Passing a sentence once does not prove lasting recall, a pronunciation app design lesson

A developer working on Vocalace, a pronunciation app, argues that a sentence score that passes should not be treated as equivalent to word mastery, since neither proves recall weeks later. Sentence practice unlocks after a word is mastered and follows its own path: a first pass, a 90-day wait, then a review pass. The author warns against a generic completion function, because a passing sentence attempt should read a word's mastery status for eligibility but must not alter that status or its review schedule. Sentence progress is stored on the vocabulary record, which keeps related fields together but risks broad updates touching unrelated data. The article includes a TypeScript example that updates only sentence progress, preserves the first-pass date during waiting, and does not restart the wait when an overdue review fails.