About

Imported from jeffreytse/grimoire-core (skills/language/learning/skills/design-vocabulary-acquisition-system/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add jeffreytse/grimoire-core --skill design-vocabulary-acquisition-system. Copyright stays with the author.

Design Vocabulary Acquisition System

Name: design-vocabulary-acquisition-system
Author: jeffreytse

Create a tiered, frequency-driven vocabulary system that prioritizes high-yield words, embeds them in context, and schedules review for long-term retention.

Why This Is Best Practice

Adopted by: EFL/ESL programs at universities worldwide, Cambridge English curriculum designers, Nation's Victoria University of Wellington language research lab Impact: Nation's research shows the 2,000 most frequent words cover 80%+ of spoken text; frequency-first learners reach functional reading comprehension 40% faster than random-vocabulary learners Why best: Frequency prioritization maximizes return on study time; contextual embedding creates semantic networks stronger than rote definition memorization

Sources: Nation (2001) word frequency tiers; Beck et al. (2002) three-tier vocabulary model; Schmitt (2000) vocabulary learning strategies taxonomy

Steps

Establish frequency tiers — prioritize Tier 1 (top 1,000 most frequent words), then Tier 2 (1,001–3,000), then Tier 3 (domain-specific); use frequency lists (e.g., COCA for English, BNC).
Run a vocabulary size test — use Nation's Vocabulary Levels Test or an equivalent to identify current tier coverage and gaps.
Select a spaced-repetition platform — set up Anki or equivalent; import pre-made frequency decks or build custom decks from target texts.
Learn words in context — always add the word's sentence of origin to the flashcard; never study isolated definitions alone.
Apply the 7-exposure rule — design review schedules so each new word appears in at least 7 varied contexts before marking it as known.
Group words by semantic field — cluster related words (transport, cooking, emotions) to build associative networks and reduce interference.
Add productive practice — after recognizing a word in flashcards, use it in a written sentence or spoken response the same day.
Track vocabulary growth — retest with the Vocabulary Levels Test every 4–6 weeks; log size growth as a motivating metric.
Read extensively at comfortable level — 98%+ word coverage in extensive reading texts; encountering known words in new contexts deepens knowledge.
Retire mastered words — remove words with 95%+ correct recall across 10+ reviews from active rotation; free capacity for new items.

Rules

Never learn more than 15–20 new words per day — cognitive load beyond this threshold collapses retention.
Always prioritize frequency over perceived usefulness; learners consistently overestimate how often low-frequency words appear.
Context is mandatory — definition-only cards produce passive recognition but not productive use.
Review old words daily before adding new ones; expansion without consolidation creates a leaky bucket.

Common Mistakes

Studying rare or exotic words early — learning "ephemeral" before mastering "get," "take," or "put" destroys efficiency.
Treating recognition as mastery — being able to translate a word does not mean you can produce it under pressure.
Neglecting collocations — knowing "make" and "decision" separately is less useful than knowing "make a decision" as a unit.
Abandoning review sessions — skipping SRS reviews for 3+ days causes exponential retention collapse.

When NOT to Use

Learner needs emergency survival phrases — direct phrase memorization is faster than systematic acquisition
Domain is highly technical from day one (medical, legal) — supplement with domain-specific glossary before frequency-list work
Learner is already at C1+ — focus shifts to collocations, pragmatics, and idiom rather than core frequency words

Use it

Copy one of these into your project. Installing also returns the manifest and these snippets.

yaml

targets:
  - https://api.opensmartroute.ai/api/v1/registry/jeffreytse-grimoire-core-design-vocabulary-acquisition-system/manifest   # or paste the manifest below

Manifest

An Open Capability Manifest: the router reads it to know what this does, what it costs and when to pick it.

jeffreytse-grimoire-core-design-vocabulary-acquisition-system.ocm.jsonjson

{
  "ocm": "1",
  "id": "jeffreytse-grimoire-core-design-vocabulary-acquisition-system",
  "kind": "skill",
  "name": "design-vocabulary-acquisition-system",
  "description": "Use when a learner needs a systematic, research-backed method to build and retain a large working vocabulary in a target language",
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  "version": "1.0.0",
  "capabilities": {
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    "tags": [
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      "frequency",
      "github"
    ],
    "languages": [
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  "examples": [
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      "repository": "https://github.com/jeffreytse/grimoire-core",
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      "ref": "30af0bf1e6eb41bef683a2f375bfdb58899806a1",
      "url": "https://github.com/jeffreytse/grimoire-core/blob/30af0bf1e6eb41bef683a2f375bfdb58899806a1/skills/language/learning/skills/design-vocabulary-acquisition-system/SKILL.md",
      "key": "jeffreytse/grimoire-core/skills/language/learning/skills/design-vocabulary-acquisition-system/SKILL.md"
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  },
  "instructions": "# Design Vocabulary Acquisition System\n\nCreate a tiered, frequency-driven vocabulary system that prioritizes high-yield words, embeds them in context, and schedules review for long-term retention.\n\n## Why This Is Best Practice\n\n**Adopted by:** EFL/ESL programs at universities worldwide, Cambridge English curriculum designers, Nation's Victoria University of Wellington language research lab\n**Impact:** Nation's research shows the 2,000 most frequent words cover 80%+ of spoken text; frequency-first learners reach functional reading comprehension 40% faster than random-vocabulary learners\n**Why b",
  "cost": {
    "context_tokens": 924
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}

Fetch it by URL: GET /api/v1/registry/jeffreytse-grimoire-core-design-vocabulary-acquisition-system/manifest?version=1.0.0

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