After having used SRS for RevTK and recently, for adding vocabulary and sentences, I have begun to notice that unless I put new vocabulary into a SRS and practice memorizing it during review, it is hard for me to recall...

For example, while reading a book, I come across new vocabulary and look it up. Not having the SRS nearby to enter, I try memorizing it on the spot. A few pages later, it comes up again and I've forgotten the meaning/reading already.

I'm beginning to feel that I'm totally dependent on SRS for memory. I guess it's not that bad because if I can get it into the system, it will stick, but I was just wondering if others have been experiencing the same kinds of issues?

Maybe for reading, I need to write down the definitions for entry into an SRS later...

Well, even if you don't intend to put something in an SRS, it's very useful to write (or type) any new words. It's another connection you have with the word. Personally, if I'm typing them up as I see them, I think there's a decent spread between forgetting and not. Typically, the ones I forget are for some reason difficult or (very frequently) uninteresting. The ones I remember are either simple or (more frequently) interesting. There's also the natural repetition of whatever you're reading to consider. Whatever themes and items are core to whatever you're reading, it doesn't matter if you forget them 10 times in a row, you ARE going to know them by the time you're finished. Heh. I tend not to bother SRSing those, unless they pop up with something I do want to SRS.

The goal of an srs is to push facts/knowledge from short-term memory to long-term memory.

Perhaps if you didn't use an srs, you would have to rely more on your short-term memory, thus strengthening it, and using an srs would weaken it.

zodiac Wrote:The goal of an srs is to push facts/knowledge from short-term memory to long-term memory.

Perhaps if you didn't use an srs, you would have to rely more on your short-term memory, thus strengthening it, and using an srs would weaken it.

That's an interesting theory - almost like a slow-twitch/fast-twitch muscle kind of model where training for one is somewhat detrimental to the other.

So even if that theory were true, I would have to lean more on an SRS, since I am much more interested in long-term memory than short-term memory...

Thx, QuackingShow, for that suggestion - I'm new to trying to read an entire book in Japanese, so I am still experimenting to see what works best for me...

Always keep a pen(cil) handy, so you can jot down words or sentences you need to add to SRS later.