So what kinds of time-related techniques are you using for getting through reps in Anki? I was inspired by RLC Blitzer, Anki's recent timeboxing integration, this hack, and stuff I'd been doing in a less focused way to come up with this:
I set aside 45-60 minutes, and then I start out with say, a 20-30 minute set of reps, and when the timer runs out and it goes to study options, I quickly switch over to some kind of 'null' media for a few minutes, then come back, reset the timer for 10-15 minutes, and continue reducing the intervals while increasing 'intensity'. Usually by the time it winds down, I'm ready to keep going in a less structured way.
By 'null' media, I mean, find some kind of Japanese-related media that's relaxing in regards to spoken/written language, yet stimulating in a more abstract way. Something that doesn't break the sense of Japanese immersion during this 1 hour. Examples might be a song by a Japanese artist for the aural ambience, since the vocals are often skewed just enough to make it optional to follow along actively (I like Japanese hip hop for this); or what I like visually is Japanese tumblr sites--plenty of images, minimal Japanese text, and heavy on the reblogging, so you can navigate them through the 'via so-and-so' links without a lot of scrolling (some of them even have a 'shuffle' button for entries).
Here's a randomly chosen tumblr site: http://ginzuna.tumblr.com/page/2
I kind of like this whole idea of nested timeboxes (blocks of minutes within an hour within a day), because it allows me to have a well-rounded, focused and productive hour of total immersion in Japanese that I can stick anywhere within a given day.
I set aside 45-60 minutes, and then I start out with say, a 20-30 minute set of reps, and when the timer runs out and it goes to study options, I quickly switch over to some kind of 'null' media for a few minutes, then come back, reset the timer for 10-15 minutes, and continue reducing the intervals while increasing 'intensity'. Usually by the time it winds down, I'm ready to keep going in a less structured way.
By 'null' media, I mean, find some kind of Japanese-related media that's relaxing in regards to spoken/written language, yet stimulating in a more abstract way. Something that doesn't break the sense of Japanese immersion during this 1 hour. Examples might be a song by a Japanese artist for the aural ambience, since the vocals are often skewed just enough to make it optional to follow along actively (I like Japanese hip hop for this); or what I like visually is Japanese tumblr sites--plenty of images, minimal Japanese text, and heavy on the reblogging, so you can navigate them through the 'via so-and-so' links without a lot of scrolling (some of them even have a 'shuffle' button for entries).
Here's a randomly chosen tumblr site: http://ginzuna.tumblr.com/page/2
I kind of like this whole idea of nested timeboxes (blocks of minutes within an hour within a day), because it allows me to have a well-rounded, focused and productive hour of total immersion in Japanese that I can stick anywhere within a given day.
Edited: 2009-01-14, 9:21 pm
