Why understanding beats memorising
Drilling flashcards builds a list of facts about a language; comprehensible input builds the ability to actually use it. When you understand a sentence in context, your brain quietly absorbs the vocabulary, word order, and rhythm without you studying them directly. That is why immersion learners often understand far more than their textbook hours would predict.
The i plus 1 sweet spot
Krashen calls the ideal level i plus 1: your current ability plus a small step. Content that is too easy teaches nothing new; content that is too hard becomes noise. The trick is finding input that is mostly understandable with a few new words, which is exactly what graded subtitles produce by swapping only a handful of words at a time.
How to get comprehensible input from Netflix
Pick a show you genuinely enjoy so you keep watching, choose something at or just below your level, and use graded subtitles so the difficulty stays in the sweet spot. Save the new words you meet and review them so they move into long-term memory. LingoBinge is built to do exactly this on the Netflix you already pay for.