I don’t want to make these cards looks bad, I mean studying through flashcards is one of the most accepted way to study and I would say that most of my knowledge comes from learning and reviewing with these cards.
But it’s just when you got at a certain amount of reviews(for me it’s around 150+ reviews), things become more exhausting. I just feel like I don’t want do it anymore. So nowadays I spent most of my study to read texts in videogames(with lots of lookups ofc) and learning to write kanji. I chose to learn to write kanji because I’m really bad at recognizing them. And so far I’m having more fun in my study, rather than when I mostly doing flashcards.
So tl;dr studying with flashcards is exhausting so I chose to not do them at all, and now I spent most of my time immersing by playing videogames and other japanese media.
So that’s my story, would like to hear your thoughts and to hear your own story too 🙂
4 comments
I also stopped using flashcards ages ago. Now I only do extensive reading and listening to native materials. Even when I’m watching something in English on Netflix, I make sure to turn on Japanese subtitles and sometimes pause to look up unfamiliar kanjis or words. Passed the N1 with flying colors.
I quite enjoy doing flashcards (via Anki). I like the way it never gives you a day off – means I don’t have to use much will power to keep going. Of course if you are finding it a drag then ditch it and do something else you find enjoyable.
The best way to study is the way you enjoy the most. If you don’t like using Anki just stop, you don’t have to use it because other people do and just because it works for them doesn’t mean it will work for you. I started using anki to study for the N2 and a little after to study for N1 and I hated it. So after about 7 months I just stopped using it completely and just like you it was a great feeling. I started using it again last year but only to study writing kanji because I’m studying for kanken but my reviews are around 10-15 kanji a day and 10-15 yojijukugo. It only takes around 10-15 minutes. So it’s not bad.
If you think you might want to come back in the future just stop adding new cards and only so reviews. After about a week the number of reviews should start to drop.
I stopped worrying about clearing my backlog and now just do a few minutes of whatever cards the scheduling algorithm throws at me. Much more sustainable. I still find the flashcards useful as a supplement; since all my sentences come from reading material I personally read, it’s a good way to review.