes | | | | | Chunks to keep learning and why:\ Chunks needing a split or new cue:\ Chunks to archive:\ Chunks requiring expert verification:\ One condition to change next cycle:\ Next review date: Related chapters: [Vocabulary: From Familiarity to Retrieval in Real Tasks](https://byoungd.github.io/up/en/threads/part-1/2-vocabulary) | [Listening](https://byoungd.github.io/up/en/threads/part-1/3-listening) | [Reading](https://byoungd.github.io/up/en/threads/part-1/4-reading) | [Speaking](https://byoungd.github.io/up/en/threads/part-1/5-speaking) | [Writing](https://byoungd.github.io/up/en/threads/part-1/6-writing) | [Learning English with AI](https://byoungd.github.io/up/en/threads/part-1/7-ai) --- Source: [Life Level-up Guide](https://byoungd.github.io/up/en/templates/vocabulary-audit) ยท Manuscript updated: 2026-09-02. Content: [CC BY-NC 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).