What Is Inside Your First 1000 Words, and How Review Works

When learners ask where to begin, the honest answer is vocabulary that shows up again and again. Your First 1000 Words is built around that idea. Instead of collecting rare or colourful words, the course gathers the ones that appear in greetings, shopping, travel, work chats and family talk, because those are the words you will actually say within your first weeks.

I edit the word lists, so I can tell you how they come together. Each candidate word is checked for how often a beginner would need it and whether it can be used in a short sentence straight away. Words that only make sense inside a long grammar explanation are moved to later courses.

The aim is modest and practical: a base that lets you follow a simple exchange and answer back, rather than a long list you recognise on a page but cannot use.

• Words chosen for everyday frequency
• Each word taught inside a short phrase
• Rare vocabulary left for later courses

Lessons in this course are short, in keeping with the app's 15-minutes-a-day rhythm. A typical session introduces a small handful of new words around one theme, such as food, family, numbers or getting around town, and lets you hear, read, type and say them.

New words rarely arrive alone. You meet them in a phrase or a tiny dialogue first, so the meaning comes from context and not from a translation sitting next to a word. Then you practise recalling them, first with help and then without.

Because the sessions are small, they fit into a commute or a tea break without asking you to clear an evening. A learner who finishes one lesson on a busy day has still moved the course forward, and that is the habit we want to protect.

Learning a word once is the easy part. Keeping it is where most people lose ground, and this is why the course leans on review. Words you have already met return after a gap, timed so that you are asked just as they begin to slip rather than while they are still fresh.

If you answer a word easily, it comes back later. If you hesitate or get it wrong, it returns sooner and in a different setting, perhaps as a spoken prompt instead of a typed one. Over a few weeks the words you find hard get more attention and the ones you know well stay out of your way.

Review also mixes themes. A food word may turn up beside a travel word, which is closer to how real conversation behaves and helps you pull a word out when you need it.

• Older words return at spaced intervals
• Hard words come back sooner
• Themes are mixed so recall feels natural

Your First 1000 Words suits adults starting a new language, or returning to one they studied years ago and let slide. It also helps anyone who finished a starter path such as Speak Spanish in 3 Weeks and wants a wider base of words behind their first conversations.

It is a vocabulary course, and it is worth being clear about its limits. It will give you words and short phrases, but it does not replace speaking with another person, and it does not teach every grammar point in depth. Other courses in the app cover phrases and dialogues in more detail.

Learners who already speak the language comfortably will find the early themes slow. For them, review and the phrase-focused courses are likely a better use of limited time.

A few small habits make a real difference. Say each word aloud rather than only reading it; the movement of your mouth helps memory more than people expect. Try to use a new word once outside the app, even if only to yourself while making tea or walking to the bus stop.

Do not skip review on days when you feel behind. It is tempting to chase new lessons, but the older words are the ones that quietly disappear. A short review session that clears the waiting words keeps the whole course steadier.

If you miss a few days, simply resume. The review will notice what has gone cold and bring it back, so there is no need to restart from the beginning or feel you have failed.

• Speak every word aloud
• Use one new word in real life each day
• Resume after a break, do not restart

The app has a free tier that covers the basics, so you can try the way lessons and review feel before deciding anything. The full catalogue and wider features sit behind the paid subscription, and the course described here is part of that wider offer.

We would rather you try a lesson first and judge for yourself. If the short, phrase-first style suits you, a subscription gives you the room to go further; if it does not, the free part costs you nothing.

Details of plans, billing and refunds are set out in the payment and refund policy, which is the place to check before you subscribe.