Put your new words into one short daily review, about 10 to 15 minutes at a fixed time, because spread-out study beats cramming for remembering words days later.
Set tomorrow's session before you finish today's, so the habit carries itself.
The practice loop
Test yourself before you look. For each word, recall the meaning from the word alone, then check. Active recall strengthens memory far more than rereading a list.
Sort into two piles: recalled and missed. Review missed words again today. When your target is remembering a word for about a week, set recalled words three days ahead; stretch the gap further for longer targets. The best gap depends on how long you want to remember.
Add one new sentence per word. Say or write it in your own words, for example The meeting was postponed until Friday. Connecting a word to your own context helps it stick.
A full demonstration
Here is one full review pass with a single word, reluctant. Start by covering the definition and recalling it from the word alone. Suppose you remember it means unwilling, so you check, confirm, and move on without rereading anything else on your list.
Next, build context. Instead of pairing it with a translation, write your own sentence where the word does real work, for example She was reluctant to speak first in the meeting. A sentence from your own week makes the meaning easier to retrieve later than an isolated pair would.
Now expand it into a second encounter with a different context. Say or write The team was reluctant to change the deadline. Two varied sentences count as two meaningful meetings with the word. Most words need many encounters, often somewhere around ten to twenty, before they settle into long-term memory, and passive recognition counts much less than this kind of active use.
Finish the pass by sorting. If both sentences came without hesitation and your target is remembering the word for about a week, schedule it three days ahead. For longer targets, stretch the gap further. If either sentence stalled, bring the word back tomorrow.
Then move to your next word and repeat the same three moments: recall, one personal sentence, one varied sentence.
Self-check and next adjustment
Tomorrow, review the pile without your notes. Cover the definitions and see how many words you can recall and use in a sentence of your own. If you get at least half right and can produce a sentence for each of those, the schedule is working for you.
If fewer than half come back, do not lengthen the session. Tighten the intervals instead: bring every missed word back to tomorrow rather than three days ahead, and add one more personal sentence per word during today's pass.
Keep the check cheap and repeatable. One cover, one recall, one sentence, then reschedule. The routine carries the progress; your only job is to sort honestly and set the next day.