Title says it all What are you guys's opinions on putting stories on the front of flashcards as opposed to on the back? And upside down or not?

Back of the card, or hidden* on the front.

If you can't write the kanji, with or without the story, and you can't write it because you can't remember the story. Then its a fail. If you want real world application for your work with the RTK, this is what you should be doing.

*: Enclose the "Story" field on your card template like this, on the front.

Code:

*<span style="visibility:hidden" onmouseover="visibility:visible">{{Story}}</span>*

This will hide the story by default but you can mouse over it and have it appear if need be. (I can't test this right now but that HTML code should work) But if you still have to check the story (unhide it) cause you can't remember it, in order to write the kanji, its a fail.

EDIT: Clarification

Point taken I was just curious.

The decision whether or not needing to look at the story counts as a fail is debatable.

I've so far been failing cards that I need the story for, but I've recently just switched to passing them, *as long* as I get the character right.

I'd say try whatever you like and see how it goes. If you're failing too much, consider passing with the story. If you're forgetting mature cards often, consider failing with the story. Or strike a balance.

amillerchip Wrote:The decision whether or not needing to look at the story counts as a fail is debatable.

I've so far been failing cards that I need the story for, but I've recently just switched to passing them, *as long* as I get the character right.

I'd say try whatever you like and see how it goes. If you're failing too much, consider passing with the story. If you're forgetting mature cards often, consider failing with the story. Or strike a balance.

The point of RTK is to be able to write the characters, though many people would argue its also simply just to attach a keyword with every kanji. In its original incarnation it was writing so that is what I will go on here.

If you can remember a character from the keyword alone; awesome! Pass it.
If you can remember a character from the story+keyword; awesome! Pass it
If you can't remember the character at all from story OR keyword; crap. Fail it.

To fail a card because you can't remember the story (but can write the kanji) is stupid. The goal is to be able to remember the kanji and write them. Period.

vix86 Wrote:... and you can't write it because you can't remember the story. Then its a fail...

But if you still have to check the story cause you can't remember it in order to write the kanji, its a fail.

vix86 Wrote:If you can remember a character from the story+keyword; awesome! Pass it
...
To fail a card because you can't remember the story is stupid. The goal is to be able to remember the kanji and write them. Period.

You seem to be contradicting yourself? The first quote is why I wrote my response. The second one I agree with. :-)

There's no contradiction. That part of my post was refering to the code for hiding the story. What I meant was, using that HTML makes the story hidden. If you have to check that story (un-hide) in order to pass the card, its still a fail since you were not able to recall the story on your own. It goes without saying that your story should be decent enough that when you see it you can go "Oh ya~."

I never bothered to write down my stories, neither on anki or on this site, I just don't see the point in doing so. If I forget the story, I can just come back to this site and check the shared stories for kanji in question, and I quickly remember what my story was (or I just create a new one).