About the flashcards
The collection contains 5,000 distinct cards: 42 original words and phrases from our starter lessons, plus 4,958 dictionary entries.
Definitions and selection
Dictionary meanings are adapted from English Wiktionary contributors, using the Kaikki.org / Wiktextract Spanish extraction. Every dictionary card links to its entry, where you can read additional senses, usage notes, and contributor history. The source dictionary dump is dated October 1, 2026, and the extraction October 21, 2026.
Cards show a selected meaning and part of speech. A word may have other meanings or genders in a different context. Noun gender is shown where the source supplies it. Short definitions and automated selection have been checked for common extraction errors; the collection has not received a complete independent expert review.
Editorial corrections found while writing examples are checked against reference dictionaries, including the RAE–ASALE dictionary, El Colegio de México’s dictionary, and Collins. Corrected entries include their additional reference links in the data export.
Topics and difficulty
The collection is organized into 15 topics, including food, travel, work, and everyday conversation. A card can belong to more than one topic when its displayed meaning fits both. Topic filters still return each card only once.
Difficulty labels are suggested study bands based on everyday usefulness, the meaning shown, how concrete or specialized it is, and frequency as a supporting cue. They are editorial guidance, not tested CEFR levels or a proficiency assessment.
- Beginner: Start with useful everyday words, simple descriptions, and common conversation patterns.
- Intermediate: Expand everyday vocabulary and talk about experiences, interests, and a wider range of situations.
- Advanced: Explore less familiar meanings, abstract ideas, and more specialized public, professional, or academic language.
If you are starting from the beginning, choose Start here: an ordered selection of 150 beginner cards. Then choose a topic you need and expand to Intermediate or Advanced when the easier cards feel familiar. Every card keeps the same saved familiarity across topics and sets.
Study sets and progress
The 100 numbered sets contain 50 cards each. The original four topic sets offer another way to study cards already in the collection. A session contains up to 20 cards. Familiar and unfamiliar are your own study labels; unfamiliar includes cards you have not studied yet.
The numbered sets and general browsing order use spelling-frequency scores after the original starter cards, from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. These scores do not combine all inflected forms or distinguish every homograph. They are not a definitive “5,000 most common words” ranking or a CEFR syllabus. Start here uses its own teaching order.
Audio and examples
Every card includes an original Spanish example and an English translation. The sentences illustrate the meaning shown on the card, sometimes using a conjugated verb or another inflected form. They are teaching examples, not quotations from the linked dictionary entries.
You can listen to individual words and full example sentences using a Google voice when available, with a device voice as a fallback. This is generated speech; accent and pronunciation depend on the selected voice.
Attribution and reuse
The adapted dictionary entries and frequency data are available under Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 4.0. The export includes source links and attribution; it excludes our original bilingual examples. This data license does not apply to unrelated site branding, code, or the original lesson material.
Download the 4,958 sourced entries (JSON) · Full attribution and third-party notices