# Notes, Flashcards and AI: Keep What You Read

> Marks fade unless you review them. Learn the course's short-note format, how to turn marks into flashcards, when to ask AI, and how to space your reviews.

Page: https://speedreadingo.fastemy.com/lessons/notes-and-flashcards/ · Updated: 2026-11-02 · By: Abdullah Yılmaz · Speed Readingo

## The short answer

To keep what you read, write the images you made while reading (your marks) into a short note under the text's title, then turn the important ones into flashcards and review them at growing gaps. If no picture comes to mind, an AI chatbot can suggest one. Testing yourself this way beats rereading.

1. Title a note with the text's title and list your marks in order, as briefly as you can.
2. Move the important ones onto flashcards: the question on the front, the mark on the back.
3. Review the cards at growing gaps: a day or two after reading, then later, then later still.
4. Stuck for a picture? Ask an AI chatbot for a few vivid images, then check the facts against your text.

## Marks fade

A good mark can hold a definition for days, but marks fade too. As the course puts it, knowledge you have acquired is of little use once it is forgotten. So step 3 ends with three tools: a short note, flashcards, and AI for the times no picture comes.

## Write a short note

Right after reading:

1. **Title the note with the text's title.**
2. **List your marks in order,** one line each.
3. **Keep every line as short as you can,** so it is quick to review and easy to recall.

This is the course's note on the AI article from the last lesson:

> **AI article**
>
> - Deep learning: neurons moved into a machine
> - Machine learning: a robot that learns by falling and never gets tired
> - Artificial intelligence: the two above, plus a robot that imitates people, with a character loaded in

When the ideas build on each other, as the terms in an academic article often do, the course links the lines with arrows (→) so the note reads as one chain.

The founder says this is how he memorised the main ideas of two start-up books, The Lean Startup and Zero to One: he marked them while reading and went back over his notes from time to time.

## Turn marks into flashcards

Notes hold the whole picture; flashcards hold the pieces you must recall.

- **Front:** a question, such as "definition of AI".
- **Back:** the mark, here the robot that imitates people.
- **Spacing:** each card comes back after a longer gap every time you get it right. Any flashcard app that spaces reviews does this; Anki is a free one for computers.

## When no picture comes: ask AI

Some terms resist. The course's tip: if you can't find a connection and nothing comes to mind, ask a chatbot such as ChatGPT. In its examples, *keratoma* becomes an exaggerated, hard, crusty skin growth, tied to *keratin*. Nerve cells become messengers rushing signals around the body.

A prompt that works: "Give me three vivid, slightly absurd images to remember that [term] means [definition]." Keep the one that sticks.

The course adds a warning worth keeping: chatbots are sometimes wrong. Let AI suggest the picture, and take the facts from your text.

## What the research says

This is the part of the method with the strongest evidence.

- **Testing beats rereading.** A large review of ten study techniques rated practice testing and spaced practice the most useful, and rereading, highlighting and summarising low ([Dunlosky et al., 2013](https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266)). The note on its own is a summary; the flashcards are what make you recall.
- **Quizzes work in real classrooms.** Across 222 studies with more than 48,000 students, quizzing raised achievement by a medium amount ([Yang et al., 2021](https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000309)).
- **The right gap depends on your deadline.** In an analysis of 317 experiments, the best gap between study sessions grew with how long people needed to remember ([Cepeda et al., 2006](https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354)). For a test a week away, the best gap was about 20–40% of that week, roughly one and a half to three days; for a test a year away, about 5–10% of the year ([Cepeda et al., 2008](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02209.x)).

## At work and in study

- **Before a meeting:** a three-line note on the report, plus a card for each number you might be asked about.
- **For an exam or a certification:** one note per chapter, a card for every definition, and reviews spread over the weeks before the test.
- **For books:** one note per chapter, and cards only for the ideas you want to keep for years.

## Try it

Take one article you read today. Write its note in under two minutes, make three cards, and quiz yourself tomorrow before you turn them over. For a fresh text to practise the whole routine on, use the drills on the [exercises page](https://speedreadingo.fastemy.com/speed-reading-exercises/), and check how much you understand at your current pace with the [reading speed test](https://speedreadingo.fastemy.com/reading-speed-test/).

Next lesson: [let comprehension catch up with your speed](https://speedreadingo.fastemy.com/lessons/comprehension/).

## FAQ

### How do you remember what you read?

Don't just reread. Write a short note, then test yourself on it with flashcards spread over days. A large review of study techniques rated practice testing and spaced practice the most useful, and rereading and highlighting low (Dunlosky et al., 2013).

### Do flashcards work better than rereading?

Yes, because each card makes you pull the answer from memory. Across 222 classroom studies with more than 48,000 students, quizzing raised achievement by a medium amount (Yang et al., 2021).

### How often should I review flashcards?

Let the gaps grow, and set them by your deadline. For a test a week away, the best gap between study sessions was about 20 to 40% of that week; for something you need in a year, about 5 to 10% of the year (Cepeda et al., 2008).

### Can I use ChatGPT to help me memorise?

Yes, as a source of images, not of facts. The course suggests asking a chatbot when no connection comes to mind, and warns that it is sometimes wrong, so check every fact against your text.

## Sources

1. Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266
2. Yang, C., Luo, L., Vadillo, M. A., Yu, R., & Shanks, D. R. (2021). Testing (quizzing) boosts classroom learning: A systematic and meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 147(4), 399–435. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000309
3. Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354
4. Cepeda, N. J., Vul, E., Rohrer, D., Wixted, J. T., & Pashler, H. (2008). Spacing effects in learning: A temporal ridgeline of optimal retention. Psychological Science, 19(11), 1095–1102. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02209.x