I want to introduce using an SRS to others but I can't find a good video or webpage describing it properly. All of the websites written about SRS are novels and people are more likely to watch a video anyways.

Is there a simple video about SRS or Anki that explains how it works (with the forgetting curve graph) that doesn't have a creepy-sounding narrator (Anki videos... seriously wtf) or push their product so much (Smart.fm). Smart.fm's video is great except that it refers to its own program a lot and I don't want people to think smart.fm is the only thing out there (Anki is better imo).

Also preferably not something that talks about using it to learn japanese or chinese. People see that and automatically think that it won't work for other things.

macd4tw Wrote:that doesn't have a creepy-sounding narrator (Anki videos... seriously wtf)

How's he creepy?. It's not like he's got a huge budget to produce videos. Cut him some slack... he's made this awesome program for us completely free of charge.

I guess listening to again, I don't really think its creepy. It's just not as authoritative sounding as the smart fm video. It doesn't make me want to use the software as much. Don't get me wrong I appreciate everything he does and those videos were very helpful when i started using anki, but I am looking for something to get more people using SRS.

I found his videos pretty good, and link them to people all the time. Sure they're not the highest quality, but they explain what an SRS is, and a brief intro of the software.

I can't get most people I know to try out SRSing, but that's another issue all together! I've only been using Anki for half a year, but it's seriously one of the best things in my whole life for my education.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition#Software

Grinkers Wrote:I've only been using Anki for half a year, but it's seriously one of the best things in my whole life for my education.

Exactly, it's something I wish I had found out about a long time ago.

I looked at the wikipedia article, but it doesn't seem like it would interest anyone that isn't already looking into it.

I think another problem with getting people to try it is the benefits don't really start to show for awhile. I was a skeptical until I had about 300-500 cards, and after a couple weeks. Less than 100 cards seemed like a complete gimmick. Now I'm over 6000 cards, and I just couldn't imagine without it now.

I found out about SRSes at least a year before I started using one. I don't even know why. I think it's easy to be skeptical about them, and you really have to try them out to see how great they are.

I think that Anki comes off as a lot more complicated than Mnemosyne. I started with Mnemosyne, and although I think it's a really good piece of software, I'm really glad that I switched to Anki. I actually really liked the videos on the Anki Web site, they made it seem much simpler than I had imagined. I think they were well done.

Edit: Another thing is that a lot of people might be turned off by the idea that you have to commit to using the program daily.

Make your own?

One question I would ask is if you think people who can't be bothered to read a simple few pages about SRS are likely to use it.

zer0range Wrote:One question I would ask is if you think people who can't be bothered to read a simple few pages about SRS are likely to use it.

This is also a very good point. You can't make people do something good for themselves. You can only help them to see the benefits of doing something. It's up to them to do it. I think it would be really cool to have a beautifully produced, apple/google-esque intro to the SRS, with a very nice professional narrator... but I don't wanna do it. I already know how awesome the SRS is.

Last semester I showed my Psychology teach Anki, we were doing a unit on memory. She was so impressed and excited that she wants me to present it to her classes, and may develop materials in her courses that work with it. She even wants me to take it to the rest of the school and set up a tutorial class where I do a presentation. She's trying to get funding from the school so I get paid too. I'm into it, as I think people need to access SRS, as so many who could/would use it don't even know it exists. So I will be putting this together over the next few weeks so it's presentable. I'm not sure exactly how I will do this, but I'll figure something out. Even if she can't get funding, I'm going to do it for the above reason, and I can turn it into some kind of academic thing (I can't remember what, but it's good LOL).

I think I can put together a good presentation, but the real thing is, like seth g points out, will people use it? I figure maybe 10-20% would, if given a good presentation (maybe higher in a language class). I want to include information on learning, memory processes etc. as well as show how to use it. I'm also hoping to get some faculty involved (the progressive, motivated types) - if they made it a part of their course/syllabus with curriculum designed for it, it would be pretty amazing. Students would start using it day one, and the cards could even be pre made....I donno, I'm still playing with idea's, but there are many possibilities. Who knows, maybe it could blow up in the universities if people advocated for it. Even if only a small percentage of university students put it to practice, it would still benefit many many people.

I will also try to advocate for some kind of donation or something for Anki's maker. Also I probably should check out some other SRS programs so It's not just Anki, but SRS itself as the focus.....

If anyone has any idea's, suggestions......sorry to hijack, but I felt it was relevant enough to what the OP is describing.....

Do what the most successful companies do and sell it with sex and a catch phrase.

[Katsuo]

mezbup Wrote:Do what the most successful companies do and sell it with sex and a catch phrase.

Study Real Sexy with an SRS!
A little 'Anki-panky helps you study!

With the relative ease of getting Japanese subtitles/transcripts/captions for Japanese media now, is an SRS really the way to go? Learning vocabulary in the context of actual use once and then moving on to the next sentence (as there are endless resources available) would seem the natural SRS we used to learn our native language. More obscure vocabulary can be learned after we are fluent as we do also now with our native language.

bodhisamaya Wrote:With the relative ease of getting Japanese subtitles/transcripts/captions for Japanese media now, is an SRS really the way to go? Learning vocabulary in the context of actual use once and then moving on to the next sentence (as there are endless resources available) would seem the natural SRS we used to learn our native language. More obscure vocabulary can be learned after we are fluent as we do also now with our native language.

You know I don't even think I can begin to imagine how much longer acquiring new vocab would take me without Anki. Not saying it's a necessary thing but it is an assload faster and the way i've got it set up atm it's only a small investment of 15 - 30 mins a day tops.

Sometimes Anki can be a crutch other times it's just pure leverage.

Katsuo Wrote:

mezbup Wrote:Do what the most successful companies do and sell it with sex and a catch phrase.

Study Real Sexy with an SRS!
A little 'Anki-panky helps you study!

LOL. Anki-Panky ftw! 暗記パン機　

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E...1.E3.83.B3

Check the アンキパン section.

"Anki-panky" - YES!!!! LOL

I'll tell them they can SRS Bong hits too.....

mezbup Wrote:

bodhisamaya Wrote:With the relative ease of getting Japanese subtitles/transcripts/captions for Japanese media now, is an SRS really the way to go? Learning vocabulary in the context of actual use once and then moving on to the next sentence (as there are endless resources available) would seem the natural SRS we used to learn our native language. More obscure vocabulary can be learned after we are fluent as we do also now with our native language.

You know I don't even think I can begin to imagine how much longer acquiring new vocab would take me without Anki. Not saying it's a necessary thing but it is an assload faster and the way i've got it set up atm it's only a small investment of 15 - 30 mins a day tops.

Sometimes Anki can be a crutch other times it's just pure leverage.

Maybe it is because I had the foundation of learning vocabulary out of context through an SRS before doing it the way I am now. Having tried both approaches, learning new vocabulary in the context of actual use through new Japanese media sources with audio each day and Rikaichan to dissect the text is just making it stick exponentially better.

I guess the question is, how far down the 'frequency-of-occurrence' curve can you go before you just don't see words again soon enough for them to stick properly? (Exactly which words are frequent and which aren't is dependent on what you personally read/watch, obviously, but that's not relevant here.)

If you think I sound creepy, or have issues with the production quality of volunteer work, make your own damn videos.

Check these:

http://wiki.supermemo.org/index.php?titl..._and_Demos

SuperMemo is the first SRS in history and it's the best one (but it's not user-friendly) and the creator of it is the father of the modern SRS theory.

Anki is based on an old SuperMemo algorithm.

Yeah, SRS definitely needs a sexier image (or a simple sexy way to be explained).

Just returned from a nice week in Vegas. Before i went i used Anki to learn Blackjack strategy for the rules of the casinos i planned to play in. Basically if you play perfect strategy for the rules of the table the house advantage is less than 1%. When you couple that with free drink supply (and we're talking regular $15 cocktails) then it's a definite win in my opinion.

Anyway the point is so many people i saw playing had absolutely no idea. They really were just throwing their money away. When they asked how i was doing so well (and i was basically breaking even) i told them about basic strategy and how easy it was to learn with an SRS. After the 3 or 4th attempt to explain what an SRS was i gave up and just said it was "aussie luck"

P.S. anyone going to Vegas is welcome to contact me for some awesome tips/advice on how to get freebies/upgrades.

After using Anki, Supermemo totally gives me a headache

resolve, your work is crazy appreciated. I am so thankful that you provide this excellent tool for free.

ahibba Wrote:SuperMemo is the first SRS in history and it's the best one (but it's not user-friendly) and the creator of it is the father of the modern SRS theory.

Anki is based on an old SuperMemo algorithm.

In what way is SuperMemo better? I've only used Anki, because it was free and had linux support. It seems most people here are using Anki, but I've never really seen comparisons between different SRS software.

TaylorSan Wrote:Last semester I showed my Psychology teach Anki, we were doing a unit on memory. She was so impressed and excited that she wants me to present it to her classes, and may develop materials in her courses that work with it. She even wants me to take it to the rest of the school and set up a tutorial class where I do a presentation. She's trying to get funding from the school so I get paid too. I'm into it, as I think people need to access SRS, as so many who could/would use it don't even know it exists. So I will be putting this together over the next few weeks so it's presentable. I'm not sure exactly how I will do this, but I'll figure something out. Even if she can't get funding, I'm going to do it for the above reason, and I can turn it into some kind of academic thing (I can't remember what, but it's good LOL).

That sounds great! If it works, please come back and tell us. =)

BTW, I would really love a "The Common Craft" style "SRS in Plain English" video.

And Resolve, relax. We love your work and that's all that matters. Thank you for providing us with our SRS fix for free.