I just started (up to frame 70) and have been exclusively using this website for study? Is this a bas idea? So far, things seam to be going pretty well. I have like an 80% retention rate. But I read about people doing all this other stuff, and it make me worry. Should I be doing more? Do I need to make paper flash cards?

No. It seems like you're still in the -I don't feel secure with this weird SRS business- stage. You may feel like you're not doing any studying at all, and like you should be studying more and more. That's how I felt when I first found the site.

Just trust the site (or anki, if you decided to use that instead). It's designed to be used on its own like that. Memorize the stories/kanji however you want, go through them on the site, and forget about them until the next day. You don't have to dwell on things...

Long time ago I used paper flashcards to learn hiragana & katakana and got really good results from them. After about 7 years when I began studying again I only had to refresh hiragana (katakana was always a problem), it was that good.

But I can't imagine working with paper flashcards on larger decks (kanji, vocabulary or sentences) that contain thousands of cards.

Polarcloud has a preformatted RtK flashcard deck that you can print. Takes an entire black ink cartridge though.

I use paper flashcards because I like to do my studying wheverever I happen to be. If you pull out the flashcards you keep failing or need to work on you can study them anywhere.

I also use them for my first review when learning new kanji. Write the stories, then use the cards to test the stories and make sure they work.

While I swear by them, they don't work for everyone. Stick with the no flashcards option a little longer and ask yourself if you really NEED them. You have to weigh the use you'll get out of them against the incredible pain in the a## that it's going to take you to do 2000+ flashcards.

It may not be worth it.

adoette Wrote:Polarcloud has a preformatted RtK flashcard deck that you can print. Takes an entire black ink cartridge though.

I use paper flashcards because I like to do my studying wheverever I happen to be. If you pull out the flashcards you keep failing or need to work on you can study them anywhere.

I also use them for my first review when learning new kanji. Write the stories, then use the cards to test the stories and make sure they work.

While I swear by them, they don't work for everyone. Stick with the no flashcards option a little longer and ask yourself if you really NEED them. You have to weigh the use you'll get out of them against the incredible pain in the a## that it's going to take you to do 2000+ flashcards.

It may not be worth it.

If you have an Android phone or an iTouch/iPhone/whatever iThing you can study on the go with the AnkiMobile app or AnkiDroid. They're lovely - I use them to study whenever I'm roving around or bored in class.

The advantage with flashcards made form papers is that you have to write them out -- which improves retention for kinesthetic learners.

nohika Wrote:If you have an Android phone or an iTouch/iPhone/whatever iThing you can study on the go with the AnkiMobile app or AnkiDroid. They're lovely - I use them to study whenever I'm roving around or bored in class.

Downside being that not everyone has one. (Oh iPod touch, why is your warranty so short? Why do you suck so hard now?)

Plus paper flashcards never run low on batteries xD

(Couldn't resist)

gyuujuice Wrote:The advantage with flashcards made form papers is that you have to write them out -- which improves retention for kinesthetic learners.

I just write out kanji when I review them, it's even better though because you don't just do it once

adoette Wrote:

nohika Wrote:If you have an Android phone or an iTouch/iPhone/whatever iThing you can study on the go with the AnkiMobile app or AnkiDroid. They're lovely - I use them to study whenever I'm roving around or bored in class.

Downside being that not everyone has one. (Oh iPod touch, why is your warranty so short? Why do you suck so hard now?)

Plus paper flashcards never run low on batteries xD

(Couldn't resist)

True. xD I'm OCD about charging things. I'm a college student that keeps all my work-work on my laptop, so I almost always 99% of the time have it on me, so it's not too hard to do a few reviews if I need to.

But I do understand not everyone does that. I'm just a hardcore nerd, I guess.

I'm just joshing nohika.

And also poking fun at myself. (Me who never charges my cell)
And also poking hate at my iPod (which refuses to hold a bloody charge)

If I had a droid/working Touch, I'd probably use the lovely programs on those as well. There's something to be said for the control of a paper flashcard though. I decide what I'm going to review and when.

Though when you start getting halfway through... it gets hard to shuffle 1000 some odd pieces of paper. They stick together.

Less burboun at the study desk maybe?? Inquiring minds.

And with that, I bid you adieu. For at least an hour. I'll never finish this data entry stuff if I keep getting distracted by the internets.

"I just write out kanji when I review them, it's even better though because you don't just do it once "

True -- Do you write them out on paper or trace them with your finger like me?

gyuujuice Wrote:"I just write out kanji when I review them, it's even better though because you don't just do it once "

True -- Do you write them out on paper or trace them with your finger like me?

I do it on paper (standard graph paper, I use 2x2 squares per character with a Pilot G2 Pen). I like the process, and also this allows me to catch subtle mistakes (like a missed stroke somewhere). If I don't actually write it on on paper, I won't be sure if I got everything right on my review, or if my brain just re-adjusted what I *thought* I wrote down after looking at the answer. I like to think it also makes my writing more legible and fast over time

When I did RTK1, I used paper index cards (still have them, in 2 shoeboxes) for the initial learning, then I would use this site for the actual reviews. Sort of the best of both worlds for me. I used the physical act of having to write it down and think about the story with the paper cards to help get it in my brain, then used those cards for a few days as a "cram mode" to get them in my head, then used this site to keep them there.

Oh, and I wrote reviews out, too. I have a foot-tall stack of paper somewhere that I kept with all of my reviews on it, because... well, I don't know why now. I just used copier paper and a pencil... then switched to a Sailor Profit brush pen when I got bored with that. Helped my calligraphy a bit, and kept me from getting bored. (The Sailor brush pens are nice, because cartridges are relatively cheap and easy to obtain by mail order in the US. So are the pens.)

Change things up, and fight off boredom. That's kind of my approach to the whole thing.

I have a brush pen too but I found that I go through the ink way too fast. So it's more of a think I do for fun (maybe once a week or so I'll write out my reviews using it). Pencils work fine, but I found back when I had a lot of reviews, my fingers would get sore from the pressure you have to apply constantly to write with a pencil. Gel pens ftw

I kind of wish I kept my review papers, would have been fun to look at... I have close to 100k reviews (all of which were written out). Would be neat to know how that looks like.