I'm on Step 5 of Core 2000 smart.fm, and I'm also studying the same list using Anki. Increasingly I find myself wondering if smart.fm is a good use of time, or whether I'd make more progress studying the same list only in Anki. Using smart.fm, it takes a while to get through one "lesson," and initially words are presented in multiple-choice format, which is maybe too easy. On the other hand, I do like being forced to write out each word at the end of each lesson. And the dictation feature is nice.

What do you all think of smart.fm these days?

Hi,
I started doing the lists on smart.fm but soon switched to Anki because it's much faster. On smart.fm the lessons take too long to complete.

In Anki I use this setup:
Question: word in kanji
Answer: everything else including sentence audio

Like this it takes about 5-6 minutes to review 50 words and I spend about 30 minutes to cram 100 new words. It's all about getting through the lists as fast as you can, so you can study more enjoyable things.
I just have more faith in Anki's algorithm and don't need all the animations and sounds on smart.fm. I also prefer to have all my cards in one deck, rather than having them separated like on smart.fm. In the end I guess it's all a question of preference. Just stick to whatever motivates you more and you think is more efficient for you.

I also gave Core 2k a fair try on Smart.fm. I even got up to 1200 words I think. Still, it's just was better to use Anki both for the offline ability, and the ability to modify how the cards are tested.

Yeah, you guys have pretty much talked me into moving to Anki. At least, I think I'll try one of the pre-made decks for Step 6 and see how it goes.

But I would still reccomed using the dictation! The dictation is an awesome way to improve listening comprehension. (And it helps with the vocabulary as well...)

I also prefer anki. The multiple choice format means I don't learn the kanji properly and I also just prefer to have everything in one place.

Sequa, how do you get that card format? I use the smartfm plugin but it only dowloads straight vocab cards or sentences.

Yes, I'm also wondering how to get that format. I have some pre-made Anki decks with all sorts of combinations of things, but I'd just like the kanji-->everything else (audio, kana, meaning) that you describe.

Gyuujuice: Is it possible to do the smart.fm dictation without starting each "lesson"?

Groot Wrote:Yes, I'm also wondering how to get that format. I have some pre-made Anki decks with all sorts of combinations of things, but I'd just like the kanji-->everything else (audio, kana, meaning) that you describe.

Gyuujuice: Is it possible to do the smart.fm dictation without starting each "lesson"?

I'm trying to find a software like this. Basically helps improve your typing skills/listening skills,etc. You can just use smart.fm stuff as a "side project" and use anki as the main one.

I basically use anki for everything. Expect transcribing. Maybe I should start...
I do written production a lot/vocab/sentence.

Smart.fm will be a threat to Anki only if they develop their own standalone SRS application with "normal" offline operation. If they make it fast and for different platforms (PC, Mac, iPhone, Android) it could be the next best thing, but for now Anki is safe.

This is actually one of the very few features that are missing from Anki (Online to be exact), a kind of collaboration on public decks that users can contribute to (flag enabled by user creating the deck) and vote for best decks (maybe even cards if joined with an introduction of multiple card versions). But since resolve stated that he will work on Anki Online next (after polishing Anki for iPhone), I'm confident it will stay on top of SRS world.

Imagine a public RTK deck ready for download with best stories already picked, with lots of fields for each card like: common pronunciations (with sound), Japanese keyword, common words, all easily downloaded to Anki.

Imagine such decks for sentences, JLPT vocab lists, JLPT grammar. etc.

scotty28 Wrote:Sequa, how do you get that card format? I use the smartfm plugin but it only dowloads straight vocab cards or sentences.

scanki (or for the core series, kore)

here's a sample template:

Code:

<span style="font-size: larger;">%(vocab-expression)s</span> %(vocab-disambig)s

Code:

<span style="font-size: larger;"><!--fon-->%(vocab-furigana)s<!--foff--></span> %(vocab-disambig)s
%(vocab-meaning)s
%(vocab-sound)s

<!--fon-->%(sentence-furigana)s<!--foff-->
%(sentence-meaning)s
%(sentence-sound)s

%(tags)s %(index)s

<div style="text-align:left; font-size: smaller;">%(sentence-lookup)s</div>

thanks cangy - just what I hoping for.

That will definitely speed up my reviews(as opposed to downloading both vocab and sentences as separate cards)

I just start the first lesson of Core and then do dictation. (You don't have to do all the lessons.)