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Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

ankisrs.net

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Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#131

Post by ralmeida »

lispylol wrote: post #130
ralmeida wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Certainly flash card systems shine on things that need to be rote-memorized, but you can "hack" the system by engineering your questions in a certain way, like the "Why" questions mentioned by the author of linked article on parent comment.

It's just a review tool designed for storing Question / Answer pairs to your long-term memory. Nothing else. If that means using it to review and remember specific answers to WHY questions (Why is the sky blue?) for the rest of your life, all power to you. Keep reviewing. However, I think the moment you start asking these conceptual questions you're no longer just trying to remember - you're trying to understand. Tha…

Yes, is is designed for storing QA pairs, but it doesn't mean it can't be used for anything else.

I believe you misunderstood the use I have in mind for the WHY questions. The idea is not to create cards for things you are trying to understand, but for things you already understood.

These things you describe are about learning. Flash cards/Spaced Repetition Systems come AFTER learning. Say, for example, you meet an expert and because of that have a great insight about issue X. Truly, real "insights" take longer to forget than rote memorized facts. But can you say you will remember this insight in 6 months if you don't serendipitously encounter it again? 1 year? 5 years?

That's where a reviewing system comes into place. And it's not because such a system is designed for things that mostly need to be rote memorized that you can't use the "question" as a trigger to revisit something of a different nature.

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#132

Post by ralmeida »

read wrote: post #109
kissgyorgy wrote: post #39

A lot of people point out other software. The whole point is the algorithm [1] which how Anki schedules your cards. It is based on Supermemo's [2], and improved a lot over the years, so I think it's the most optimal from all of the SRS software's out there. Also I think Anki has a very simple UI, not sure how people can find it complicated. You just add cards, and by review you press a button, that's all. Cards are j…

Question: are there disadvantages to spaced-repetition or memorizing in general? Could it be that by memorizing new things efficiently you forget older things, or that other abilities deteriorate?

I've used it for 8 months, and did not observe any negative side effects in the nature of those you mention.

One thing that I would consider somewhat of a disadvantage of an explicit repetition system is that you need to really take care of how you engineer the questions to match the way you would normally encounter the knowledge they refer to in real situations.

For example, read the section on "Two-way connections" of this article, also linked somewhere else in this thread: http://rs.io/2014/04/05/anki-10000-cards-later.html

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#133

Post by rasengan0 »

solarmist wrote: post #94
chrisBob wrote: post #77

Free for the computer and android but $24.99 for iOS? That seems like a strange price scheme.

It's still very worth it. It's the one app I'll never uninstall.

Agreed. Years ago, it took me a few weeks to see the utility of Anki, then I bought the iOS app to support the developer's efforts. I use Anki more frequently on Android however. If you are averse to the price, sometimes there are sales you can check: http://appshopper.com/education/ankisrs but in the goodwill of giving back when you benefit, pay what you can.

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#134

Post by erikb »

hngiszmo wrote: post #114
kissgyorgy wrote: post #39

A lot of people point out other software. The whole point is the algorithm [1] which how Anki schedules your cards. It is based on Supermemo's [2], and improved a lot over the years, so I think it's the most optimal from all of the SRS software's out there. Also I think Anki has a very simple UI, not sure how people can find it complicated. You just add cards, and by review you press a button, that's all. Cards are j…

developer of http://fluxcards.de (beta) and fluxcards android app (hobby) here. Anki's spaced repetition algorithm is quite good and I definitely plan to boast on using a better one just like brainscape.com does but in the end, more important than which algorithm to use is to use spaced repetition at all. It just allows you to learn 20 times more with 20 minutes of time per day than I ever could back at school and fa…

I'm very interested in all learning software. It's hard to see what your software does different than the others though. Do you have screenshots, videos or something like this?

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#135

Post by lispylol »

kissgyorgy wrote: post #39

A lot of people point out other software. The whole point is the algorithm [1] which how Anki schedules your cards. It is based on Supermemo's [2], and improved a lot over the years, so I think it's the most optimal from all of the SRS software's out there. Also I think Anki has a very simple UI, not sure how people can find it complicated. You just add cards, and by review you press a button, that's all. Cards are j…

This is also a great article about HOW spaced repetition systems should be used in language acquisition:

http://www.hackingchinese.com/if-you-think-spaced-repetition...

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#137

Post by lispylol »

ralmeida wrote: post #131
lispylol wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a review tool designed for storing Question / Answer pairs to your long-term memory. Nothing else. If that means using it to review and remember specific answers to WHY questions (Why is the sky blue?) for the rest of your life, all power to you. Keep reviewing. However, I think the moment you start asking these conceptual questions you're no longer just trying to remember - you're trying to understand. Tha…

Yes, is is designed for storing QA pairs, but it doesn't mean it can't be used for anything else. I believe you misunderstood the use I have in mind for the WHY questions. The idea is not to create cards for things you are trying to understand, but for things you already understood. These things you describe are about learning. Flash cards/Spaced Repetition Systems come AFTER learning. Say, for example, you meet an e…

> But can you say you will remember this insight in 6 months if you don't serendipitously encounter it again? 1 year? 5 years?

Good point. I think I misunderstood your intention behind asking why questions.

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#138

Post by apricot13 »

mattmalin wrote: post #31
apricot13 wrote: post #19

I've been using Anki on and off for a while but I don't feel I can get much out of it without the ability to review my decks when I'm on the go. Unfortunately AnkiWeb isn't a cure for my cheapskate problem, because the signal is so bad on my commute!

Both AnkiDroid and the iOS Anki support syncing, so then all reviews can place on the device without using any data and then synced later in the day. I do this myself and it works well: most of my Anki reviews each day take place using my phone when travelling without any signal on the metro.

True but I resent having to pay £17.49 to cover the development costs for the other platforms. (I think the android version was developed by someone else which is why its free)

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#139

Post by apricot13 »

amjd wrote: post #20
apricot13 wrote: post #19

I've been using Anki on and off for a while but I don't feel I can get much out of it without the ability to review my decks when I'm on the go. Unfortunately AnkiWeb isn't a cure for my cheapskate problem, because the signal is so bad on my commute!

Did you try their mobile apps? I suppose after syncing, the decks would be stored locally on the mobile.

I used the android app before but since I broke that phone, I'm using an iPhone and just can't bring myself to pay that much.

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#140

Post by mitchty »

whyever wrote: post #95
mitchty wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there an iOS client perchance? I don't see anything listed specifically at the page.

You can run it on a server and use it over http. To my knowledge, there are only (unofficial) clients for Android.

I found a few apps that appear to sync, but they don't work all that great.

Maybe I should build an app for ios as a side project.

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