(2015-12-15, 8:21 pm)FlameseeK Wrote: Once again, thanks a lot for the replies guys.
My current deck does have sentences in the front. That's how I'll be reading words anyway, so I like that idea. But on the other hand, I wonder if I'll end up guessing certain words more than learning to read the kanji itself, or maybe remembering words just because I recognize the rest of the sentence.
Does anybody know if that's an actual issue? I'm sure both ways would work in the end, but I have to make up my mind before I get started because of the way Anki reviews work. Starting over would definitely suck.
Anki distinguishes between "notes" and "cards". If you design your note (the underlying information) well, then you should be easily able to change your card (the display format) from sentences to vocab and back without having to start from scratch with a new database. Just make sure that all of your discreet information - individual words, the word's reading, your sentence(s), English and Japanese definitions - are all placed in separate note fields for maximum flexibility.
I ended up landing on individual words only on the front, with readings, meanings in Japanese and English (where my dictionaries could find them), and sentences on the back. If I know the meaning of a word without context, great - I can review and be done with it in under a second. If I need context, it's there for me on the back of the card to learn from. Plus, I can add more context as time goes on. E.g., if I don't like the sentences the sentences that Epwing2Anki picked up (and if it grabbed them from the 広辞苑, I almost cerainly don't like them), I can find some better sentences on http://yourei.jp and add those instead.
I try and view my Anki decks these days, not just as study resources, but as searchable, personal databases of Japanese knowledge. I use them for SRS, sure, but they're also there for me to consult on demand, as needed.