What flashcard format(s) do you use/why? (for vocabulary)

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flippedsort
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What flashcard format(s) do you use/why? (for vocabulary)

Postby flippedsort » Wed Sep 16, 2015 11:32 pm

Do you put just the L2 word on the front and the L1 translation on the back because the cards are easy to make? Do you use cloze deletion but there's not one obvious answer for the missing word, so you end up memorizing the whole sentence? Do you put whole sentences in L2 on the front and just notes to help understand on the back? Do you use massive-context cloze deletion, but only where the missing word has one single obvious answer? Do you avoid using any other language than the target language?

I'd love to know how you use flashcards (paper ones, Anki, whatever) to learn vocabulary, and *why* you use your chosen format(s).
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Re: What flashcard format(s) do you use/why? (for vocabulary)

Postby kimchizzle » Thu Sep 17, 2015 2:17 am

For hand-written cards, I have always done L2 word on front and L1 on the back. But I would study them both ways. I had hand-written flashcards for about 150 Korean words one time, that I had memorized. I also used this type of flashcards to learn Japanese hiragana and katakana a long time ago.

When I moved onto Anki with Russian, I was writing a complete sentence in L2 with the word I wanted to study highlighted, then on the reverse I had the L1 translation of the word only. I only studied these cards from L2 to L1. I really liked this flashcard style of learning the word within a sentence. It seemed intuitive and you were exposed to other words indirectly and in context. I had gotten up to around 700 Russian cards made, but I hadn't memorized that many, maybe half when I had my falling out with Russian. I also had some small Spanish and French Anki decks, that I didn't bother studying everyday.

Personally for me, I don't think flashcards work as a learning method for my personality. I've tried them many times and I can remember a good number of words while I continue to review the flashcards everyday, but even with a spaced system like Anki, a few weeks after I stop reviewing the cards, I forget 80-90% of what I had learned, it feels like at least. Things like hiragana and katakana stayed around longer though, but words didn't. That is just me though, lots of people have great success with flash cards, even though I don't.
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Re: What flashcard format(s) do you use/why? (for vocabulary)

Postby smallwhite » Thu Sep 17, 2015 5:36 am

1. I put on the card what I want to memorise. If it's the word "the scene", I put "the scene". If it's the phrase "behind the scenes", I put "behind the scenes". If it's the collocation between "behind" and "the scenes", I put "behind the scenes". If I only want to memorise "the scene", I don't put "behind the scenes".

I put minimal info so as to review faster, and to minimise the chance of memorising the sentence instead of the word or stuff like that.

2. For my first 8000 or so words, I do L1 -> L2. I think that is important. Thereafter, or news & literature words that I really won't say or write myself, I think both directions work, so I just pick whichever I feel like at that moment. I might switch directions after a while.

3. I've never tried cloze deletion because I don't feel that it is a skill that I need to practise or drill; I don't feel that I need to fill in blanks in real life. (Just like I don't need to match the words on the left column to those on the right column in real life). As I'll be doing 10s of 1000s of reps, I do them in the format that I want to drill - coming up with an L2 word the split second I want to say or write it (first 8000 words / active vocab), or comprehending an L2 word the split second I see or hear it (news, literature & passive vocab).

For the same reason (about the split second), I speed through my reviews as fast as possible. In the past, sometimes I'd even repeat a round of reps - after finishing a round of reps (taking maybe 2 seconds per card), I'd go back and redo it faster (taking hopefully 1 sec/card this time).

4. The L1 side is basically in English. If too ambiguous, Chinese next to it. Sometimes a synonym in L2.
L2: empezar
L1: to start 開始, comenzar

One link more useful than anything I have written:
Effective learning: Twenty rules of formulating knowledge
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Re: What flashcard format(s) do you use/why? (for vocabulary)

Postby samfrances » Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:50 am

I tend to use flashcards with pictures for simple words, and pictures with L2 clues, example sentences and/or definitions from a monolingual dictionary for more complicated words. A bit like this, but with recordings rather than IPA transcriptions:

Image

Image

Gabriel Wyner has written some interesting stuff about using flashcards without translations, including a book, but this article is a good place to start if you are interested.

I suppose the theory is that it's better to create a richer set of associative connections in L2 rather than simply learn "cat = chat". But I'm still only at B1 in my first L2, so I'd take my recommendation with a pinch of salt. :)
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Re: What flashcard format(s) do you use/why? (for vocabulary)

Postby Cavesa » Thu Sep 17, 2015 9:16 am

Front: L1 word, Back: L2 word

I find it pointless to use SRS for passive vocabulary, even though I can see there might be value in it for the more difficult and unrelated languages.

Of course, there is a problem with synonymes. Therefore sometimes, the L1 part may include more equivalents of the L2 word. Or it may look like "L1 word (but not this L2)", to make me learn the synonyme I find more difficult. And one more way (with both advantages and troubles) is giving myself a hint of the first letter.

For some grammar, I use flashacards of a different format.
either: front: allez présent back: je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont
or: front: je ALLER présent back je vais

I recommend reading some older threads (on old htlal mostly) on flashcards, especially posts by smallwhite, who has already answered here. I can remember noone else with such a thought out system and counts to explain how they got their results.
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Re: What flashcard format(s) do you use/why? (for vocabulary)

Postby zenmonkey » Thu Sep 17, 2015 12:24 pm

My method has been shifting over time, I'll try to out one what I do. First off, it depends on language level and word or concept type.

I have a simple two bucket system - I place everything in either "things you see" or "err, complex concept".

1) things you 'see': object nouns, simple adverbs & adjectives, a few verbs - for items that I can easily visualise or conceptualise. "The boy", "red", "happy" - these types of words get the simplest cards
Front: L2, Back: L1 (cards are used both ways) usually with whatever modifier I can plop on to increase comprehension - an article (definite, indefinite), a possessive pronoun, a partitive article (e.g. "some"), number, demonstrative position (near, medial, far in languages that use these), pairs, preposition (the toy, that toy). For me vocabulary is remembered better and also assists in grammar acquisition when it is also included.

You won't see a "boy" card in my decks but rather:

front
mi nino
back
my boy

or

front
la voiture rouge
back
the red car

I'll use color when needed to highlight order or a specific word.

WHY? These types of terms are easier to learn and do not require significant contextualisation - so I learn them using word lists or off the cards themselves, I try to keep my cards easy to create, light, so I do not spend a lot of time on adding media. However vocabulary doesn't exist without some sort of grammatical elements so I add a little bit of this to help both with learning and conceptualisation. The next section covers what I do with harder concepts.


2) err, complex concepts: these are subtler words, most verbs that require more effort for me to learn, sometimes the translation isn't one to one. For these, I use short sentences with L2 and L1.

front
beifügen: Das beigefügte Dokument ist unterzeichnet.
back
enclose/attach: The attached document is signed.

Even though you are asking for vocabulary cards, notice that I try to also have some grammar, here an infinitive (or finite verb form... or for Hebrew/Arabic, third person singular perfect/past as this is what dictionaries use). It also adds to how I "capture" a word or idea.

WHY? I use these for words that are not an easy map to L1 or conceptually more difficult to grasp than "dog" or "ball" I find I need stronger hooks to get these words in. I avoid L2 with L2 dictionary definitions because I find those unclear and frustrating and find myself not understanding a few definitions. As my language advances I'd like to think that I will use L2 to L2 cards but frankly, by the time I get to that level (C1?, C2?), I tend to drop the cards and just use other methods.

3) I also now use a variety of other cards for vocabulary learning based on srs2sub, these are structured

front L2
<image>
<sound file>
<lead sentence>
<main sentence>
<following sentence>

back
<sound file>
<main sentence L2>
<main sentence L1>

Screen Shot 2015-09-17 at 14.17.46.png


Screen Shot 2015-09-17 at 14.17.55.png


WHY? Again, this isn't purely vocabulary building but listening, spoken constructs, fluidity along with vocabulary that I am seeking. These cards are easy to build - I can generate massive decks that push my ear and are enjoyable.

I also have decks with most sentences from Assimil or Living Language or other sources... these are generally L2, L1 decks - just to work through the sentences in first or second pass.

I have a few cloze cards but I am not really a fan of these.

ps - small white's link is a must-read.
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