hey guys, do you guys use the default anki algorithm or do you define your own intervals? the reason I ask this is because the initial default intervals are just too big, wouldn't it be better to use smaller intervals in the beginning and then grow bigger and bigger.

sometimes there are cards that I can't remember no matter what because the intervals are too big.

[s0apgun]

http://www.supermemo.com/help/fi.htm

New Anki 2.0 lets you modify what the deck's forgetting % is.

Percentage of right/wrong though is only important for mature cards. Young cards will always vary. If you are having trouble maturing young cards though it might be something wrong with how you made your cards or how they are set up.

The initial interval is a different issue from the rate of growth.

When I started out with my vocab/sentence deck, I limited failed cards to 3 and set the initial hard interval to a few minutes. I avoided upgrading Anki past 1.0.1 until I stopped needing that.

Now it works for me to show new-and-failed cards in 5 minutes, and then the next day when I pass them.

I am trying to find the optimal way to learn. I am using the pimsleur intevals but reviewing 50 cards at a time can take a long time due to the fact that the intervals grow at a slow rate, this it takes a long time for cards to mature. What appeals to me with the pimsleur intervals is that when I used to listen to the tapes it really worked for me, I can still remember pretty much everything I learned from those tapes.

There is also a another system, you only learn the word once and you review it two weeks later. You are supposed to remember about 30% of words (you learn 25 words at a time) and then two weeks later you review the rest of the cards that you didn't remember and so on.

What I want to know is simply what is the optimal interval for the highest and the best results ?

HelenF Wrote:The initial interval is a different issue from the rate of growth.

When I started out with my vocab/sentence deck, I limited failed cards to 3 and set the initial hard interval to a few minutes. I avoided upgrading Anki past 1.0.1 until I stopped needing that.

Now it works for me to show new-and-failed cards in 5 minutes, and then the next day when I pass them.

You can do that in Anki 2.0 now. You can set how often cards appear initially and then after you fail a learned/mature card. You can set exactly how many minute intervals you want the card to appear in before you consider it learned. Once it's learned, it moves onto days, unless it lapses. It's very useful and maybe that's something you're looking for, OP? Once you learn it very well it's easy to let the cards grow longer between reviews. Yes, sometimes you'll forget, and sometimes cards grow slower if you're less sure.

Tbh, I don't fiddle with the way Anki has it set up (in terms of algorithms). It's hard to get used to at first (especially if you have experience with traditional learning), but once you do, it's easy.