If you want to learn a language, learn to use words as flexible building blocks…and there is a brilliant hack!

Featuring our new video for Race to Paris…60 words make 5 million sentences

We’re excited to share a brand-new video that shows off the A-deck of Race to Paris — 60 high-power cards mixing verbs, nouns, adjectives, connectives and expressions. With just 60 cards you can generate over 5 million sentence combinations. That’s how potent words become when you know how to use them flexibly.

In this article I’ll walk you through why this matters, how Race to Paris makes it easy and fun, and what research tells us about learning a language by building generative structures instead of drilling stock
phrases.

Put simply: if you only learn whole phrases, you’ll struggle when the conversation goes off-script. If you learn the parts — nouns, verbs, adjectives, expressions — and how they fit together, you give yourself freedom.

Why memorisation alone leaves you stuck

Many learners start with “rote” learning: vocabulary lists, phrase-by-phrase repetition, fixed dialogues. It looks like progress (you can say “Where is the station?” or “I would like a coffee”), but it can feel brittle. Because once a conversation wanders beyond your fixed strips of memorised phrases, you’re on your own — you don’t have the building blocks to create something new.

Here’s what research tells us:

• A study focusing on language learning in social interaction found that simply presenting learners with more language doesn’t guarantee communicative ability unless learners are actively constructing language in social contexts. (PMC)
• More broadly, the idea of “learning by rote = good” is under challenge in computational linguistics and linguistics. One paper shows that in large-language-model systems, rote memorisation of sequences hinders generalisation (i.e., the ability to apply knowledge in new forms). (arXiv)
• Linguistic theory has long emphasised that language is a system of combinable parts (“building blocks”) rather than a stock of fixed wholes. For example, the concept of syntactic and semantic bootstrapping shows how learners infer structure from flexible combinations, not just memorised strings. (Language Learning Lab)

How Race to Paris helps you build sentences, not memorize them

That’s where the A-deck of Race to Paris comes in.

• There are 60 cards: verbs, nouns, adjectives, connectives, expressions — all designed to be combinable.
• You follow colour-coded arrows on the cards to link them in sequence — so the grammatical order is naturally enforced, but you still pick the cards.
• Every time you play you’re constructing a sentence. You’re creating, not just repeating.
• You score points for making your sentence as long as possible — which encourages more cards, more words, more combinations.
• Because you’re using cards as building blocks, you’re practising flexible generation of sentences: “Je vois le professeur aimable…”, etc. The card mix forces you to play with structure and expression.
• And most importantly: the rules are so simple — follow the arrows — so you’re playing, you’re having fun, and you’re learning without over-thinking grammar drills.

In short: you’re rewarded not for memorising set phrases but for using words and making sentences. That’s the shift.

What the research says about generative use of language

Here are three salient findings from the research world that support this approach.

1. Usage-based / interactional learning is key
   In the study on second language learning grounded in social interaction, the authors highlight that learners become proficient when they use language in authentic communicative settings, not just absorb materials passively. They argue for an approach that emphasises meaningful use, flexible construction and interaction. (PMC)
   Conclusion → You want tools that push you to produce not just recognise.
2. Memorisation without generation limits generalisation
   The computational linguistics work shows that rote memorisation tends to restrict generalisation — in other words, you may remember phrases, but can’t reliably apply them in novel ways. (arXiv)
   Conclusion → If you want real conversational ability, you need the capacity to generate new sentences, not only recall old ones.
3. Language knowledge built from combinable building-blocks
   Linguistic theory (for example usage-based approaches, bootstrapping) emphasises that language learners make sense of language by combining smaller units (words, morphemes, structures) into larger ones. For instance, children don’t memorise a million sentences — they learn nouns, verbs, how they go together, functional words, and build up. (Language Learning Lab)
   Conclusion → Your learning tool should reflect that building-blocks approach, rather than verbatim phrase absorption.

Together these point to the same message: for real language proficiency you need generative competence — the ability to use words in new combinations — rather than merely reproductive competence (copying set phrases).

So how can you make the most of this?

• When you play with the A-deck, challenge yourself: don’t pick the obvious card. Try to include a less-common adjective, a connective, an expression that changes the flavour of the sentence.
• After each sentence you make, consider: “Could I change one card and still have a correct sentence?” Then change it and see how it shifts meaning.
• Use the arrows (the colour-coding) as a scaffold: you don’t need to worry about whether the order is right — the system gives you that. That frees your brain to focus on which word you’ll pick, which concept you’ll express.
• Encourage conversation: when playing with others, ask them to build off your sentence: you play one, they take one card and continue the chain. Suddenly you’re in free-flow mode, constructing sentences together.
• Reflect: when you speak or write outside the game (in class, on holiday, in chat) ask yourself “Is this sentence just a stock phrase, or did I assemble it from parts?” You’ll find that the more you practise building, the easier it becomes.

Final thoughts

In language learning there’s no shortcut — but there is a smarter route. The smarter route is: learn words, learn how they fit, practise creating your own sentences. Because when a conversation goes off-script, you’ll be ready.

That’s exactly what the A-deck of Race to Paris delivers: flexibility, fun, building rather than parroting.
We’ve already made the video to show you how it works — now it’s your turn to build.

Dive in, mix up those cards, follow the arrows, and … ta-dah! A grammatically correct sentence. A little victory. Repeated many times. Leading to much greater expressive freedom.
And that’s how we go from “Can I say this phrase?” to “Yes — I can say what I want”.

Happy building

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