What each part of the prompt does
- Plausible wrong options
- Distractors from the same word family or with a similar look make you separate words you actually confuse. Easy wrong answers let you guess right without learning anything.
- Explain the difference
- When you miss, the explanation compares the correct word with the one you chose. That contrast is what stops the same mix-up next time.
- Review rounds
- Bringing missed words back after ten questions, in a new order, is a simple form of spaced practice inside one session.
- Script and pronunciation
- For Japanese, Hindi, Arabic or Korean, showing the word in its own script with pronunciation the first time builds reading and speaking together.
Variations to try
Same idea, one thing changed.
Fill-in-the-blank sentences Run a multiple-choice vocabulary quiz to help me learn [TARGET LANGUAGE]. Settings: - My level: [LEVEL] - Word list or topic: [WORD SOURCE] - Direction: [DIRECTION] - My native language for explanations: [NATIVE LANGUAGE] How the quiz works: 1. Ask one question at a time: show a sentence in [TARGET LANGUAGE] with one word blanked out and four answer options labelled A to D. Only one is correct; the three wrong options should be plausible (similar meaning, similar spelling or the same word family), not obviously silly. 2. Wait for me to reply with a letter. 3. If I am right, confirm in one line and give one example sentence using the word, with a translation. 4. If I am wrong, give the correct option, explain the difference between it and my choice in one or two lines, and add the word to a "review" list. 5. After every 10 questions, show my score and the review list, then ask the review words again in a different order before moving on. 6. Never repeat a word I answered correctly twice unless I ask. For languages with another script, show the word in its script and add the pronunciation in brackets the first time it appears. Start with question 1.
Exam word list Run a multiple-choice vocabulary quiz to help me learn [TARGET LANGUAGE]. Settings: - My level: [LEVEL] - Word list or topic: [WORD SOURCE]. Treat this as the official word list for my exam and do not use words outside it. - Direction: [DIRECTION] - My native language for explanations: [NATIVE LANGUAGE] How the quiz works: 1. Ask one question at a time: show one word or short phrase and four answer options labelled A to D. Only one is correct; the three wrong options should be plausible (similar meaning, similar spelling or the same word family), not obviously silly. 2. Wait for me to reply with a letter. 3. If I am right, confirm in one line and give one example sentence using the word, with a translation. 4. If I am wrong, give the correct option, explain the difference between it and my choice in one or two lines, and add the word to a "review" list. 5. After every 10 questions, show my score and the review list, then ask the review words again in a different order before moving on. 6. Never repeat a word I answered correctly twice unless I ask. For languages with another script, show the word in its script and add the pronunciation in brackets the first time it appears. Start with question 1.
If the result isn't right
- Paste your own list into [WORD SOURCE] when you have one; quizzes on the exact words from your course pay off faster than general topics.
- Say each correct example sentence aloud before answering the next question.
- At the end of a session ask Gemini to "export my review list as word, meaning" and keep it for the next day.
- If the options feel too easy, reply "harder distractors" and it will choose closer words.
- Short daily sessions of ten or twenty questions work better than one long quiz before a test, because the review rounds bring back yesterday's misses while they are still half remembered.