Comments on: Facts and Cards in Flashcard Study

By: pjamesh

pjamesh — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:53:14 +0000

do you have the link to the other review?

By: K. M. Lawson

K. M. Lawson — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:23:07 +0000

Thanks Drew – I am not sure I agree that it is confusing – on the contrary, it is disheartening to review in one direction and then one day discover that a word one thought one knew well was only recognized in one direction.

Ed, your point is an important one. In languages where spelling is often difficult to remember as with Russian or French, this is an especially powerful aspect of more advanced programs like Anki. It is also further evidence of the importance of tracking directions separately, rather than simply offering the option to reverse the card and track performance all together.

By: Ed Bradburn

Ed Bradburn — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:25:05 +0000

Great article on the importance of direction when learning from flashcards.

I just wanted to comment on another key feature of Anki in this regard: Anki also lets you handle the “directions” differently when reviewing them.

Here’s a example to explain:

I have a Russian-English flashcard. On the RU side I have “узкий” and on the EN side “narrow, tight”. Not only does Anki track my knowledge of RU-EN and EN-RU differently, but it also lets me choose to review the RU side by typing in the answer, whereas when asked to provide the EN, I can choose to merely state whether I know it.

This is really powerful, since it means you can add a huge amount of context to the EN side (target side) — such as contextual usage, grammar notes, etc., while leaving the RU side (source) with just the one term. This is, in fact, exactly what a good dictionary does (headword + contextual explanation) and I have not yet seen another flashcard program that offers this facility.

By: Drew McCormack

Drew McCormack — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:54:30 +0000

Nice post Konrad. I think it’s a good idea, but I worry a bit that there may be a big price in complexity for the user. It could become confusing to see that same ‘fact’ in many places. If that’s the case, it’s a balance between how much benefit you get, and how much complexity it introduces. Running a ‘shuffle’ mode, which randomly reverses cards, may be enough for most users. The Mental Case lesson works exactly like this, randomly reversing any cards that can be reversed.

But I like the idea. Thanks!