A flash memory system includes a multi level cell (MLC) flash memory organized into blocks and having pages of information, which has data and spare. The MLC flash memory includes at least a temporary area to store at least a portion of a page of information during a partial write operation. The MLC flash memory stores a page of information into a block identified by a target physical address. The flash memory system further includes a flash card micro-controller causes communication between a host flash card controller and the MLC flash memory and includes a buffer memory configured to store a portion of a page of information, where the micro-controller writes the at least a portion of a page of information to the temporary area and later copies the written at least a portion of a page of information into the block identified by a target physical address.