Finding the right tools and techniques for learning is difficult. We've all spent time at some point searching the internet for the answer to questions like 'How can we revise effectively', 'Best methods for studying', 'How to ace my exams' - but often we end up reverting back to what we know and the techniques that we've always used or simply get bored with searching and so revert back to procrastinating on Instagram.
I want to use the best possible SRS app to learn and review my vocabulary and grammar, and due to the fact that here its about my carrier im going seriously with it. The problem is that im not sure wich SRS-App i should use. Some say that Anki would just be fine, but i heard about 'Super Memo' too. Anki is a studying aid created by Damien Elmes. It is a flashcard app that uses a novel spaced repetititon algorithm to maximize learning. There are Anki apps available on Windows, Mac, Android, (all free) and on iOS ($25) as well as a browser version @ AnkiWeb.net that can all be synced to one account.
This class provides an extensive walkthrough of the flashcard app Anki – a tool which has made studying more effective, more efficient and less stressful for thousands of students around the world. The aim of the class is to show that Anki is an immensely powerful tool and by using it, you can start to leverage the benefits of active recall and spaced repetition to improve your own work – whether that be studying for exams or learning new content of any sort. Whether you are a beginner to Anki or you've had experience using the app in the past, I hope you can draw some helpful tips, advice and value from these lessons.
Section One
In the first section, we’ll introduce the theory and power of flashcards before guiding you through the basics of Anki – from initial installation to an explanation of the different card types as well as how you can use the app across multiple devices to make sure you keep up with your flashcard reviews. Even if you’ve used Anki in the past, you’ll hopefully still find value in these videos because it’s important to get a solid foundational understanding of the mechanics of Anki before moving further into the app.
Section Two
The second chapter is walkthrough-based and features a series of examples where I’ll share how I would make a flashcard from a lecture, a video as well as how I made flashcards for an essay-based exam during my third year at Medical School. The section finishes with a discussion about the importance of using the Extra section of your flashcards to enhance your understanding and improve your flashcards.
Section Three
Section three is structured around frequently asked questions that I’ve received in relation to Anki – not only in terms of the mechanics of the app but also questions around how to maintain motivation, discipline and consistency to avoid becoming overwhelmed with cards to review. There are also a series of videos where I’ll discuss Anki in relation to other apps that people sometimes use for similar learning techniques – including Quizlet, Notion and Google Sheets.
Section Four
What Is Anki App
The final chapter is more advanced and aimed at the optimisation of Anki through the use of tags, premade decks and a handful of recommended add-ons that will enhance your experience, efficacy and efficiency when using Anki.
Throughout this class, there’ll be segments from interviews that I recorded with students from around the world and I’d like to thank David, Prerak, Clara, Sanjush, Carter, Kaddor and Liam for offering their time to talk through their own experiences with Anki and how they’ve used it for their own studies.
Who am I?
My name is Ali - I'm a doctor working in the UK, and on the side I make YouTube videos about medicine, tech and productivity. I discovered Anki in my second year at university whilst studying medicine at Cambridge and the app not only had a measurable positive impact on my studies but also helped revolutionise the way that I studied as well.
For me, Anki has probably been the most useful and valuable app that I've used over the past few years and I want others to be able to get the same benefits that I achieved by discovering it. I often get questions on my videos asking for advice on using Anki as it can be quite a daunting app for beginners, that's why I've decided to put together an extensive Skillshare class which takes you right through from setting yourself up on the app to the more advanced ways that you can optimise it to suit your own needs and get the most from your work.
Since the beginning of the year, I have been trying various flashcard applications to learn French, Mandarin, and Spanish vocabulary. These included Anki, Quizlet, and Tinycards by Duolingo. Anki is probably the oldest of the three applications with Tinycards being the newest, and all of them were recommended to me by friends actually using them.
Being a huge Duolingo fan, I fully expected to like Tinycards the most. But after using all three systems extensively, there was one app that completely won me over, and it was not Tinycards.
Below is a quick summary of the three apps, their advantages and disadvantages, and the “winner.”
Anki
Pros
- Has an app for iOS, Android, and Windows 10 (including Windows 10 Mobile), and a desktop application for any version of Windows. These can be used offline. There’s also a web app that can be used for practice on any platform with a web browser.
- After each flashcard, you can file it into one of three review decks: Soon (<1 minute), Good (<10 minutes), or Easy (4 days). These decks allow you to practice the hardest words (Soon) most frequently.
- Allows you to add images to words.
- Allows you to add voice recording of words.
- Has flashcard decks that other people have created, that you can practice.
- Allows you to import and export data.
Cons
- All of Anki’s apps look very dated.
- The web app has limited editing functionality.
- Synchronization of the apps is slow and seemingly the least robust.
- If you want to add images to words, you have to manually search for images first and then upload. There is no functionality to help you find the images in the first place.
- While you can record audio to the words, it has to be something you have recorded (like your voice, or audio pronunciations you find on, say, Google Translate) yourself. I.e., Anki cannot read words you type out loud using some sort of voice robot.
Quizlet
Pros
- Modern interface.
- Apps for iOS and Android that can be used offline. There’s even an app for Windows 10 Mobile, but I have not tried it.
- Allows you to add images to words, and helps you find the images in the first place.
- Has optional test modes: multiple choice, or type the answers.
- Can read the words out loud to you in a pleasing voice with good pronunciation and accent.
- You can even type in Pinyin, and it will read the Mandarin words out loud perfectly!
- You can “star” words that are most difficult to you, and review only those.
- Has flashcard decks that other people have created, that you can practice.
- Allows you to import and export data.
- Resumes where you left off in flashcard sets when you go back to review them.
Cons
Anki App For Windows 10
Tinycards
Pros
- Modern interface.
- Allows you to add images to words, and helps you find the images in the first place.
- Has optional test modes: written questions, multiple choice, matching, spelling, etc.
- Has optional game modes, like matching and “gravity.”
- Can read the words out loud to you in a pleasing voice with good pronunciation and accent.
- It tells you how recently card decks has been reviewed, which can encourage you to practice flashcards more frequently.
- Has flashcard decks that other people have created, that you can practice.
Cons
- There’s only an app for iOS. For Android and Windows, there’s only a web app that cannot be used offline.
- When there are more than, say, 50 flashcards in a set, entering new ones is painfully slow, even on my super fast workstation computer. It seems like the editing interface uses Javascript. Whatever the case, the UI cannot keep up with your typing.
- You cannot “star” words or file them into “Soon” decks like you can with Quizlet or Anki, respectively. You are basically leaving it up to Tinycards’ algorithm to determine which cards to review first.
- Supports primarily Western languages. Does not support languages like Mandarin.
- Cannot import CSV files or export data.
The Best: Quizlet
Quizlet was the winner by a longshot. It has virtually all the functionality of Anki and Tinycards plus a lot more, including games and testing modes. It is the most modern and allows importation of word lists. It works offline (at least on mobile platforms) and can read Mandarin out loud. Quizlet is also the most fun to use.
Tinycards had too many “fatal flaws,” including painfully slow flashcard creation, no offline support for Windows or Android (so you cannot use it on most flights, which is a perfect time for reviewing flashcards), or Mandarin support.
Anki was great in its day but adding voice pronunciations and images is very tedious. It looks very dated.
How to Migrate Tinycards to Quizlet
While there is no native export functionality for Tinycards, I came up with a quick (but non-intuitive) method on how to do so using the Chrome web browser and Notepad++. See this article.
Migrating data from Anki to Quizlet is easy because they both have functionality to import and export CSV files.