Vocabulary Ladder · Free, grade 6 to adult
Climb from roots to a thousand words that stick
Learn the Greek and Latin parts that build most long English words, then a thousand words that strong readers meet in good prose and on the SAT, ACT and CLT. Every word has a picture and a memory hook, a plain definition and sentences that show it at work. Practice asks you to use each word in context, and spaced review keeps it with you. Flashcards, quizzes, the full word list and printable word cards are here too. No sign-up, nothing to pay.
The ladder
Each rung is a full course. Start where you are; topics from earlier rungs come back when you need them.
How the Vocabulary Ladder works
- Find your rung. A short check, at most 30 questions, skips what you already know and finds your starting point.
- Learn from first principles. Each topic is one small idea. The lesson shows why it works, then walks through worked examples one step at a time.
- Master it before moving on. Three right answers, the last two in a row, pass a topic. If a topic gets hard, we point you to the skill underneath it.
- Review, spaced out. Passed topics come back after 1 day, then 3, 7, 16 days and longer, for two quick problems each. Harder topics that use an older one count as practice for it.
- Mix it up. Reviews and checkpoint quizzes mix problems from different topics, so you learn to tell which method a problem needs.
- Earn XP. About one point per minute of focused work. Set a daily goal and keep your streak going.
- One climb across subjects. Every ladder shares your XP, streak and reviews. When a topic needs a skill from another ladder, such as the algebra behind a formula, that skill comes first, labeled with its ladder.
Why these steps: the U.S. Institute of Education Sciences practice guide Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning (Pashler and others, NCER 2007-2004) recommends spacing reviews out over time, alternating worked examples with problems students solve on their own, pairing pictures with words, and using quizzes to bring key content back. The Vocabulary Ladder is built around those ideas.
More on Teddy Rook Book
- Vocabulary flashcardsPicture side and word side, by topic, root or level, with spaced review
- Vocabulary quizzesQuick rounds: meanings, words in context, synonyms and roots
- All 1,000 wordsSearch and filter the whole list; open any word's card
- Print word cardsPrint any set of cards, or save them as a PDF from your browser
- Reading, writing and grammarTest Prep for the verbal sections of the SAT, ACT and CLT
- LanguagesLatin and Koine Greek, where many of these roots come from
The other ladders
- Math LadderFrom counting in Kindergarten to calculus, linear algebra and differential equations. 27 courses.
- Physics LadderMotion, forces and energy, then fluids, heat, electricity, light, atoms and the stars, from grade 8 to college. 8 courses.
- Chemistry LadderAtoms, bonds, moles and reactions, from high school chemistry through a full year of general chemistry. 3 courses.
- Economics LadderHow people, firms and whole economies choose: microeconomics, macroeconomics and calculus-based micro. 3 courses.
- Earth & Space LadderRocks, plates and volcanoes, oceans, weather and climate, and Earth's place among the planets and stars. 3 courses.
- Logic LadderClear thinking, from arguments and fallacies to syllogisms, truth tables and formal proofs, grade 7 to college. 3 courses.
- Etiquette LadderManners as kindness made into habits: please and thank you, the table, conversation, notes and hard moments, age 4 to adult. 3 courses.
- Egyptology LadderAncient Egypt from the Nile and the pyramids to reading hieroglyphs: history, Middle Egyptian, religion and art, and archaeology, age 8 to college. 6 courses.
- Ancient Scripts LadderHow ancient scripts work and how they were read again, beginning with Linear A and Linear B of the Bronze Age Aegean, high school to college. 1 courses.
All the ladders share one progress: XP, your streak and your reviews.
Your progress is saved in this browser
No account needed. To move to another device, or to keep a backup, copy your save code and paste it in on the other device.
See your progress · The site's My Progress page backs up everything at once.