I'm not a beginner (12k cards, 10 years). What works for me personally: 1) test word -> meaning, not word -> word in other language 2) I don't test reverse mo

I'm not a beginner (12k cards, 10 years). What works for me personally: 1) test word -> meaning, not word -> word in other language 2) I don't test reverse most of the time, unless I really want to remember how to say something - output tends to emerge by itself given enough input 3) When a word has multiple meanings I add context (usually a related word or colocation as a hint - whole sentences can cause you to associate the sentence with the word but not recall it in other situations). Words with lots of meanings (in Japanese I guess that would be stuff like 引く or in English 'run'?) tend to be very common words so you don't need to use flash cards so much anyway.