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Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

ankisrs.net

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Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#61
post #35
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am using memrise.com which works pretty well to learn some vocabulary. You can learn pre-made lists contributed by users, and does not require any set up.

Have a look at Duolingo if you like Memrise, it's a more in depth language learning tool that uses the same kind of ideas.

Duolingo is great, I use it too and know people who got results with it. I don't think it particularly shines on general vocabulary acquiring though¹, so that's where Memrise or a spaced repetition flashcard system like Anki or any other enters the picture.

¹Actually, this is sort of covered by the translation exercises, but since there is not a system to manage the reviewing of new words you learn there, I think it's inferior to a flashcard system.

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#62
post #47

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…

> most optimal from all of the SRS software's out there You should check out http://ankiapp.com The SRS algorithm uses scoring prioritization instead of intervals and I've found it to be more optimal than Supermemo/Anki. I was an Anki desktop user for over 8 years, but I always became overwhelmed by the number of reviews due that would accumulate if I didn't stay active with the app almost every day (review hell). I'…

Why is this named AnkiApp? I won't use software that creates deliberate confusion by using the same name as another application with the same purpose.

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#64

I use this every day, on my commute. Currently focusing on: Physics Python module stuff. It's not my main language, so I tend to forget exact names for functions in modules. I.e. what was that function that did that thing? Is it in os or os.path? If I look something up on stack overflow or in the Python module docs, I tend to create an Anki card for it. Same for Cocoa / Obj-C

Did you make your own Physics cards too?

Yeah, but it's slow going. LaTeX rendering helps. I'm slowly working through Classical EM and non-relativistic QM.

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#65

My friend and I have been using this for years. My friend took it pretty serious this year: http://rs.io/2014/04/05/anki-10000-cards-later.html It's really useful for courses in college, especially Language, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics for definitions, pronunciations, systems, etc. Math and Computer Science is a bit hard since a lot of that requires practice and it takes time to figure out how to structure those…

I've been using a similar method to learn some German vocabulary for about 8 months now (using Flashcards Deluxe, not Anki, though), and I could specially relate to the "Two-way connections" section of your friend's article. For example, my deck is currently German to English. As an experiment, once I reversed the deck for a while (making it English to German) and suddenly it became much harder. Maybe the solution is…

One of my favorite techniques for enforcing two-way connections is the "Jeopardy technique". Here's an example for a beginner in python:

  Side A: This library is the de-facto standard for http in python.
  Side B: What is the "requests" library?
This card is easily reversible in Anki, so you only have to write it once and get quizzed both ways.

Edit: formatting

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#66
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am using memrise.com which works pretty well to learn some vocabulary. You can learn pre-made lists contributed by users, and does not require any set up.

Memrise is fine too. Do you use decks Source Language -> Destionation Language, the other way around, or both?

Memrise asks you both ways.

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#68
Can you please provide screenshots or a video above the fold? Even if the highlight of the product is not the GUI, I'm still okay seeing the product work even in a command line interface. It helps me process the context of what it is.

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#69
post #54

Anyone studying Japanese should check out Flashcard Tree: http://www.flashcardtree.com/ It's an SRS like Anki with a focus on integrating real video content like Anime into the learning process.

I have used Anki a lot to learn Japanese. I think that the principle is not that great for languages. It helped me to remember the vocabulary and the kanji, but it only help me to acquire visual memory. When I hear Japanese, I am way too slow to make the relationship between the Japanese word and the associated concept. What comes to my mind first is the French word (my native language) and now I feel like I am learning the same vocabulary again (and the fact that Japanese has a lot of homophones does not help). Having sentences cards and audio cards helped, but that is barely enough.

My advice would be not to rely too much on Anki. I considered it as a silver bullet because it was so much better that using a notebook (like I did in my childhood), that was a mistake. Find other way to practice. Take lessons (maybe one day I'll try these Skype conversion offers), read articles, watch tv show with subtitles, find people you cant talk to…

Re: Anki – Powerful, intelligent flashcards

#70
post #67

Brrr, I didn't like, much too complicated and - I hope I remember correctly - the install size was huge. (But it's free so what shall I complain? And people here seem to have a different view than me)

Anki's deb package is 3MB, Windows installer is 24MB and OSX installer is 30MB. The package in the debian repos is 854K and the installed size is 5.4MB, with 2.7MB in locale files. I imagine the "huge" 20MB+ installer file you are put off by includes a ton of third-party libraries/tools to ease installation for novices.
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