Norman
Member
From: Japan
Registered: 2012-02-19
Posts: 146
After RTK 1, I have been working at a snail's pace from the textbook Reading Japanese (A.D. 1976). This historical masterpiece is full of drills that will wear and tear even the most dedicated learner. I am tempted into giving "iKnow" a try, just to get a jump start in motivation. Has anyone had any negative/positive experiences with the site? Will it help with learning a great deal?
SomeCallMeChris
Member
From: Massachusetts USA
Registered: 2011-08-01
Posts: 787
I was on smart.fm and used iknow for as long as my free period lasted when smart.fm turned into iknow and started charging money. I liked the apps and the core vocabulary sets with their example sentences, it's reasonably effective training.
However, the example sentences and photographs, etc., were released under a creative commons license, and you could study that material in Anki (as Core 1k/2k/6k/10k).
I did feel that the iKnow interface was a good learning environment, but not really worth paying that rate for. You also have to consider that your progress would then be recorded on a subscription site, and you'd have to -keep- subscribing to keep reviewing. I prefer local applications for building vocabulary.
Anyway, iKnow didn't, when I used it, offer any learning experience -other- than vocabulary building through a variety of quizzes.
You should probably consider picking up Genki or Japanese for Everyone or Japanese the Manga Way, three popular choices for self-learning. I'm not familiar with the textbook you mentioned, probably because nobody ever recommends it. You also may want to work through Tae Kim's guide at http://www.guidetojapanese.org ; it may suffice as a way to learn grammar for you, or at least provide another way of presenting material that can be contrasted with a textbook.
Last edited by SomeCallMeChris (2013 March 31, 10:55 pm)
sholum
Member
Registered: 2011-09-19
Posts: 265
If you think 1000円 a month (that's what it was when they first went back to a pay model. I don't know if they've changed it) for a prettier Anki is worth it, go ahead and try it. It's a decent system, I just don't think it's worth that much for what you get.
Whether they were released under a CC license or not, there have been no actions against the proliferation of the decks in free services like Anki. This suggests either that they were published under Creative Commons or that no one cares, which implies consent.
Basically, no one gives a care whether you access the decks through Anki or iKnow.
Last edited by sholum (2013 April 02, 3:20 pm)
NinKenDo
Member
From: Australia
Registered: 2011-12-21
Posts: 42
Love iKnow, my studies wouldn't be the same without it. Since I've begun using it, I've found my listening comprehension is significantly better, probably due not only to my expanded vocabulary, but the listening practice, and the different grammatical structures iKnow demonstrates. For me, it's a must.
NinKenDo wrote:
Love iKnow, my studies wouldn't be the same without it. Since I've begun using it, I've found my listening comprehension is significantly better, probably due not only to my expanded vocabulary, but the listening practice, and the different grammatical structures iKnow demonstrates. For me, it's a must.
I am near the end of my... wait it's July... my iknow sub has ended 
I did feel it helps with listening and I have good recall rates for the items I covered on iknow in Anki. Still I feel the entire setup can be cloned and tweaked inside Anki by using different card types.
Basically you can similuate iknow by creating cards like this:
Kanji, Kana, Sound -> Translation
Kanji -> Kana *
Kanji -> English *
Kana (just sound on iknow) -> English
English -> Kana (just say the word or think of the sound)
These two are somewhat more difficult in Anki, but can be done with the whiteboard:
Kana -> Kanji
English -> Kanji
* You could do these 2 as simply Kanji -> Kana, English, aka the standard recognition card.
Then use the sentences ala subs2srs:
Sound/Sentence -> Translation
Or even mimic them completely with a closed delete.
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So many cards is probably overkill! You'd probably be better off selecting a few and increasing the intervals. If you wanted to do the initial iknow card "Kanji, Kana, Sound -> Translation" I'd consider having it in a separate deck with much higher intervals, as I don't think it's possible to show a card only once/twice in Anki.
