This post is about a new type of reading method that I have come up with, which I call "micro reading", and it is done through Anki. This should not be confused with incremental reading, which is something different.
Micro reading is basically reading a text in short bursts, as opposed to sitting down with a novel for an hour at a time. With micro reading you can read as little as one sentence at a time. The idea is that you can read in many short bursts throughout the course of the day, which in total will add up to a significant amount.
I came up with this because I personally have a lot of difficulty reading for more than a few minutes. If you don't have that problem, then this probably wont be so useful to you.
To begin, you basically need text in a format that can be imported into Anki so that each sentence will become one card. The deck settings need to be tweaked so that the intervals are far enough out that you wont see the cards a second time. I go into more detail about specific settings in a blog post here: Micro reading with Anki.
Then, Anki presents you with your text, one sentence at a time. If you can read it with no problems, you pass it. If you want to revisit the sentence later, fail it.
At the end of the day or week or whatever, go into Anki's card browser to look at your reviewed cards. Delete all the cards you passed. If you want, you can look over the cards that you failed (or just delete them too). Now is your chance to look up words or grammar, or move the card into one of your normal decks for review.
That's the gist of it. There are different ways that it can be set up though. For instance, maybe you just want to mark or suspend cards to review later, and then just pass all the cards rather than failing any of them. That could work well in AnkiDroid, because it lets you set up gestures to do actions like marking or suspending cards.
I've been doing this for about a week now, and I'm really liking it. I'm actually getting some reading done now, as opposed to never reading anything.
Here are some pros and cons of this method that I can see:
+ Read any time you have a minute free
+ Read freely without looking up words
+ Easy to revisit problem sentences later
+ If you want to turn a sentence into a normal card for review in Anki, you are already halfway there.
- Doesn't work with all types of material
- Requires some setup to get the material into Anki
- Requires follow-up to clean up the deck at a later time
Micro reading is basically reading a text in short bursts, as opposed to sitting down with a novel for an hour at a time. With micro reading you can read as little as one sentence at a time. The idea is that you can read in many short bursts throughout the course of the day, which in total will add up to a significant amount.
I came up with this because I personally have a lot of difficulty reading for more than a few minutes. If you don't have that problem, then this probably wont be so useful to you.
To begin, you basically need text in a format that can be imported into Anki so that each sentence will become one card. The deck settings need to be tweaked so that the intervals are far enough out that you wont see the cards a second time. I go into more detail about specific settings in a blog post here: Micro reading with Anki.
Then, Anki presents you with your text, one sentence at a time. If you can read it with no problems, you pass it. If you want to revisit the sentence later, fail it.
At the end of the day or week or whatever, go into Anki's card browser to look at your reviewed cards. Delete all the cards you passed. If you want, you can look over the cards that you failed (or just delete them too). Now is your chance to look up words or grammar, or move the card into one of your normal decks for review.
That's the gist of it. There are different ways that it can be set up though. For instance, maybe you just want to mark or suspend cards to review later, and then just pass all the cards rather than failing any of them. That could work well in AnkiDroid, because it lets you set up gestures to do actions like marking or suspending cards.
I've been doing this for about a week now, and I'm really liking it. I'm actually getting some reading done now, as opposed to never reading anything.
Here are some pros and cons of this method that I can see:
+ Read any time you have a minute free
+ Read freely without looking up words
+ Easy to revisit problem sentences later
+ If you want to turn a sentence into a normal card for review in Anki, you are already halfway there.
- Doesn't work with all types of material
- Requires some setup to get the material into Anki
- Requires follow-up to clean up the deck at a later time
