#17 | Why Do I Forget New Italian Words? And how to fix it.

Hello,

Let me take you to a moment that still stings.

As you may know, I’m learning Italian. Recently, I was reading an article in Italian, trying to piece together the meaning of a sentence.

There it was again: Attraversare.

I had looked it up twice that week. It meant to cross—I knew that much. Yet at that moment? Blank. Nothing. Again.

The word sat there on the page like a test I hadn’t studied for.

Look it up. Forget it. Repeat.

The frustration wasn’t just about a single word. It made me wonder if I was actually learning or just going through the motions.

If you’ve been caught in this cycle when learning a language, you know exactly what I mean.

So, why does this happen?

The brain doesn’t work like a hard drive. It doesn’t just store information for later use.

Instead, it prioritizes survival, efficiency, and relevance. Anything that isn’t used or reinforced is tossed.

Hermann Ebbinghaus figured this out over a century ago.

His research led to the Forgetting Curve, which shows that new information fades rapidly unless reviewed at the right times.

💡 Without reinforcement, up to 80% of what we learn disappears within 24 hours.

So this isn’t about intelligence, effort, or memory capacity—it’s about timing and strategy.

If you’re learning a language the traditional way—cramming vocabulary lists, passively listening to podcasts, drilling flashcards without context—you’re working against how memory functions.

It’s not that you’re bad at languages. No one ever taught you how to learn them effectively.

And, how can we best break the cycle?

Try AI. Although, AI doesn’t necessarily offer a shortcut here.

It won’t implant a new language into your brain. But it will optimize your learning so that words actually stick.

Step 1: Skip random repetitions

Most learners repeat words when they feel like they’re forgetting them.

That’s just guesswork. AI eliminates this by using spaced repetition, a method that schedules reviews at optimal intervals.

• Instead of endlessly repeating a word, AI reminds you right before you would have forgotten it.
• Each time you recall it correctly, the following review gets pushed further into the future.
• Over time, this locks words into your long-term memory without overloading your brain.

How to do: Consider tools like Anki, Memrise, or Quizlet—they all use spaced repetition to train your memory efficiently.

Step 2: Learn words in context

Think about the last time you picked up a word in a real conversation.

Did you forget it as quickly as the ones from your vocabulary list? Probably not. That’s because the brain retains meaning better when words appear in context.

AI can help simulate this process:

• ChatGPT can generate dialogues based on real-life scenarios. If you need to order food in Italian, it can create a realistic conversation so you can practice.
• LingQ and Readlang let you learn from real content—articles, books, and subtitles in your target language—while instantly translating what you don’t know.

How to do: Stop drilling words in isolation. Instead, interact with them in real-life contexts—through AI-powered conversations, news articles, or by journaling in your target language.

Step 3: Speak before you feel ready

Waiting until you feel “ready” to speak is a guaranteed way not to learn. AI can help break that hesitation.

• Speechling lets you practice pronunciation with AI feedback, correcting your errors in real-time.
• ChatGPT’s voice features allow you to simulate conversations so you don’t freeze up when talking to real people.
• AI voice cloning tools (like ElevenLabs) let you hear yourself speaking like a native.

So, speaking is not about perfection. It is about training your mouth and brain to work together until words start coming naturally.

How to do: Start speaking immediately, even if you speak aloud the dialogues created by AI. (I do that.)

Your actionable AI prompt

Here’s a ready-to-use prompt you can plug into your favorite AI tool today.

Fill in the placeholder [language]. You need to define [word/concept] only once.

Prompt:
“You are my AI language coach. Help me master the usage of [word/concept] in [language].
Provide:
1. Three sentences where I use [word/concept] correctly.
2. A brief explanation of its role in each sentence.
3. A short quiz where I choose the correct word among [similar words/concepts].
4. Bonus: Create a realistic dialogue where this word or concept naturally appears, and I need to fill in the blanks.“

This simple framework ensures that you do not see words in isolation but experience them in meaningful, applied ways.

Let’s bring it all together

If you’re stuck in the forget-and-repeat cycle, it’s not your fault.

The problem isn’t you—it’s the way languages have been traditionally taught.

Here’s what to do instead:

✔️ Attach words to real situations. Don’t just memorize pane (bread in Italian). Research its origins, context, use cases, etc…

✔️ Use every new word immediately. Even if it’s just in a text or a voice memo to yourself, apply it before your brain forgets.

✔️ Speak—even if you feel ridiculous. The brain needs to produce words, not just recognize them.

Over to you. Reply and tell me—what’s a word you always forget?

Cheers, Mark
The AI Learning Guy
👋⚡😎