4 ms·

I found that actually using a timer was too rigid but I still use the same basic concept. I use Anki, electronic flashcards with spaced repetition, by far the b

I found that actually using a timer was too rigid but I still use the same basic concept. I use Anki, electronic flashcards with spaced repetition, by far the best learning tool I've ever used. I do cards for about 15-20 minutes or so. On Anki you can see how long you've been practicing. Then I take a break to do something physical not at my computer, like wash dishes or clean my apartment. Nothing too fun. Typically for 5-10 minutes. Then I come back and do more. So I take a break, but it's not as rigid as pomodoro with a timer.

misiti3780 9y ago
+1 for anki, the greatest tool i have ever found for learning - i will use anki for the rest of my life, without a doubt. i still everything in there now, math equations, history, italian (which is why i started using it), haskell, birthdays, my new address, phone numbers, vocabulary. spaced repetition is life changing
- justinclift 9y ago
  Is this the one? https://github.com/dae/anki https://github.com/dae/anki
  - shawnps 9y ago
    Yes, see here for a download: https://apps.ankiweb.net/ https://apps.ankiweb.net/
- BOOSTERHIDROGEN 9y ago
  Could you share your setup?
  - misiti3780 9y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15960292 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15960292
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  People ask for your setup, but I'd love to see examples of your cards. I've tried using Anki for things, but I struggled with figuring out how to put things on cards. Languages are easy - you put vocabulary. History sounds easy too - you put dates and names. But how on Earth do you use Anki for Haskell? How do you use spaced repetition to learn fields that's about concepts, not memorizing bite-sized facts and factoids? I would love to know that, since most of the things I'm trying to master have to do with things I find too large to put on a flashcard.
  - aninhumer 9y ago
    I'd imagine that the utility of spaced repetition for Haskell is more about remembering important function names rather than learning the concepts. It's probably not amazingly useful in that context, but it may help to feel fluent faster, which could help with other things.
    - misiti3780 9y ago
      ya that is correct, i take common things like print/control statements, function definitions, etc and make sure i see them a lot so i dont forget them (haskell is a language im trying to learn, i do not use it for work so i dont see these things as much as i would)
  - lpmay 9y ago
    I use Anki too, but probably not as much. IMO Anki is a tool for memorizing things, not learning them. You don't make a card for anything you don't already understand. Don't get me wrong, I think memorization is still useful for things like Haskell. You already have to have learned the concepts, but Anki helps you migrate what you've learned to a part of your brain where you just know them, no extra conscious effort required. Eventually this has to happen with what you already know if you are going to tackle bigger concepts, Anki just streamlines it.
  - misiti3780 9y ago
    For flash cards I use different types for different things, I use the fluent-forever picture cards for almost everything related verbs / adjectives / and nouns in italian and for english vocabulary words (like words I do not know when Im reading a book.) I use to ONLY read physical books, but after speaking with someone else on hacker news about it, I use the kindle only, and heavily use the kindle highlight feature, download them, and create tons of flash cards using cloze deletion in anki. I also use kindle highlights to keep track of vocabulary i am unfamiliar with. For math related stuff, I have two way cards for tons of theorems. example "what is the law of large numbers", "what is mean's value theorem", "what is the definition of taylor-series expansion", "what is the difference between a taylor and maclaurin series". I have hundreds of these cards that I can review anytime I want. My programming cards are very similar. I try to create very concise cards, based on the steps found here: https://www.supermemo.com/en/articles/20rules https://www.supermemo.com/en/articles/20rules I am just starting to experiment with incremental reading now too: https://www.supermemo.com/help/read.htm https://www.supermemo.com/help/read.htm. I have only been using it for a few weeks, but im convinced this is the way to do it. If anyone has any questions or comments, send them my way -- These methods are not perfect, but they work for me, and I am always trying to improve them. On last thing that helped me with anki, if you can figure out a way to add an image to the card, add it, if it seems superfluous --- this really helps with retention.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
jibreel 9y ago
There is also this nice article about spaced repetition if anyone is interested. https://www.gwern.net/Spaced-repetition https://www.gwern.net/Spaced-repetition

misiti3780 9y ago

+1 for anki, the greatest tool i have ever found for learning - i will use anki for the rest of my life, without a doubt. i still everything in there now, math equations, history, italian (which is why i started using it), haskell, birthdays, my new address, phone numbers, vocabulary. spaced repetition is life changing

justinclift 9y ago
Is this the one? https://github.com/dae/anki https://github.com/dae/anki
- shawnps 9y ago
  Yes, see here for a download: https://apps.ankiweb.net/ https://apps.ankiweb.net/
BOOSTERHIDROGEN 9y ago
Could you share your setup?
- misiti3780 9y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15960292 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15960292
TeMPOraL 9y ago
People ask for your setup, but I'd love to see examples of your cards. I've tried using Anki for things, but I struggled with figuring out how to put things on cards. Languages are easy - you put vocabulary. History sounds easy too - you put dates and names. But how on Earth do you use Anki for Haskell? How do you use spaced repetition to learn fields that's about concepts, not memorizing bite-sized facts and factoids? I would love to know that, since most of the things I'm trying to master have to do with things I find too large to put on a flashcard.
- aninhumer 9y ago
  I'd imagine that the utility of spaced repetition for Haskell is more about remembering important function names rather than learning the concepts. It's probably not amazingly useful in that context, but it may help to feel fluent faster, which could help with other things.
  - misiti3780 9y ago
    ya that is correct, i take common things like print/control statements, function definitions, etc and make sure i see them a lot so i dont forget them (haskell is a language im trying to learn, i do not use it for work so i dont see these things as much as i would)
- lpmay 9y ago
  I use Anki too, but probably not as much. IMO Anki is a tool for memorizing things, not learning them. You don't make a card for anything you don't already understand. Don't get me wrong, I think memorization is still useful for things like Haskell. You already have to have learned the concepts, but Anki helps you migrate what you've learned to a part of your brain where you just know them, no extra conscious effort required. Eventually this has to happen with what you already know if you are going to tackle bigger concepts, Anki just streamlines it.
- misiti3780 9y ago
  For flash cards I use different types for different things, I use the fluent-forever picture cards for almost everything related verbs / adjectives / and nouns in italian and for english vocabulary words (like words I do not know when Im reading a book.) I use to ONLY read physical books, but after speaking with someone else on hacker news about it, I use the kindle only, and heavily use the kindle highlight feature, download them, and create tons of flash cards using cloze deletion in anki. I also use kindle highlights to keep track of vocabulary i am unfamiliar with. For math related stuff, I have two way cards for tons of theorems. example "what is the law of large numbers", "what is mean's value theorem", "what is the definition of taylor-series expansion", "what is the difference between a taylor and maclaurin series". I have hundreds of these cards that I can review anytime I want. My programming cards are very similar. I try to create very concise cards, based on the steps found here: https://www.supermemo.com/en/articles/20rules https://www.supermemo.com/en/articles/20rules I am just starting to experiment with incremental reading now too: https://www.supermemo.com/help/read.htm https://www.supermemo.com/help/read.htm. I have only been using it for a few weeks, but im convinced this is the way to do it. If anyone has any questions or comments, send them my way -- These methods are not perfect, but they work for me, and I am always trying to improve them. On last thing that helped me with anki, if you can figure out a way to add an image to the card, add it, if it seems superfluous --- this really helps with retention.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

jibreel 9y ago

There is also this nice article about spaced repetition if anyone is interested. https://www.gwern.net/Spaced-repetition https://www.gwern.net/Spaced-repetition