Postby iguanamon » Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:47 am
I don't use srs, but I can see how and why it has been useful for many learners. Some new learners abuse it and probably overly depend on it. Experienced learners (those who have learned a second language to a high level) use it as another tool in their arsenal. Like every useful way to learn in language-learning, srs is not a "magic bullet", neither are grammar drills, reading, listening, reading and listening, parallel texts, hyperlinear texts, subs2srs, Assimil, Pimsleur, FSI or grammar drills. Srs is a tool like any other. A builder needs more than a hammer to build a house and not every problem is a nail.
Subs2srs is a different kettle of fish. If it "were out of the box ready/plug and chug" for those who use windows and lack programming skills, it would be highly useful and much more popular among self-learners. From what I've seen, subs2srs, reinforces what a learner is reading and hearing in native materials so it helps a learner in both comprehension and momentum gains in going through native material.
Whether or not a learner is using srs effectively seems to depend upon how they are advancing. Could it be dropped and would learning suffer? It probably wouldn't suffer as long as the learner got more input and output. Is srs more effective than natural acquisition via reading, listening, speaking and writing? It can be argued that in the beginning stages it probably is... but there's always a point of diminishing returns with any method.
We have learners here who don't use srs- some like myself who have never used it, some who've tried it and didn't like it, some who've used it and got fed up with it and dropped it. I've learned languages without using it. I admire members here who use it effectively and efficiently like smallwhite and emk. Still, memorization and vocabulary acquisition can happen without using it. To each their own. People who don't use srs can and do learn languages.
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