Anki Guide

Anki Guide
by ~Anonymous~

--- Introduction ---
Anki (暗記, "memorisation") is a FOSS spaced repitition flashcard program designed to aid in the memorisation of information (in our case, words). It organises digitial flashcards into collections called decks which you can use to keep cards on different subjects or for different purposes separate. The information on the cards is organised into fields, with the appearance of the cards being taken care of through the use of HTML and CSS code.

You can download Anki here:
https://apps.ankiweb.net/
(Note for Linux users: "Some Linux distributions include Anki in their repositories. We've seen many users experience problems with these distributed versions, due to them being out of date or missing appropriate libraries. For this reason, the compiled package above is recommended over using the version of Anki bundled with your Linux distribution.")


--- Use of Anki for Memorising Japanese Vocabulary ---
There are several possible approaches to using Anki when trying to help yourself remember Japanese words.

1. Vocab Cards
The tried and true approach. Easy to make and typically pretty quick to review. Word on the front, reading (pronunciation) and meaning on the back. Your job is to successfully recall both the reading and meaning of the word on the front. Widely used with good results.

2. Reading Cards
Easy to make and very quick to review, but less common than their very similar vocab card cousins. Word on the front, reading and (optionally) meaning on the back. Your job is only to successfully recall the reading of the word; The meaning, if you include it on your cards at all, is only there for reference or to refresh your memory, with the idea being that the meaning should be learned not through Anki but only through exposure via native media.

3. Sentence Cards
Tedious to make and very slow to review, sentence cards are a controversial and not especially common card type, which nonetheless have a contingent of vocal advocates. With this card type, you don't just make a card for the word you want to learn, but the entire sentence in which you found that word. The back of the card should contain the readings for every word in the sentence and either a full translation of the sentence or a defintion of the specific word in the sentence which you made the card for. The goal is to read the entire sentence out correctly and undertand it. Supporters of sentence cards argue that they're better because you're seeing the word you're trying to memorise in context, whereas detractors argue that the sentence only represents one very specific context and that rather than learning to recall the word when you see it, you're instead learning to recall the word when you see that specific sentence. One concern with sentence cards is that, when taking sentences from text-only mediums, there is always a risk of accidentally making a card out of a sentence containing a typo without realising it.

You can read a very long argument on the pros and cons of sentence cards by following the reply chain down from this post:
https://archived.moe/jp/thread/17824728/#17830721
(you can also follow the reply chain up for even more [s]autism[/s] discussion)


--- Making Cards ---
If you're using vocab or reading cards, the process of making them can be automated through the use of browser extensions like Yomichan, RikaiRebuilt and Nazeka:
https://foosoft.net/projects/yomichan/
https://forum.koohii.com/thread-15119.html
https://github.com/wareya/nazeka

Refer to the documentation of whichever add-on you opt to use for instructions.

The process of making sentence cards is much more involved. Some tools like subs2srs and the Japanese Support add-on for Anki can make it less of a headache, but some manual intervention and proof-reading is going to be required. If you use subs2srs, you will want to proof-read and cross-reference with the audio to ensure that there are no errors in the likely Chinese-made or OCR-made subtitles, and will also have to manually enter in and proof-read the readings for the cards it creates. When using the Japanese Support add-on to make cards, you will need to manually enter the sentence and proof-read the readings generated for it to ensure that they are correct as sometimes the wrong reading for a word will be entered, or the add-on will fail to correctly detect the boundaries between words and generate incorrect readings based on that. With both of these tools, manual entering of the definitions will still be required.

Links to subs2srs and the Japanese Support add-on:
http://subs2srs.sourceforge.net/
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/3918629684


--- Pre-made Decks ---
There are a lot of these out there, generally oriented towards beginners, but whether or not they should be used is a matter of debate. The most commonly recommended pre-made decks are "Core 2k/6k Japanese Vocabulary" and "VN Core" (with the 'Core' deck, the general recommendation is to stop at the 2,000 word mark, though some suggest stopping even earlier at the 1,000 word or even 500 word mark). Advocates for pre-made decks say they make the transition from grammar guide to native material easier by letting beginners build up a basic vocabulary before they start reading and listening. Detractors say they keep beginners away from reading for too long and lure them into a comfort zone where they never feel like they're 'ready' to start reading yet which can be difficult to break out of. Once you start reading, it's pretty safe to drop these pre-made decks since the words in them are so common that you're going to be running into them non-stop in your reading and listening material, making it virtually impossible to forget them.


--- Do I Even Need to Use Anki? ---
There are obviously people who have learned Japanese without the use of Anki, so you may rightly be wondering "Do I even need it?". Well, the answer is that it really all depends on how much time you're spending with the language each day. One well-known case of an individual who became fluent without using Anki is Moogy, the founder of TLWiki, but he was reading visual novels for, in his own words, "anywhere from 5-10 hours a day", and he was also watching raw anime on top of that. If you're spending a similar amount of time with Japanese as he was each day then there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to repeat his results, but otherwise without Anki you're going to find it difficult to grow your vocabulary at a decent rate since you simply aren't getting enough exposure to the language. If you really hate using Anki though, and it's becoming the difference between you continuing to learn Japanese and quitting, then it's better to drop Anki and focus on just reading and listening instead. You can still get by without it, your vocabulary will just grow more slowly is all.


--- Add-ons ---
There are a bunch of add-ons available for Anki which you can find on the Anki website:
https://ankiweb.net/shared/addons/

Some, like "Night Mode", aim to improve Anki's visual appearance, while others like the "Japanese Support" add-on discussed above aim to augment its functionality in some way. As well as "Night Mode" and "Japanese Support", "Review Heatmap", "True Retention" and "Kanji Grid" are also quite popular.


--- Optimisations ---
It is highly recommended to change the default "Maximum reviews/day" setting to 9999, but mess with anything else at your own risk. Recently, some people have been suggesting altering the "Interval modifier" setting (among others), but this has yet to see any wide-spread or long term testing, and the idea behind it is purely theoretical (the original theory behind the idea actually turned out to be wrong, though advocates of changing the interval modifier have now come up with a new one).


--- How Do I ____? ---
RTFM: https://apps.ankiweb.net/docs/manual.html