vocafox Manual

vocafox is a level-based vocabulary trainer that runs in any web browser — on a phone, tablet or computer. There is nothing to install. You write your own word lists, and vocafox trains every word step by step: from easy multiple-choice puzzles up to typing the word from memory. Once you know a word, spaced repetition brings it back just before you would forget it.

This manual explains how vocafox is organised and how to use it.

1. Getting started

1. Open vocafox.com and click Sign up to create a free account.
2. Log in. You land on the Start page.
3. Open the menu (sidebar on the left, or the menu button on a phone). All areas of the app are listed there.

The quickest way to start learning:

1. Go to Book and create a chapter (for example "1 Greetings").
2. Open the chapter and add words to it.
3. Go to Decks and create a deck that contains your chapter.
4. Start the deck — from Decks or from the deck card on the Start page — and learn.

The sections below explain each step.

2. How vocafox is organised

You write words in chapters and learn them through decks.

3. The menu

Desk

• Start – your overview: decks to continue, pinned words, your streak, messages and the latest updates. Below your streak, a quick-access row opens a note, a chapter and the search: the ones you marked Show on start, otherwise the latest.
• Search – find words, chapters and decks.
• Book – your chapters and words.
• Decks – create, edit and start decks.
• Generators – practise numbers, dates and times.
• Notebook – free notes, e.g. grammar rules.
• Media – your images (to attach to words).
• Action QR – scan a vocafox QR code, e.g. to join a class.

Info

• How to use vocafox – tutorial videos.
• Support – support tickets: ask the vocafox team a question (members with a paid plan).
• Feedback – tell us what you think.
• Found a bug – report a problem.
• Update log – what's new in vocafox.

Other

• Settings – account, security, emails and learning options.
• Membership – plans with more room for your words.
• Logout

Teachers and students of a school see an extra Organization section (see chapter 10).

4. Book: chapters and sub-chapters

Open Book from the menu.

Create a chapter

1. Next to Chapters, click add.
2. Enter a Name and, if you like, a Description.
3. Click save.

Create a sub-chapter: open a chapter and click add next to Chapters inside it.

Tips

• Keep chapters small. We recommend at most 35 words per chapter — split bigger lists into several chapters.
• If you number your chapters ("1 Greetings", "2 Food"), turn on Index chapter names in Settings → Book to sort them by that number.

Edit a chapter: open it and use the edit button. The chapter editor has these tabs:

Importing words (CSV)

The first row must be a header row with these columns, in this order:

Native Article, Native Word, Native Sentence, Foreign Article, Foreign Word, Foreign Sentence

• A row is only imported if it has Native Word and Foreign Word, or Native Sentence and Foreign Sentence.
• Up to 500 rows per import. Existing words are not changed — only new rows are added.

5. Words

Open a chapter and click add next to Words. (Words always belong to a chapter, so create a chapter first.)

Type – at the top, choose what kind of entry you are adding: Automatic, Word, Flip Card, Symbol or Word & Symbol (see Word types below). The form then only shows the fields that type needs. With Automatic, all fields are shown and vocafox works out the type from what you fill in.

Native language (the language you already speak)

• Article – e.g. "the", "der" (optional)
• Word
• Description – a hint or explanation (optional)
• Example sentence (optional)

Foreign language (the language you are learning)

• Article (optional)
• Word
• Symbol – a character such as a kanji or hanzi (optional, see below)
• Example sentence (optional)

Media

• Image – choose one of your own images or one from the public vocafox library.
• Audio – attach a recording, e.g. the pronunciation. If Enable audio is on in Settings, it plays automatically while learning.

Click Save.

Word types

What decides how a word is learned is which fields are filled in:

The Symbol field and the Symbol / Word & Symbol types only appear after you turn on Enable symbol learning in Settings → Book.

Pinning words

In the word's Info tab, tick Pin word on start. Pinned words appear on the Start page so you can look at them every day. You can also pin a word while learning.

Word statistics

The Stats tab shows a word's current level and its deck strike (where it is in the spaced-repetition schedule, and when it will appear again). You can set both by hand.

6. Decks

A deck is a bundle of chapters. Learning always happens through decks.

Create a deck

1. Open Decks and click add deck.
2. Meta tab: enter a Name, optionally a Description. Tick Show on start to get a card for this deck on the Start page.
3. Chapters tab: select the chapters for this deck.
4. Click save.

Other tabs

• Accessibility – share the deck with your organization or classes (schools only).
• Export
  • words (copy for AI) – generates a ready-to-copy list of your words. Paste it into an AI chat to have it write practice sentences with exactly your vocabulary.
  • Download CSV – all words of the deck as a CSV file.

7. Learning

Start a deck from Decks or click Continue on its card on the Start page.

A learning session

• vocafox takes a small batch of words from the deck that are due — new words and words you know least well first.
• Each word appears as a puzzle that matches its current level. A badge shows the level of the current word.
• Solve the puzzle and click check.
  • Correct – the word moves up one level.
  • Mistake – vocafox shows the correct answer and the word drops back a few levels, so you get easier puzzles for it again.
• Words come back several times in a session until they have climbed a few levels.
• When nothing is due, the deck card says Nothing to do today or Come back tomorrow!

The levels

Every word starts at level 0 and gets a little harder with each level. For a normal word:

1. Choose the correct translation from 1, then 2 cards.
2. The other way round: choose the native word.
3. Choose from 3, then 4 cards.
4. Fill in the missing letter.
5. Swap: select the two letters that are swapped.
6. Fill in 2 missing letters.
7. Choose the native word from 4 cards.
8. Sort: put the letters in the correct order.
9. Type half of the letters.
10. Final level: type the whole word from memory, or recall it before revealing it.

Characters/symbols have their own puzzles: recognising the character, writing it while it is blurred or partly hidden, and finally writing it completely from memory. With Enable draw pad in Settings you get a drawing field to practise writing the character by hand. A sheet of paper works too.

Flip cards: read the sentence, tap the card to see the solution, then tell vocafox honestly whether you knew it (Correct) or not (Nah).

Faster leveling: the 2× button in the learn screen (or Settings → Book → Faster leveling) moves a word up 2 levels per correct answer — useful for words you already know well.

Spaced repetition

When a word reaches its highest level, vocafox starts spacing it out. Every time you answer it correctly it gets a new deck strike and returns after a longer break:

A mistake resets the schedule, and the word drops back to easier levels.

Streaks

When you finish everything that is due in a deck, that day counts towards your streak. The Start page shows your streak and the last 7 days.

8. More tools

• Search – search by keyword. Choose whether to include words (and their symbols, descriptions and sentences), chapters and decks.
• Notebook – write notes with a title and text, e.g. grammar rules or things to remember. Tick Show on start in a note to show it in the quick access on the Start page and keep it at the top of the list.
• Media → My Images – upload images, add a description and at least one tag, then attach them to words.
• Generators – practise:
  • numbers (set min/max; normal or Japanese/Chinese numerals),
  • dates (set a year range),
  • time (24 h or 12 h with A.M./P.M., full hours or 30/15/10/5-minute steps).

9. Settings

10. Schools: organizations, classes and tasks

Schools and teachers can use vocafox as an organization. More information is on the vocafox for Schools & Teachers page.

For teachers

In the menu under Organization:

• Organization – details of your school, with lists of its students and teachers.
• Classes – create a class with New Class. In a class you can:
  • Students – add students to the class.
  • Decks / Chapters – share decks and chapters with the class. Students can learn them right away.
  • Tasks – click Add Task to give homework: choose a deck, a start date and a deadline, and mark it as required or optional. The task card shows each student's progress.
  • ActionQR – create QR codes that students scan to join the class.
• Students – all students of your organization. Add Student creates a QR code students can use to sign up.
• Access (organization admins only) – student seats and billing. Teacher accounts are free (up to 20 per organization).

You can also share chapters and decks from their Accessibility tab.

For students

• Join a class by scanning your teacher's QR code (Action QR → Scan) and clicking Accept.
• Classes shows your classes. Inside a class you'll find:
  • Tasks – current and finished tasks with their deadline. Click Do task to start learning.
  • Decks – decks from your teacher, ready to learn.
  • Chapters – chapters shared with you. You can add them to your own decks.
• You can leave a class from the class list.
• Questions and problems go to your teacher – Support, Feedback and Found a bug are not shown for student accounts.

11. Memberships

vocafox is a hobby project and free to use. The free plan includes 120 words and 20 chapters. If you need more room — and want to support vocafox — you can choose a paid membership under Membership: Supporter (1,200 words) or Gold (5,000 words), billed weekly or monthly. Payments are processed by Stripe. Current prices are on the Membership page.

12. Help and feedback

• How to use vocafox (menu) – tutorial videos.
• Feedback – tell us what you think.
• Found a bug – report a problem (please write in English).
• Support – open a ticket and get an answer from the vocafox team in the app (members with a paid plan). When the team replies, you also get an email – you can turn that off under Settings → General → Emails.
• Contact and FAQ on the website.

Quick answers

Do I need to install anything? No. vocafox runs in the browser on any device.

Why can't I add a word? Words always belong to a chapter. Create a chapter in Book first and add the word inside it.

Why is my deck empty / "Nothing to do today"? Either the deck has no chapters with words (check the Chapters tab of the deck), or all its words are scheduled for later. Come back when they are due.

I already know some words — do I have to go through every level? No. Turn on Faster leveling (2x), or set the level of a word (word → Stats) or of a whole chapter (chapter → LEVEL System) by hand.

Can I learn Japanese, Chinese or another writing system? Yes. Turn on Enable symbol learning in Settings and fill in the Symbol field of your words. vocafox then adds character puzzles, and the draw pad lets you practise writing.

Can I get my words out again? Yes. Export a chapter or a deck as a CSV file.

More questions about vocafox? See the FAQ.