up/docs/en/reference/glossary.md

title, description, updated

title	description	updated
Glossary of Terms and Methods	Define the guide's core vocabulary, evidence standards, tool entry points, and reading paths so ideas can transfer between chapters.	2026-09-02

Glossary of Terms and Methods

This is not an attempt to turn life into a vocabulary test. It gives recurring words in Life Level-up Guide a stable place to land. Return here when a term is unclear or you do not know which page to open next.

How to Use It

Find the task you are facing, then follow “definition → evidence → next step”. If a term does not help you complete a task, preserve a sample, or make a better decision, you do not need to memorise it for its own sake.

Problems and Goals

Term	Meaning in this guide	Continue here
Real problem	A situation with affected people and an action to complete, not “I want to improve”	Learning Principles
Context	When, where, and for whom a skill will be used	CEFR Goals and Self-check
Acceptance standard	An outcome another person can observe, check, or restate	AI Task Brief
Main question	One answerable question tracked for a week	90-Day Action Plan

Evidence and Judgment

Term	Meaning in this guide	Common trap
Baseline	A raw sample saved before tool support or concentrated training	Replacing the first version with feelings or a polished result
Evidence	A record that returns to work, recording, test, source, or real feedback	Treating hours, saves, or chat logs as proof of ability
Fact	Something with a source, date, sample, or direct observation	Writing an explanation as a proven cause
Interpretation	A reading of the facts that may still need revision	Stopping verification because it sounds plausible
Hypothesis	A judgment waiting for the next action to test it	Writing a wish or model answer as a conclusion
Inference boundary	Separating what a source says, what evidence supports, and what you add	Treating a headline, emotion, or one anecdote as the whole picture
Narrative compression	Turning a complex experience into a shareable sentence or causal chain	Mistaking a shortened story for the whole event after removing chance, others' work, and unknowns
Hindsight bias	Explaining a past choice with outcomes that were known only later	Sending later information backwards into the past

Learning Actions

Term	Meaning in this guide	Related chapter
Retrieval practice	Close the source and answer, retell, write, or perform from memory	Learning Principles
Complete learning loop	Define the task, preserve a first version, diagnose, target input, produce actively, and record feedback/state	Learning Principles
First-version conditions	Material, time, tools, help, and acceptance standard recorded for the first attempt so later comparison is not confused by polish	English Diagnostic
Capacity mode	Choose a full, downgraded, minimum, or paused version of an action based on attention, body, time, and responsibility	Daily System
Distributed practice	Return at multiple points instead of cramming once	Vocabulary
Unknown-item decision queue	Decide whether to skip, infer, look up, learn, or professionally verify each unknown and record why	Vocabulary Evidence Card
Eight vocabulary dimensions	Separate form, sound, current sense, collocation, grammar, register, concept boundary, and retrieval condition	Vocabulary
Receptive / productive vocabulary	Receptive knowledge understands in listening/reading; productive knowledge retrieves in speaking/writing without the answer displayed	Vocabulary
Form–meaning choice	Treat grammar as a choice that changes time, participants, condition, negation scope, logic, or certainty rather than only a rule label	Grammar
Grammar contrast card	Preserve an original sentence, likely interpretation, intended meaning, form contrast, revision reason, and delayed retest for one real task	Grammar Evidence Card
Reference variety	A relatively stable dictionary-audio, spelling, or pronunciation reference chosen to reduce early decisions; it does not rank other English varieties below it	Speaking
Intelligibility / comprehensibility	The first records how much meaning the listener recovered; the second records effort such as guessing, replay, or confirmation. Both differ from accentedness	Speaking
Listener retelling	A listener restates gist, detail, numbers, responsibility, and next step without seeing the script, showing what the sound actually carried	Speaking Evidence Card
First-pass baseline	Preserve original gist, detail, timestamps, and action judgment after the first play under recorded caption, pause, speed, device, and environment conditions	Listening Evidence Card
Scaffold ladder	Adjustable support moving from a no-caption first pass through local replay, English transcript, and minimum background help, then closing text and removing support after a delay	Listening
Meaning reconstruction	Recover gist, relationships, critical detail, and next step in a retelling, process, decision, or handover instead of repeating the model word for word	Listening
First-reading baseline	Preserve original gist, structure, unknowns, and action judgment after the first read under recorded time, dictionary, translation, search, and AI conditions	Reading Evidence Card
Claim map	Label paragraphs as background, problem, claim, reason, evidence, limit, or action while preserving source locations	Reading
Technical fact card	Keep documentation goal, version, prerequisites, minimum input, expected/actual output, failure, and next test on one page	Reading Evidence Card
Narrow reading	Read multiple sources in one topic or domain so background, terminology, and structure recur	Reading
Fact and responsibility ledger	Record source, version, permission, confidence, and owner for facts, numbers, quotations, experience, inference, and information about others	Writing
Feedback uptake	Accept, partly accept, reject, or defer each item with a reason, then test independent use in a parallel text	Writing Evidence Card
Decision to sign	Decide before delivery whether the text is accountable as written, needs verification, needs narrower scope, or should not be published	Writing Evidence Card
Intensive listening/reading	Use short material to check detail, structure, evidence, and language form	Listening · Reading
Parallel material	A different source with similar difficulty and task for testing transfer	Reading Evidence Card
Transfer	Complete a related action after changing topic, listener, time, or task	90-Day Cycle Map
Delayed retention	Complete a similar task after time has passed and recent prompts are removed	Evidence
Evidence chain	One page connecting baseline, immediate performance, delayed retention, transfer, and next step	Evidence Chain Template · Evidence
Variation	Keep the core action while changing the topic, listener, time, or constraint to test whether learning is real	Rhythm
Learner agency	The learner participates in defining the goal, submits an own first version, states capacity, questions feedback, and carries responsibility appropriate to age and context	Family Learning
Role language map	Extract recruiter communication, project explanation, technical follow-up, asynchronous writing, and other language tasks from one real role and connect them to existing evidence	Job-search English

Tools and Delivery

Term	Meaning in this guide	Related chapter
Task brief	A one-page record of context, input, action, boundaries, acceptance, and ownership	AI Task Brief
Learning State file	A versioned source of truth outside any conversation, preserving goal, evidence, errors, boundaries, handover, and next task	Learning State · Toolkit Walkthrough
Case review	A record that separates a public experience into source, facts, judgment, outcome, and transferable principle	AI Case Review
Evidence card	A template for preserving a first take, feedback, and retest for one language skill	Four-skill path
Reader Field Note	A private-first two-pass record of reading entry, real action, immediate result, delayed retest, transfer, and editorial feedback	Reader Field Note
Family Learning Agreement	A private worksheet where learner and guardian record goals, concerns, support, AI and data boundaries separately, then review fourteen days of evidence together	Family Learning Agreement
Job-search English Evidence Card	One record connecting a real role, unscripted baseline, stories, unfamiliar follow-ups, asynchronous writing, delayed retest, and integrity boundaries	Job-search English Evidence Card
Grammar Evidence Card	Track one high-impact structure through a real-task baseline, meaning contrast, four-skill retrieval, feedback classification, and day-fourteen transfer	Grammar Evidence Card
Listening Evidence Card	Connect material conditions, a no-caption first pass, six-layer error map, caption scaffolds, meaning reconstruction, action output, and parallel-material transfer	Listening Evidence Card
Reading Evidence Card	Connect source version, first pass, six-layer barrier map, claims/evidence, technical facts, source comparison, real output, and delayed transfer	Reading Evidence Card
Writing Evidence Card	Connect real audience, unaided draft, fact sources, translation changes, five revision passes, feedback uptake, AI use, async delivery, and authorship responsibility	Writing Evidence Card
Vocabulary Evidence Card	Connect a real task, first encounter, unknown-item decisions, eight-dimensional verification, unaided retrieval, error repair, and delayed transfer	Vocabulary Evidence Card
Speaking Evidence Card	A private record connecting reference variety, three unscripted baselines, listener retelling, comprehension effort, interaction repair, unfamiliar follow-ups, and delayed transfer	Speaking Evidence Card
Interaction repair	When hearing, scope, or knowledge is incomplete, request repetition, confirm, ask for thinking time, and summarise agreement	Speaking · Job-search English
Artifact	An output others can read, use, question, or improve; not necessarily a product	Artifacts
Delivery	Completing work under a real audience, user, or constraint and accepting the result	90-Day Action Plan
Human gate	AI may assist, but a person confirms facts, permissions, privacy, cost, and final judgment	AI Project Development
Rollback	Pause, degrade, switch, or return to a known usable state after failure	AI Learning and Project Practice

Life and Boundaries

Term	Meaning in this guide	Related chapter
Boundary	What I will do to protect myself and state a consequence when something happens	Relationships
Recovery	Restore safety, body, relationships, and agency before efficiency and growth	Recovery
Minimum order	A safe action and visible result that remain repeatable during disorder	Life Practice Toolkit
Minimum viable day	A version of the day that preserves safety, one minimum output, and a cue for the next step at the capacity available	Daily System
Capacity budget	A rough estimate that includes time, attention, body, and responsibility rather than time alone	Daily System
Return action	The smallest output that can be completed within 24 hours and bring the system back after interruption	Daily System
Rhythm	One pattern of action that remains recognisable and executable at different capacities, connecting repetition, feedback, and recovery over time	Rhythm
Compounding	Today's choice reduces tomorrow's hesitation, rework, or recovery cost, allowing ability, trust, judgment, and recovery to support one another	Rhythm
Minimum contract	An agreement for bad days that states when to downgrade, what action to keep, and when to ask for help or escalate risk	Rhythm
Rhythm ledger	One page each week recording the main question, protected action, useful feedback, repeated resistance, and next condition to change	Rhythm Ledger Template · Rhythm
Cost	Time, money, health, relationships, privacy, and responsibility that must be named	Decision-Making
Reversibility	Whether a choice can be paused, undone, or changed back at manageable cost	Decision-Making

One Sentence to Keep

If you keep one sequence: name the problem, save a baseline, use the right tool for one small task, let a real person test it, write the feedback into the next action, and recover before adding pressure.

Related entry points: Prologue: Do Not Rush to Change Your Life | 90-Day Cycle Map