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When people start using spaced repetition and flashcard software they often end up throwing a big list of "Most common 1000 French words" into it and then promp

When people start using spaced repetition and flashcard software they often end up throwing a big list of "Most common 1000 French words" into it and then promptly being swamped by reviews and giving up. This is a bad idea for two reasons: When it comes to spaced repetition, quality beats quantity. Only put in the perfect nuggets of knowledge. You're walking through an orchard and grabbing a single apple, not a whole trees worth. Spaced repetition is to stop you forgetting, not for learning brand new things. When you study a topic and have an "aha" moment or you make a new connection, that's the thing you should put in. When you make the flashcard it should feel a little too easy. "I could never forget this, it seems so obvious now!". Doing this means your reviews are almost all easy and remind you of your learning experiences. The few things you forget are easily recalled and strengthened. Joyful and fun review sessions are the most important thing. Maximising adherence (and therefore not giving up) is far more important than squeezing out a 1% more efficient SRS algorithm.

icoder 4y ago
This is exactly me, although I've had streaks where I just ploughed through the big backlogs just throwing a lot of time against the problem (having a kid now, I can no longer reside to this option) Question: for language learning: is there anything to say about or help with this initial learning? So before then starting the spaced repetition.
Abishek_Muthian 4y ago
That's a solid advice. > promptly being swamped by reviews and giving up I faced Anki review hell even with small decks, So I had to create an always-on Anki e-Ink review system[1] which sits on my desk and shows me cards all day; Now I can choose to review the cards through out the day during small breaks without overwhelming myself with a single review session. Due to the small real-estate (screen), I have to condense the information to what's really necessary and the act of doing it (on Anki desktop) itself helps me with my learning. What I'm doing might be heretic to Spaced Repetition folks, But it works for me. [1] https://memoryhammer.com/ https://memoryhammer.com/
eska 4y ago
Strong disagree. I learned multiple languages this way. I think you’re better served by turning off the counter for cards remaining, and studying more often. Otherwise you’re not doing SRS at all. One can’t remember 2300 Kanji as an aha-moment each. Drilling all the possible combinations of Hangeul characters for recognition speed is very effective, but most cards won’t be an aha-moment. One can use premade lists of vocabulary and prioritize vocabulary encountered in study material/real life. You’ll have to learn all the other vocabulary eventually anyway. Decks with huge amounts of example sentences and audio simulate real conversation and drill listening comprehension and applied grammar.
- zs234465234165 4y ago
  Agree. There is no right or wrong way to srs. You have to put in mental effort, whether thats creating elaborate cards, or grinding through thousands of premades. Once you stop putting in the mental effort, it will stop working to improve your recall

icoder 4y ago

This is exactly me, although I've had streaks where I just ploughed through the big backlogs just throwing a lot of time against the problem (having a kid now, I can no longer reside to this option) Question: for language learning: is there anything to say about or help with this initial learning? So before then starting the spaced repetition.

Abishek_Muthian 4y ago

That's a solid advice. > promptly being swamped by reviews and giving up I faced Anki review hell even with small decks, So I had to create an always-on Anki e-Ink review system[1] which sits on my desk and shows me cards all day; Now I can choose to review the cards through out the day during small breaks without overwhelming myself with a single review session. Due to the small real-estate (screen), I have to condense the information to what's really necessary and the act of doing it (on Anki desktop) itself helps me with my learning. What I'm doing might be heretic to Spaced Repetition folks, But it works for me. [1] https://memoryhammer.com/ https://memoryhammer.com/

eska 4y ago

Strong disagree. I learned multiple languages this way. I think you’re better served by turning off the counter for cards remaining, and studying more often. Otherwise you’re not doing SRS at all. One can’t remember 2300 Kanji as an aha-moment each. Drilling all the possible combinations of Hangeul characters for recognition speed is very effective, but most cards won’t be an aha-moment. One can use premade lists of vocabulary and prioritize vocabulary encountered in study material/real life. You’ll have to learn all the other vocabulary eventually anyway. Decks with huge amounts of example sentences and audio simulate real conversation and drill listening comprehension and applied grammar.

zs234465234165 4y ago
Agree. There is no right or wrong way to srs. You have to put in mental effort, whether thats creating elaborate cards, or grinding through thousands of premades. Once you stop putting in the mental effort, it will stop working to improve your recall