Finding remembering vocab readings much more difficult than kanji (though meanings seem pretty easy thus far), I decided to search for and read threads on initial memorization (ie, how to sustain the memory long enough to last Anki's first interval, which is ~8hrs by default and practically means 1day).

It seems some people have success with Iverson's method or other variations of word lists, but as far as i can tell, fundamentally, a word list is equivalent to flashcards. Going down a column doing L1->L2 and then down a column doing L2->L1 is the same as doing all your L1->L2 cards and then your L2->L1 cards. Ergo, doing word lists is just SRSing with a primitive algorithm (eg, 'everything is due now' ) but with more dead trees.

The 'Learn Mode' plugin creates a temporary deck, copies over a selection of cards of your choosing (or just the next 7), and sets the interval settings to very low. With the right settings (or perhaps even some modifications to Anki's scheduling algorithm), it should be far more efficient than any word list method. Not to mention the ease of adding notes, images, sounds, videos, or other information on your cards (if you so choose). That said, I'm sure the default settings are non-optimal.

So who all uses this plugin, or has used it but given up on it (if so, why)? Use it with your own custom intervals? Have suggestions for tweaking or extending it in some way? Solving the initial memorization problem by some other means?

I tried it once but it kept picking random cards no matter what was newest or what I tagged, so I just gave up on it. It's a good idea in theory but I suspect I might have found it a little slow & tedious once the novelty wore off. 100 is the new 7.

harhol Wrote:I tried it once but it kept picking random cards no matter what was newest or what I tagged, so I just gave up on it. It's a good idea in theory but I suspect I might have found it a little slow & tedious once the novelty wore off. 100 is the new 7.

When I tried it, I would open the card browser and select some cards, then do Actions>Learn, which seems to work great. Maybe it's other method of selecting cards (Tools>Learn on the main deck window) doesn't work right? Good to know if that's the case.

harhol Wrote:100 is the new 7.

What do you mean by this? If you use the deck browser method, you can select as many cards as you want (eg, I did a batch of 30 once, to experiment). Or perhaps you meant something else?