Yes, agreed. I actually wrote about that a few years ago, but forgot to link to the article this time around (you can check it out here: If you think spaced repetition software is a panacea you are wrong. It’s always tricky to write articles like this, because for people who have a balanced approach or don’t really know what SRS is, the primary goal should be to make them try it out, whereas the real question I want to discuss is relates more to how we use SRS, mainly for what, along with some criticism that are often brought up (such as it not being suitable for languages at all, which is a bit odd in my opinion).

The core vocabulary used in speaking/listening really does need to be practiced directly.