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Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

domenic.me

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Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#311

Post by broast »

latentsea wrote: post #177
broast wrote: post #171

I just let chatgpt quiz me anki style on topics I'm learning

ChatGPT isn't a spaced repetition system, so... it's missing the fundamental aspect that makes it "Anki style". This comment doesn't make sense.

As I understand, anki's use of spaced repetition comes from how it presents you cards in increasing or decreasing frequency based on how you have answered it previously. In this way, I prompt chatgpt to ask me questions, and it revisits previous questions or topics for me based on how I've answered previously. I continue the same conversation periodically prompting it for questions to ask me.

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#312

Post by smnplk »

jamager wrote: post #155
amluto wrote: post #85

My personal peeve about Anki: I don’t like its data model. It seems to me that there ought to be collections of notes (which might be things one would download or generate with an LLM or make yourself or share with friends or students). On top of one or more collections of notes are the sets of cards to want to learn, and they can derive from the notes. This includes, roughly, templates plus some concept of which car…

For language learning only, but perhaps my own https://thehardway.app model suits you better (flashcards inside markdown-ish notes)

How much will you be charging for the app? Is it using LLM ?

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#314

Post by jkmcf »

aaldrick wrote: post #279
allenu wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've written my own flashcards app (Fresh Cards) and once in a while, users ask if there's a way to import flashcards from things like web pages and PDF files, but to be honest, I still don't know how it would work, so maybe you can help me. From a user standpoint, would it be an interactive process where you highlight things and then click a button to say "turn this into a flashcard", or would it be an automated too…

I've tried Fresh Cards so thank you for developing that app, and trying to add cool new software into the space. Great question. Here's one way to do it: The first is how clunky the process of going from X to flashcard feels to the end user. One way to deal with the fact that we are crossing software border is to add an extra step where highlighting something allows you to go into an "inbox" before any cards are made…

The INBOX idea would be a great improvement! That plus a reminder to process your INBOX after N time or size.

The hardest part of any system is making it a habit.

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#316

Post by udit99 »

TechDebtDevin wrote: post #204

Pro Tip , if you're using LLMs to learn, create an MCP tool for them to insert Anki cards on topics you're discussing in a csv on google drive, then sync that with you anki decks on your phone. This was a game changer for me and working with LLMS, while I still think they make you dumb, and we essentially use them to offload critical thinking (almost only find myself using them when tired lazy, and just cant), if you…

> f you're using LLMs to learn, create an MCP tool for them to insert Anki cards on topics you're discussing in a csv on google drive, then sync that with you anki decks on your phone.

Speaking for myself, I’d love to see a blogpost detailing how this is done. At the very least, I’d love to know: How are you syncing csvs to anki cards and how does the MCP interaction look like for an LLMs response to the CSV creation

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#317

Post by 0xDEAFBEAD »

Barrin92 wrote: post #136
cjauvin wrote: post #54

What I find interesting about spaced repetition is the underlying thesis that raw memorization, in certain contexts, is playing a more important role for learning than what some modern education ideas would make you assume. In mathematics or programming, for instance, there is this idea that understanding a concept is better than memorizing algorithms or recipes (derivation methods for instance). But spaced repetitio…

>But spaced repetition challenges that, in a sense. Common sense challenges this honestly. Education systems that traditionally have put a strong focus on repetition, memorization and what you could call neuromuscular training (e.g China, the USSR, France) in particluar in STEM far outperform anyone else. Vietnam outperforms most rich countries. In programming circles it's a cultural cliche because our profession is…

The UK and Germany outperform France in average learning outcomes according to Our World in Data:

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/average-harmonized-learni...

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#318

Post by kqr »

aaldrick wrote: post #232

I see a lot of discussion about SRS, and I think most can agree they have improved. What I would like to see covered is a more vague area, but almost more important: It’s the space in between reading/understanding something and the SRS. There are almost no standalone tools dedicated to creating flashcards easily from existing programs (web browser, PDF readers etc.) into popular SRS (Anki, Mochi etc.). They should wo…

> There are almost no standalone tools dedicated to creating flashcards easily from existing programs

I think this is a common misunderstanding. Half the benefit of SRS comes from working out what the flashcards are. You have to circle around a concept, look for similarities, differences, examples, generalisations, properties, etc.

Is it hard work? Yes. Does it help understanding? Massively.

This is also a very difficult skill which, I believe, is why many people fail to appreciate SRS. They try, write bad flashcards, don't see results, and give up.

EDIT: This also leads to another common misunderstanding, that SRS is only good for memorising facts. With proper elaboration (thanks child comment), it can be used to build understanding of complex subjects too.

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#319

Post by jldugger »

Alex-Programs wrote: post #251
tikhonj wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's worse for motivation than taking longer? Boredom? Feeling like what you're doing is low-quality or superficial? Doing something artificial for purely external reasons like grades or exams? Can't speak for anyone else, but for me I would take slower progress over any of these... which makes spaced repetition a hard sell.

> What's worse for motivation than taking longer? Many things. I think HN is a bit of a bubble here, but you'll find a lot of people prefer something enjoyable but slower to something efficient and faster, even if they won't admit it. See the popularity of Duolingo vs Anki as an example! Or Quizlet vs Anki. Or the scores of students who revise by half-watching dopamine-ified youtube videos rather than doing past pape…

> Many things. I think HN is a bit of a bubble here, but you'll find a lot of people prefer something enjoyable but slower to something efficient and faster, even if they won't admit it.

This is so well known that it was covered extensively in the book Make It Stick[1], that you might as well call it the "student fallacy." (And they might have; ironically, I've forgotten if they do or not!)

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Make-Stick-Science-Successful-Learnin...

Re: Spaced repetition systems have gotten better

#320

Post by runarberg »

Alex-Programs wrote: post #305
jldugger wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Learning by flashcards is hellish for me. Wait, you're putting yourself in a situation where the first time you see a card, you have no idea what it is?

I've tried it in a few situations (e.g. my driving license theory test) and yeah it's absolutely awful and I quickly stopped. My modus operandi is obsidian notes->flashcards->revision to keep my knowledge up. However, a lot of people do actually do that! People will genuinely download top x wordlists for a language and try to learn from them. Hideous, but they do it.

> People will genuinely download top x wordlists for a language and try to learn from them.

I’ve done that, and I’ve even created a whole SRS app to learn kanji which does that by default (https://shodoku.app).

I think this is common practice for the first 1000 words, and I don’t exactly recommend against it. Unless your target language is close to another language you already know, you are going to have to learn your first 1000 words somehow, and you will not learn them by comprehensible input in any reasonable time, unless you are actually living in the language area, and cannot use other languages.

I actually bought a vocabulary book which has 1000 basic words and example sentences and puts them in categories (e.g. work, travel, food, etc.). I then downloaded an Anki deck from the book and use it. To be fair though, I first read the word in the book, and practice it with a red-sheet (albeit in reverse, i.e. from english and try to recall it in japanese).

As for my kanji learning app. I made it so the first time you see a kanji, it does not hide any information, and it shows you the strokes in order as you write it on first encounter, after that you review it normally.

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