People who don’t use Anki/flashcards, how do you retain information?

7 comments

1. Anki or any other SRS approach isn’t some kind of unique magic tool, it’s based on the same things we naturally do, but does it in more focused and structured way, so it’s both more time efficient and more noticeable. If you don’t use it, you basically learn the same way, but instead of reviews in apps you naturally see the same words in content, and instead of initial learning with cards, you check the dictionary for it’s meaning.

   If you start to learn words naturally, you can notice 2 significant differences. It’s hard to say what words and how many words you have memorized. In case of Anki it’s so precise that we can count every word, but in case of content it can be easily +- several thousands. You won’t have any track of it and it’s rather hard to estimate properly too. Another difference is that words are completely random, it can be anything between 0 and 80k frequency, primarily within first 20-30k words, but even such number is in 2-3 higher than N1 requirement. You will naturally learn more common words first, but no one can guarantee that the most popular words in content you use are the same most popular words from another genre/content or something like JLPT.

   So the principle is the same, you see words and memorize it over time, but approach is more chaotic and tuned towards what you do the most.

2. You have been using Anki for years and still can’t read manga? Don’t get me wrong, everybody should go at their own pace, but doing more anki won’t make you capable of reading a manga. You need to read to be able to read… decrease review time and start reading/watching. Somehow, the more you immerse, the more cards you will get correct too. More correct cards = even less time spent in Anki. I do around <15mins every morning in the bus

3. Just start reading. Anki isn’t a *requirement*, it just helps. Pick up an easy manga you want to read, look up what you don’t know, finish, repeat.

4. If you only study for 30 min a day, I don’t think there is any tool which will help enough.

   This is not an “anki” thing, this is a “30 min a day”. The issue is you are gonna forget so much because you aren’t studying enough, you have no time to read or listen, barely any time to do anything.

   I would try and ramp up beyond 30 min.

5. Renshuu

6. Are you me? I’m in the same boat. I do Anki religiously every single day. Between 150 to 200 reviews. I’ve covered all of the vocabulary from N4 to N3 and all of the grammar from N5 till N3 as well. I’m currently studying the Tango N2 deck. I can read manga but I must use the dictionary extensively. I agree with everyone else here. Let’s try to read more and to add less new cards using Anki. Reading is a more natural, more organic and less forced way of acquiring language.

7. You’re never gonna be at a point where you can read manga/watch anime etc if you don’t start reading manga or watching anime. Seriously, spend that 30 mins reading and watching. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t understand right away… if you’ve been studying Japanese for a few years for 30 mins a day then I’d say you’re more than ready.
   If you pile that time into actively reading and watching, then in 6 months time you’ll be flying!
   But I’ll say it again… the key thing is to not get disappointed if you don’t understand right away… stick with it. These skills take time to develop