I forgot my password, what should I do?

Enter your registered email address here and we will send you instructions to reset your password. Note: We cannot recover your password if you did not previously register your email address.

I forgot my username, what should I do?

Enter your registered email address here and we will send you instructions to reset your password. Note: We cannot recover your username if you did not previously register your email address.

I'm not receiving confirmation emails, why?

First, please check that the email address you registered when you signed up is correct. Second, please check your spam folder and your email settings to make sure you are able to receive messages from the lexxica.co.jp domain. Lastly if you are using a cell phone, then please make sure the lexxica.co.jp domain is in your list of acceptable email domains.

How do I change my password?

Login with your current password, go to My Page and click "settings". Next, click "change password" and enter your new password.

How much does it cost to signup and create an account?

Account signup and the V-Check lexical ability test are free. Click here to create your free account and take V-Check.

What can I do for free?

You can take a free V-Check ability test and see your scores. You can also try a free trial course to see how Study Mode works.

How do I start studying with the Word Engine?

Click "Get it" for any course that you want to study. If you have an Access Card, use the number printed on the back to activate the course that you want to study. If you don’t have an Access Card, you can follow the online purchase instructions after you click "Get it".

Can I pay for my courses online?

You can pay online by credit card, convenience store, Pay-easy or Online banking.

How long will it take for my online payment to clear and my new course to become active?

Credit card purchases become active immediately after payment is confirmed. Convenience store, Pay-easy, and online banking payments usually require from 1 to 2 hours after the payment is confirmed.

I paid online but I haven't received my Access Card.

If you pay online, you don't need an Access Card. The course you paid for will become active after the payment is confirmed.

What is an Access Code?

The Access Code is an 8 digit alpha-numeric code that activates the course that you want to study. The Access Code can be found on the back of a printed Access Card or in some cases it may be sent to you by email or in a text message.

What is an Access Card?

An Access Card is a printed card that has an alpha-numeric Access Code printed beneath a scratch-off covering..

Where can I get an Access Card?

Ask your teacher or the bookstore at your school, or ask the manager at your place of work.

I entered my Access Code but it was not accepted, why?

An Access Code can only be used one time so make sure that you have a new Access Code that has not already been used. If you are sure that your Access Code is new, take care to enter the code correctly. For example, check to see that you did not enter the capital letter "O" when you should have entered the number "0", or the capital letter "I" when you should have entered the number "1".

I already clicked "Get it" and already entered an Access Code for the wrong course. Can I change my course selection?

Sorry, but we cannot change a confirmed course after it has been purchased, so please double check that you have the right subject before you confirm the Access Code or online payment.

What is V-Check?

V-Check is an IRT-based Computer Adaptive Test that precisely measures vocabulary comprehension ability for different subjects.

Find out your subject comprehension ability in less than 5 minutes - It's simple and FREE!

What kind of test is V-Check?

In the V-Check test, you will be shown a series of words. For each word, you will be asked if you know the word or not. Answer by clicking "yes" or "no". You will also see questions that check your ability to correctly define words at your level. V-Check will continue to ask you questions until it accurately computes your vocabulary size and comprehension ability for the different subjects that are available. For more details, click here.

How does V-Check calculate the number of words I know?

A. The V-Check database has more than 25,000 English words listed in a mathematical 'ogive' - a rank order of word difficulty. Toward the low end of the ogive are the words that almost everyone knows such as "hello" and "help". At the middle of the ogive are the words of average difficulty. At the high end of the ogive are the words that only a few top experts know such as "chiton" and "huia". When you take the V-Check, words are selected at different levels of difficulty from along the ogive difficulty scale. Your responses reveal your ability. You may notice that about half the words in a V-Check test are not real words. Non-words are given to control for guessing behavior. If you reply "yes" to non-words the test will automatically stop and you will need to restart it.

After the V-Check determines your ability, it calculates the probability of you knowing each of the 25,000 different English words in our database. For example, if you have a 90 percent probability of knowing a word, that word is counted as 0.9 and if you have a 50 percent probability of knowing a word, it is counted as 0.5. The system then computes the cumulative probabilities for all words required for each course.

How much does it cost to take the V-Check test?

V-Check is free. After the signup V-Check will start immediately.

Can I trust the V-Check test score?

V-Check is an IRT-based Computer Adaptive Test that precisely measures vocabulary ability for different courses. V-Check science and research has been introduced and presented at major testing and linguistics conferences around the world beginning with its introduction in 2004. V-Check science and research are widely accepted and adopted by major academic authorities, universities and educational textbook publishers. To the best of our knowledge, V-Check is the most accurate test of vocabulary comprehension available today. For more information about the science and research behind the V-Check, please see our research section.

When I divide the two word score numbers I received, the result I get does not match with the coverage percentage shown on my Coverage Report. Why does this happen?

The answer has to do with word frequency. Knowing more high-frequency words will provide a higher subject comprehension and, therefore, a higher coverage score. This issue highlights the fact that learning high-frequency words is the fastest way to increase your subject comprehension.

What is Coverage?

The term 'coverage' describes how many vocabulary words are known. Simply stated, coverage is a way of measuring your comprehension of the vocabulary appearing in written text and spoken dialog. Let's say there is an article with 100 different words. If you know all 100 words, then you have 100 percent coverage. If you know only 90 of the 100 words, then you have 90 percent coverage.

How much coverage is necessary for comprehension?

Research indicates that 95 percent coverage is an important threshold for basic comprehension and that 98 or 99 percent is the ideal point at which you should be able to easily and accurately read books, web sites, newspapers, and magazines. The higher above 95 percent you are, the better your comprehension will be. If your V-Check score is below 95 percent, you should make every effort to get above 95 percent as quickly as possible

How does V-Check calculate my coverage percentage?

There are over 300,000 words in the English language, but certain words tend to occur much more often than others. The word 'the' is the most frequently occurring word in written English, followed by 'of', 'and', and 'to.' The most frequent word 'the' represents about 7 percent of all the English words. This means if there is an article with 100 words, the word 'the' will usually occur about 7 times. Amazingly just the 1000 most frequent words represent about 75 percent of all the English words ever used and can provide you with 75 percent coverage of all English.

The V-Check test quickly identifies how many, and WHICH, English words you are already likely to know. V-Check calculates coverage by comparing information about what words you already know with information about how frequently your known words tend to occur in the subject matter you are testing for.

Can I take the V-Check twice?

Each user account can take only one V-Check test.

Can I take the V-Check from my mobile phone?

Yes, you can take a V-Check test on a mobile phone, but please note that it may not work on some phones.

What courses do you have?

We have a variety of courses including TOEIC, TOEFL, Eiken, Center Exam, Basic English and more.

Can beginners use it?

Yes. The Word Engine creates a personal word list for each learner based on their needs whether they are a beginner or an advanced learner.

How long should I study each day?

We recommend maintaining between 3 to 5 Average Minutes per Day or what we call "AMD." Most people visit the Word Engine two or three times a week and they spend 10 or 15 minutes each time they visit. There is a Target Settings feature at the top of each study menu. We encourage you to set a target that is appropriate to your needs.

What is the Study Mode?

The Study Mode presents a variety of visual, aural and contextual type exercises that are designed to promote long-term memory retention based on the Spaced Repetition system. The system will calculate your AMD and progress based on the results of your Study Mode sessions. In other words, if you learn a new word your Coverage and Words Known will increase, and if you forget a word, they will decrease.

What is Practice Mode?

The Practice Mode allows you to choose a particular skill (visual, aural or contextual) to practice. The words that you will see in Practice Mode are the words that you have already studied in Study Mode. Using Practice Mode will NOT change your Time-On-Task, AMD, Coverage or Words Known.

A "No Words to Study" message popped up when I tried starting Study Mode. Why is that?

You do not have any new words to start studying and according to the Spaced Repetition system none of the words you are currently studying is ready for you to review. Please use the Practice Mode or come back again after a few days when some of your words in progress are available to the Study Mode.

Why are the Practice Mode buttons not active?

This is because you have not studied enough new words yet with Study Mode. Look at the details section at the bottom of your My Page and you will see the location of your words in process. Generally speaking, you must have words available in the 4th or 5th boxes or Fully Acquired words in order to use the Practice Mode.

What is Spaced Repetition?

Extensive research has shown that spaced repetition is the fastest way to develop long-term memory retention of new vocabulary. The time intervals in our spaced repetition system are based on proven science with more than one hundred years of supporting evidence. With the Word Engine, all of your target words will be automatically randomized and repeated to help you make a smooth transition from short to long-term memory. For more details click here and see the graph below:

I studied but my Coverage and Words Known have not increased.

You may have studied using the Practice Mode. Please remember that your work in Practice Mode will not be counted toward your Coverage or Words Known.

What is the Target Settings?

This is where you can set your Target date and My target study time (Target AMD.)

How does the Word Engine calculate Minute(s) you have to study?

After you select a Target date for completion, the system will calculate the total number of minutes you will need to learn all your words and divide by the number of calendar days remaining to your Target date. To make the calculation we use the average Items Per Minute IPM as a standard.

What is AMD?

Average Minutes per Day describes the average number of minutes you spend each day using Study Mode. You can set your target study time (Target AMD) that you want to achieve and you can compare your Current AMD number with your Target AMD number. If your Current AMD is below your target, then you will see a red outline around the AMD display. When your Current AMD is above the target, the red outline will disappear. Remember, you can reset your Target AMD at any time to adjust for your actual rate of progress.

What is IPM?

"IPM" stands for Items Per Minutes. It describes the average number of words (Items) that you are learning with each minute you use the Study Mode. IPM is used to help you set a meaningful "Target AMD" and to monitor your learning progress. At the end of each Study Session, at the lower right corner of the screen, you will see three different IPM scores. The top one shows your Best IPM. The middle one shows your Average IPM for that subject. The bottom one shows the Average IPM of all other users. If your Average IPM is higher than the average of other users, you will reach your goal ahead of schedule. If you average IPM is lower, the you may need to study a few extra minutes each week in order to finish by your target completion date. Remember, you can reset your Target AMD at any time to adjust for your actual rate of progress.

Why is the number of words I will study different from the number of words for the course?

Based on the result of your V-Check test, the Word Engine removes the words that you already know so that you can concentrate on studying only the words that you do not know.

What is a coach?

Your coach will support and encourage your progress with your Word Engine course. You will receive periodic messages from your coach.

Can I change my coach?

Yes, you can change your coach at anytime from the Coach Settings located in the Settings page on your My Page.

How can I stop emails from my coach?

You can turn off emails from the Coach Settings located in the Settings page on your My Page.

I don't receive any email from my coach.

First, go to the Settings page and check to see that you have enabled email reminders and check that the email address you have registered is correct. Second, check to see if the coach’s emails are going into your spam folder by mistake. If so, you will need to mark them as "not spam." Third, make sure that your computer or mobile email system is set to accept and receive messages from the lexxica.co.jp domain.

What can I do on my mobile phone?

You can create an account, take the V-Check, and study. You can also activate a course by entering an access code but you cannot use the e-commerce system. Please use a PC to purchase a course.

Will Word Engine work on my mobile phone?

In order to use the Word Engine, your phone must have Flash Lite 2.0 or higher. However, there are some phone models from which you cannot use the Word Engine. You can check your phone's Flash Lite version here:

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