A language learners’ forum

So I follow Luca Lampariello and really like his method. He really advocates getting a notebook and writing vocab and sample sentences, etc. However, somebody asked him about Anki and he basically said "do it if you like." Okay, so my question is, Luca advocates writing words that you've encountered in context from materials and make a list and test yourself by looking at the English and seeing if you can come up with your target language. He says as you grow the notebook, do it randomly, from time to time. So, when it comes to Anki, should I just put the individual words and follow that advice? Or would it be better to put cloze deletion cards with an English hint?

Regular basic cards:
Front: Cat
Back: Gato

or

Cloze deletion:
El "cat" esta nadando en el mar. Then, when I click show, gato shows up.

Remember, I already saw these words in context whether or not I make basic cards or cloze. I'm just wondering for the sake of using Anki as a storage room, if doing one is better than the other.

In my experience in Anki it’s always better to add some context, especially once the intervals get beyond a month and the cards start piling up it gets annoying revising individual words.

As for cloze deletion, I only use it when I’m focusing on form (grammar). So it would be something more like:

Un gato está {{nadando}} (nadar) en el mar.

Otherwise, I tend to just make recognition cards with the new word bolded and a definition on the back. So for example:

Front: Un gato está nadando en el mar.
Back: Mantenerse y avanzar sobre el agua moviendo algunas partes del cuerpo.

That said, I know there are some people who mostly make cloze cards and get a lot out of it.

I think that the basic card should look like:
Front: [picture of the cat]
Back: gato

If you put a sentence with the cloze you should also put a picture as the suggestion of what to insert there.

I personally use both types of cards.

For the second type of card I would recommend to put

"The cat" esta nadando en el mar.

Instead of

El "cat" esta nadando en el mar.

This forces you to recall gender/articles as well. It’s maybe not so important in Spanish where gender and articles are easy, but if you study another gendered language later, it could be helpful.

As for what kind of cards, try both and see what works for you. Where I start running into trouble (regardless of whether they are single word or context cards) is when I know many words with similar meanings and have to remember which word it is that I’m looking for.

I think it depends on the language. When I make Russian flash cards, I just leave nouns as they are most of the time. I only include example sentences to illustrate the use of the noun when they have irregular endings or the gender isn't self-evident(ends in ь). Do you really need an example sentence to understand how to use the word cat in a sentence? It doesn't hurt to add an example sentence per se, but personally, I like to keep things as simple as possible when possible. However, if it's a verb, adverb, or adjective, I always include examples in parentheses that illustrate how the word is used typically and in what contexts. If I want to add a verb into my active vocabulary, then I force myself to make up a sentence using it every time its flashcard comes up. If I simply want to be able to recognize the word, then I don't typically bother doing that. I haven't found a more effective way of learning vocabulary thus far. I don't think this method works exactly the same way for all languages and all individuals though.

Also, I generally don't use Anki. Personally, I prefer Quizlet's interface, and I like how it automatically adds sound.

I know this isn't technically flashcard related, but related to this method. Do any of you know about a programme that can help keep store of when to translate texts, functioning the way anki does, but instead of flashcards, making sure you make the translations in the given interval? -- Doing it manually really adds a workload!

Ccaesar wrote:I know this isn't technically flashcard related, but related to this method. Do any of you know about a programme that can help keep store of when to translate texts, functioning the way anki does, but instead of flashcards, making sure you make the translations in the given interval? -- Doing it manually really adds a workload!

At one of the gatherings (long time ago) one of the presenters told about how he studied grammar not by making grammar cards, but just a card that said something like:

"Write the verb 'parlare" [to talk] in every tense."

Then they went off and wrote this down on paper. When they were done they marked the anki card done. You could try something like that.

rdearman wrote:At one of the gatherings (long time ago) one of the presenters told about how he studied grammar not by making grammar cards, but just a card that said something like:

"Write the verb 'parlare" [to talk] in every tense."

Then they went off and wrote this down on paper. When they were done they marked the anki card done. You could try something like that.

It must have been Using Deep Learning (a.k.a. Deliberate Practice) To Accelerate Grammar Acquisition - Bartosz Czekała:



(Fast forward to 28 m 50 s)

You can definitely emulate Lucas said with Anki. Just be sure to change the settings like steps, intervals, minimum interval, max number of reviews a day etc.

https://vladsperspective.wordpress.com/ ... uge-gains/

Those are really good pieces of advice and thank you for the links! I used the same approach for learning Italian originally, but I remember giving up on keeping stock on the lessons to translate, because it built up and became a "job" to do that thing. I'll try to ally myself with the anki programme