Doing Anki Reps while listening to music?

Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - Printable Version

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Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - kasugano - 2014-10-17

So i've been doing anki for about 5 months and I kinda wanna spice up reps a bit with some j-pop music(only).

I have 2 decks which are=
-RTK 1 recognition(more concentration but since there is no learning on pronunciation on kanji so listening to music kinda 'okay')==>I listen to music while doing this deck sometimes which is about 3 days a week.

-Core 10k optimized(less concentration but since there are pronunciation on vocab music may distract me sometimes)==> I only listen to music this for 2 days so I don't have enough proof.

I tend to listen to music only on my RTK rep and avoid on core 10k. But I also tried listen to japanese music for the last 2 days and "I think" it made me 'better' on my core 10 deck.But I am still worried if music will be a distraction since I would be concentration on 2 stuff, doing my core 10k rep and listening to music.

Also the music I listen to is with japanese vocals which I can understand it most of it which could be the distraction when I decipher the music vocal unconscionably. So I think that music such as classical music may be less of distraction for it has no vocals and I also listen to them but a prefer vocaled j-pop music which keep my motivation up.

So what do you think?

Do you think music can boosts a person motivation to complete reps for the day or it will be a distraction since its multi-tasking which result to concentration divided?

Your personal experience?

I want to hear your thoughts!

Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - tashippy - 2014-10-17

It might be interesting to try listening to jpop only when doing Anki reps. As long as you like jpop it might create rewarding positive associations with studying in general, and you can get a rhythm going to your pace. It's up to you. I don't think the fact that it's Japanese lyrics music makes a huge impact, especially if your stories are in English or whatever language. I think what works for different people changes with time, the key is that you're doing them. Also, if you can train yourself to focus on the cards and ignore the music, that's still a valuable mental exercise. I think there have been studies linking classical background music to learning. No matter what you do you won't learn Japanese overnight, so just enjoy. It might be a useful side-study to learn names by noting the names of the band members or producers of the music you listen to, because learning names is a thing unto itself.

Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - john555 - 2014-10-18

I heard about one guy who did his anki reps to the tick tock of a musician's metronome or whatever, so he would have a precise interval of time to "answer" each anki "card" in the "deck" he was reviewing.

I thought, this is taking things WAY too seriously....

Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - Stansfield123 - 2014-10-18

Depends on the music. Orchestral music might be fine, but vocals are obviously a distraction. Only time music might help is if it is meant to drown out other, more distracting sounds.

john555 Wrote:I heard about one guy who did his anki reps to the tick tock of a musician's metronome or whatever, so he would have a precise interval of time to "answer" each anki "card" in the "deck" he was reviewing.

I thought, this is taking things WAY too seriously....

Why? Sounds like something that might help.

Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - cophnia61 - 2014-10-18

Stansfield123 Wrote:Depends on the music. Orchestral music might be fine, but vocals are obviously a distraction. Only time music might help is if it is meant to drown out other, more distracting sounds.

ahaha I listen to music while doing reps just to not hear my dad snore while he is sleeping xD But I would better not listen to it, I ammit it is distracting... So if you can do without it, it would be better to do reps in complete silence Tongue

Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - Vempele - 2014-10-18

I listen to music whenever I'm not listening to anything else, why would I stop for Anki reps?

Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - yogert909 - 2014-10-19

I would avoid listening to anything with lyrics while studying (maybe a language you don't understand is ok). The reason I say this is because I listen to A LOT of podcasts, audiobooks and whatever while I work. As long as I'm doing a single task involving language, everything goes smoothly. I notice as soon as I do anything related to language (reading notes, typing short sentences, even naming files!) I can't pay attention to either activity very well. In other words, trying to do 2 language tasks at the same time is undesirable. The effect is pretty undeniable and now that I've noticed the effect, I notice that songs with lyrics that I can understand tend to slow me down when I'm reading. Even though I still can't follow Japanese talk shows, when I read while a Japanese show is on, I can tell my speed and concentration is considerably degraded.

Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - sholum - 2014-10-19

I also think that it's better to avoid multitasking, but I do use music to boost my studying capabilities. I find that listening to music before I study (or do anything that requires much mental commitment) improves my concentration and cognition.
My guess is that, other than the boost you get from doing something you enjoy, listening to music gives you a mental warm-up, since it's associated with so many different senses and functions (I'm not a neurobiologist, but I think listening to enjoyable music increases the amount of acetyl-choline and dopamine, since it's at once an enjoyable experience, a mental exercise, and associated with movement).

Unless the music I'm listening to is less distracting than the world around me, I find it detrimental to listen to it while studying. This may be because of how I listen to music (very actively), but I can't do much of anything related to language while listening to it (though I don't have trouble doing other tasks that require constant attention). It doesn't matter if there's lyrics or not, or if it's a language I don't know, it requires the focus that language does; I can't even read a short article while listening to music, the same as if I tried listening to someone talk while reading, I can only focus on one of them at a time.

EDIT:
If it's interesting to anyone, I've tried listening to music while studying or doing various things, and I find that logic tasks (like mine sweeper), physical activity, and operating machinery (including vehicles) are the least affected skills; mathematical problems are a bit harder, though I don't know exactly which parts are more difficult (it is suggested that numbers aren't part of language, but maybe the links to language while trying to keep track of values are where the weak points are).
Of course, as stated above, language tasks are the most difficult to focus on (and thus accomplish) while listening to music.

Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - Sebastian - 2014-10-19

cophnia61 Wrote:
Stansfield123 Wrote:Depends on the music. Orchestral music might be fine, but vocals are obviously a distraction. Only time music might help is if it is meant to drown out other, more distracting sounds.
ahaha I listen to music while doing reps just to not hear my dad snore while he is sleeping xD But I would better not listen to it, I ammit it is distracting... So if you can do without it, it would be better to do reps in complete silence

Or you can listen to nature sounds or to noise. There are lots of webapps and mobile apps for that, for example:

simplynoise
Rainy Mood

Actually, there are studies that say that:

Quote:“A moderate level of noise enhances creativity compared to both low and high levels of noise. Moderate background noise induces distraction which encourages individuals to think at a higher, abstract level, and consequently exhibit higher creativity.”

So there are places where you can get sounds recorded specifically to improve your focus and productivity.

This is one of them:

Rainy Cafe

Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - sholum - 2014-10-20

Sebastian Wrote:Actually, there are studies that say that:

Quote:“A moderate level of noise enhances creativity compared to both low and high levels of noise. Moderate background noise induces distraction which encourages individuals to think at a higher, abstract level, and consequently exhibit higher creativity.”

If we're looking for a place to think creatively, there is only one:
The Bathroom
Turn on the exhaust fan, set yourself down (perhaps on the toilet, if yours is combined), and think.

I don't think this'll do much for regular Anki reviews, but it might be good for other exercises, like composition: I don't have enough fingers to count all times I came up with an idea for a paper in the bathroom.

Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - Stansfield123 - 2014-10-20

Vempele Wrote:I listen to music whenever I'm not listening to anything else, why would I stop for Anki reps?

You shouldn't just stop for Anki reps Smile

Doing Anki Reps while listening to music? - vileru - 2014-10-20

sholum Wrote:If we're looking for a place to think creatively, there is only one:
The Bathroom
Turn on the exhaust fan, set yourself down (perhaps on the toilet, if yours is combined), and think.

I don't think this'll do much for regular Anki reviews, but it might be good for other exercises, like composition: I don't have enough fingers to count all times I came up with an idea for a paper in the bathroom.

For me, it's the shower. I can't count how many times, while showering, I've come up with deep insights or solutions to perplexing problems. It only works in the shower too. Baths either put me to sleep or take me into a meditative trance.

Come to think of it, Archimedes allegedly shouted "Eureka!" when, while taking a bath, he discovered the potential of measurements using water displacement. And I just found out there's even a subreddit dedicated to people who do their best thinking in the shower. I wonder if there any good studies on the (potential) link between creative thinking and the bathroom. It'd be cool if it were possible to replicate the mind state elsewhere.