The Goldlist method was created and introduced by David James — a Scottish polyglot better known online by his alias “Huliganov” — as a way of moving vocabulary into long-term memory without brute-force repetition.
The core idea is simple: write new words or phrases into a "headlist" (usually 20–25 items). The act of writing and briefly considering each one is itself the learning — you're not expected to force-memorize anything on the spot.
About two weeks later (a waiting period called the "distillation" period), you review the list: anything you now recognize is simply left behind. The roughly 30–50% you still don't know gets hand-copied into a new list, called D1 (the first distillation). You repeat the process — D1 distills into D2, D2 into D3, and so on. Each round, passive memory naturally sheds more entries, rather than relying on brute repetition.
Goldlist Notebook is free to use — and it's a long-term project, not a test or a throwaway experiment. There are no ads, and there won't be a paid "Pro" version down the line — this is a small project for education, not a commercial product.
Want the full original explanation? Read David James's original Goldlist method article.
Goldlist is the result of many conversations, ideas, and moments of encouragement. While it is an independent project, it certainly wasn't built alone. I'm deeply grateful to everyone who has helped shape it in different ways.
Originator of the Goldlist Method
Before there was this project, there was the Goldlist Method.
I'm sincerely grateful to David James for generously sharing the original Goldlist Method with learners around the world. Without that work, this project simply wouldn't exist.
Goldlist is an independent digital interpretation created with deep respect for the original method. Like many other applications and projects inspired by the Goldlist Method, this website is simply one practitioner's attempt to thoughtfully explore how those ideas can be brought into a modern digital experience.
I hope this project encourages more people to discover, appreciate, and benefit from the original Goldlist Method while enjoying the possibilities that digital tools can offer.
Early Collaborator & Product Discussions
Sheng was the person who first introduced me to the Goldlist Method, setting this entire journey in motion.
As a fellow engineer and an early collaborator, he has contributed through countless feature discussions, honest feedback, bug reports, and thoughtful challenges. Many of Goldlist's ideas were refined through our conversations long before they became working software.
Creator & Developer
I designed and built Goldlist, and continue to guide its long-term vision, development, and maintenance. Every feature and design decision is driven by a simple goal: to create a thoughtful digital home for the Goldlist Method that people can enjoy using for many years.
Inspiration
Although she is not yet five years old, her quiet companionship has made the long journey of building Goldlist feel calm, joyful, and meaningful. She reminds me every day why creating something with long-term value matters. I hope we'll use Goldlist together from now on, discovering, remembering, and learning more about the world side by side.
Engineering Assistant
Claude Code played an important role in turning ideas into working software. Its assistance with implementation and code generation significantly accelerated development, allowing me to spend more time refining the product itself.
Engineering Assistant
Trae also contributed to building Goldlist, helping implement features and write code alongside the rest of the development process.
Product Design & Creative Discussions
ChatGPT has been a valuable thinking partner throughout the development of Goldlist. Through ongoing discussions about product philosophy, interaction design, feature prioritization, wording, and user experience, many ideas became clearer, simpler, and more consistent before they were ever written as code.
Goldlist is built on a simple belief: meaningful learning takes time.
To everyone who has contributed—through ideas, conversations, encouragement, feedback, or simply by using Goldlist—thank you.
I hope Goldlist helps you remember a little more of what matters.
© 2026 Goldlist Notebook