You Should Be Using Anki

Main ideas / concepts / lessons

• Anki is an aid, not the core learning method

  • It is not a substitute for immersion (multiple hours/day listening to and reading the target language).
  • If you spend all your time doing flashcards, you won’t get the benefits described.

• Primary purpose: speed up vocabulary growth

  • Not knowing enough words is described as a major bottleneck in language learning.
  • There’s a stated correlation between number of words known and comprehension comfort, especially for beginners.

• How Anki works (SRS)

  • Anki uses a spaced repetition system (SRS).
  • The scheduling algorithm uses your grading of cards (your “ease” rating) to decide when cards should reappear.
  • Example flow given:
    • See new word → remember (“good”) → next review after 1 day
    • If remembered again (“good”) → interval increases: 1 day → 3 days → 1 week → 1 month → 3 months, etc.
    • If forgotten, the interval resets and the card returns sooner.
  • Recommendation: generally use “good” (and “again” when needed) rather than “easy”/“hard”, because “easy”/“hard” can cause large scheduling deviations.

• What Anki is for: rough meaning to support comprehension

  • The goal is not to memorize words so you instantly speak them in conversation.
  • Anki helps you recognize words while consuming real content, so meaning can be learned through context.
  • Languages don’t map 1:1 between native and target concepts; therefore:
    • You should learn quick, rough associations via Anki
    • Then acquire nuance by repeatedly encountering the word in natural contexts.

• Word sourcing strategy

  • Common approach:
    1. Use a pre-made deck (e.g., most common 1,000–2,000 words) to build a foundation.
    2. Later, mine words from immersion (create cards from words you encounter).

• How many new cards per day

  • For beginners: 10 new words/day
  • If you have extra time: 15–20/day
  • Warning: don’t sacrifice immersion time to do more Anki.

• Card types

  • Vocab cards
    • Front: one word
    • Back: definition (and sometimes example)
    • Pros: quick to review and easy to create; can be automated with add-ons.
    • Suggested for objects / words with straightforward translation.
  • Sentence cards
    • Front: a full sentence
    • Back: definition for the specific target word
    • Use a concept called “i+1” (a sentence that is understandable except for one missing word/structure).
    • Pros: includes context; often improves understanding of nuance.
    • Cons: usually slower and more effort to create; longer time to review.
  • Recommendation nuance: either type works; choose based on preference.
  • Monolingual cards (later level)
    • Definition is given in the target language instead of English.
    • Useful for words with vague or hard-to-translate meanings.

• Consistency & catching up

  • Anki success requires showing up every day.
  • If you miss days:
    • You may need to do extra reviews to catch up.
  • But the speaker emphasizes:
    • Missing 1–2 days isn’t fatal.
    • Even missing longer is recoverable by resuming and pausing new cards until reviews catch up.
    • Don’t get demotivated.

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Methodology / instructional content

A) Role of Anki in an immersion-based plan

• Spend multiple hours per day listening to and reading the target language (immersion).
• Use Anki as a supplement:
  • Memorize quick/rough vocabulary cues
  • Use immersion to learn true meaning and nuance through context.

B) SRS usage guidance (learning workflow)

• Add new vocabulary to Anki.
• When reviewing:
  • Prefer pressing “good” most of the time.
  • Use “again” if you need to relearn sooner.
  • Avoid “easy” / “hard” if possible (speaker claims they distort scheduling).
• Let SRS intervals expand over time to retain words long-term.

C) Building your deck (word selection strategy)

• Start with a starter deck focused on frequent words.
• As you progress, mine words from what you encounter in immersion and add them as new cards.

D) Daily card targets

• Beginners: 10 new words/day
• If you can spare time: 15–20 new words/day
• Guardrail: never reduce immersion time just to increase Anki volume.

E) Choosing card types

• Use vocab cards when:
  • You want speed/ease of creation
  • The word’s meaning is relatively direct to define/translate
• Use sentence cards when:
  • You want context to help nuance
  • You can create “i+1”-style sentences (one unknown word/structure)
• Use a mix if desired.
• At intermediate/advanced stages:
  • Consider monolingual cards (target-language definitions).

F) Consistency rules

• Aim to review daily to prevent review backlog.
• If you miss days:
  • Resume immediately at the point you left off
  • Temporarily stop adding new cards until reviews are back under control.

G) Setup recommendations (Anki software / settings)

• If using Anki 23.1+, enable FSRS:
  • Go to deck settings (gear icon)
  • Under Advanced, check FSRS
  • Set Desired retention:
    • Default likely 90
    • Speaker recommends 85 to avoid excessive reviews
• Set Daily limits:
  • New cards/day: 10
  • Max reviews/day: set to 9999 (no cap)
• Adjust review/new card ordering as desired (speaker prefers mixing new cards into review queue).

H) Starter deck recommendation for Japanese (as stated)

• Speaker’s top pick: “Kishi 1.5k”
• Mentions other popular decks:
  • Tango decks
  • Paid Refold deck
  • Core 2K/6K deck
• He suggests you can use whatever clean starter deck you find; they should be fine.

I) Add-ons mentioned (categorized)

1) Cosmetic/fun (optional)

• Custom background & gear icon
  • Changes Anki background and gear icon image
• Review Heat Map
  • Displays a review streak chart to motivate/accountability
• Anki Discord integration
  • Shows Anki status on Discord (reviews left as a “game status”)
• Kanji grid (referenced as previously discussed)
  • Grid showing kanji known/progression

2) Utility add-ons

• Imagy Sizer
  • Forces consistent image sizes when pasting into Anki; saves storage
• AnkiConnect
  • Connects Anki to a browser pop-up dictionary to create cards quickly from unknown words

J) AnkiConnect + pop-up dictionary mining workflow (step-by-step as described)

• Install one of these pop-up dictionary extensions:
  • Yomitan (recommended alternative; actively maintained)
  • Yomi Chan (older; said to stop being updated)
• Download a dictionary (and optionally pitch accent support) from sources linked on the extension’s GitHub page.
• Enable the imported dictionary in the pop-up dictionary extension settings.
• Prepare Anki structures:
  • Use/obtain a matching note type template (speaker references a downloadable single-card note type)
  • Import it, then optionally delete the initial imported card while keeping the note type.
  • Create a dedicated Anki deck for generated cards.
  • Optionally structure it with sub-decks / folders (speaker’s preferred organization).
• Configure AnkiConnect:
  • In pop-up dictionary settings → Anki section:
    • Ensure Anki integration is enabled
    • Configure card format
    • Select the deck and note type for the created cards
    • Map fields (speaker provides a “copy this configuration” style instruction)
• Create cards while browsing:
  • Hold Shift over a word and click the green plus:
    • Large plus: adds with kanji
    • Small plus: adds only kana
• Audio / pitch accent handling:
  • If using a JMdict variant and pitch accent audio seems wrong:
    • Delete the audio field and re-add correct pronunciation from Forvo.
  • If Forvo lacks a pronunciation:
    • Use TTS (speaker states TTS with correct pitch accent can be better than incorrect native audio).
  • Configure audio sources in the pop-up dictionary settings if needed.
  • Note: rare words may lack audio directly in dictionary entries; the backup helps.

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Sources / speakers featured (at end)

• The video’s speaker (unnamed) — primary narrator explaining Anki and Japanese learning approach.
• Steven Krashen — referenced for the “i+1” concept in sentence-card guidance.
• Forvo — referenced as a source for native pronunciations.
• JMdict / JMdict variants — referenced regarding dictionary audio/pitch-accent issues.
• Yomitan and Yomi Chan — referenced as pop-up dictionary browser extensions.
• Anki (software) — referenced, including FSRS algorithm feature.
• AnkiWeb — referenced for finding decks.
• Discord — referenced via “Anki Discord integration.”
• AnkiConnect — referenced as the bridge between browser dictionary and Anki.