Memcode

General discussion about learning languages
Cavesa
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Memcode

Postby Cavesa » Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:20 pm

You could say it is just another SRS. But there are a few reasons, why I think it is worth using and I am creating my first course there (which I have barely started).

What are the roots of the Memcode.com: basically a reaction on tons and tons of disappointment in the Memrise community and on its forum. So, the creator just went and made this.

What is different about it, why is it not a Memrise (and Quizlet and Brainscape) copy: http://www.memcode.com/articles/comparison

A quick sum up, as I see it:

Too little ready made content for now, but the course creation is super easy. Actually, I've started making a course there because I spent like 20 minutes on it in in Memrise and was desperate looking for the buttons, having to deal with settings for the completely unnatural levels (which suddenly even changed the names of the levels completely illogically and not changeably), and general unfriendliness of this system. I simply don't want to fit the content around their idea of levels with the same number of words, I want the opposite. I don't like the columns and the overall structure anymore.

I will tell you more about their support and communication, when I can. I have just sent them a message asking about stuff like bulk add, import of courses, reversing the deck. And I promised to spread the word. So, I am curious about their answer.

Unlike in Anki, there is a hypereasy way to make the typing cards! It is one of the two basic card creation modes. Foolproof enough for me. But if you are more creative, you can definitely play with the fonts, images, and so on.

Unlike Memrise, I can recommend Memcode to adults I meet in the real life. The Memrise's childish design + their official courses (that I really don't find good enough and that get promoted a lot) are likely to make those people leave after five minutes thinking much less of me and my tastes. But it is still not ugly, it is simple and elegant.

There is no app, Anki wins here.

I think it is worth a look and becoming a part of my toolbox and perhaps yours too.

So, in short:
Memcode vs. Anki: no app, almost no ready made content, easier typing cards creation
Memcode vs. Memrise: doesn't look childish, much simpler course creation (except for the missing bulk add option), almost no ready made content
Memcode vs. Clozemaster: it is primarily for making your own courses. It looks like it might have a better SRS algorhytm (not sure here)
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Cavesa
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Re: Memcode

Postby Cavesa » Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:45 pm

I almost forgot: one more difference to Memrise: there are no multiple choice questions :-) which i find to be great
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Cavesa
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Re: Memcode

Postby Cavesa » Thu Jun 21, 2018 4:03 pm

Yes, that is another advantage! It is very fast thanks to being simple.
I thought Memrise taking ages was more of a browser problem (too many open tabs), but it is not. Having more than two or three courses on the dashboard makes loading superslow.

I am seriously considering transforming some of my Memrise courses into Memcode ones (especially the course I have made on conjugation, that cost me a lot of time :-D )

Actually, creating a course rather fast is not that much of a problem.Especially when I can copy short lists of words, for example from here https://www.almaedizioni.it/media/uploa ... ni_web.pdf for my new course. I think all the publishers should put pdfs with the wordlists online, so that we can use their courses more efficiently.

What might be a bit tricky: creating long courses with thousands of words, due to all the scrolling.
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Uncle Roger
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Re: Memcode

Postby Uncle Roger » Thu Jun 21, 2018 4:24 pm

Is content submitted by volunteers?
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Cavesa
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Re: Memcode

Postby Cavesa » Thu Jun 21, 2018 4:27 pm

Uncle Roger wrote:Is content submitted by volunteers?


Yes.

So far, there is little content in general. It is up to us whether we make our courses personal or public.
I know volunteer works (on memrise, duolingo, and other platforms) get often criticised for mistakes and such stuff. But considering the low quality of the official memrise courses, I think the volunteer base is actually an advantage here.

For now, the whole platform is being run by volunteers without any profit, without any advertisements. Of course this might change, but I wouldn't worry the creator would go in any unpalatable direction.
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Re: Memcode

Postby Ani » Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:43 pm

Seems it has some pretty significant bugs.
I just made a test deck of cloze cards, but it doesn't accept the right answer on 3/10 cards. Maybe there is something about them that it doesn't like but when you click "show answer" it just displays the same thing that was typed with a red box around it. I tried spaces on either side in case I had over highlighted, but that did nothing.
It does look promising but...
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Uncle Roger
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Re: Memcode

Postby Uncle Roger » Fri Jun 22, 2018 6:56 am

Cavesa thanks. This memcode seems interesting, but I reckon that, when it comes to SRS for language learning purposes, step change will come from something such as a whole A-to-Z curriculum proofread and signed off by a competent publisher or academic authority. Not by incremental improvements on the Anki formula. Still nice to have, of course!

Also, may I ask people what the fuss is all about with cloze cards/questions when it comes to language studies with flashcards?

Why not ask to translate the whole sentence? Is it because of certain untranslatable qualities of specific elements of certain languages?

I might have created material that might be of cloze nature, say:

ENG: See you in an hour

ITA: Ci vediamo ____ un'ora

and the word to put would be "tra" (whilst you might get tempted to say "in" also in Italian, which would be very wrong)...

But I'd rather ask off myself a full translation of the sentence... It's more work, so it's better for me as a student.

Thanks
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Re: Memcode

Postby Ani » Fri Jun 22, 2018 7:15 am

Uncle Roger wrote: It's more work, so it's better for me as a student.


Not necessarily...
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Uncle Roger
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Re: Memcode

Postby Uncle Roger » Fri Jun 22, 2018 4:45 pm

Ok, but can you give me an example of a situation in which cloze really brings some advantages? Language learning, not general studies...
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Re: Memcode

Postby aokoye » Fri Jun 22, 2018 6:05 pm

Uncle Roger wrote:Ok, but can you give me an example of a situation in which cloze really brings some advantages? Language learning, not general studies...

Of the top of my head, studying grammatical case
Declining an adjective for gender (and/or case)
Declining verbs
Using the correct particle
Using the correct counter

Studying for tests - which might not be useful for language learning but could be useful for things like gaining citizenship or being allowed to study at a university
I'm sure there are academic articles written on how useful (or not useful) cloze completion are for learning but I'm taking this week off from all things linguistics.
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