Probably not the answer you want to hear... but...

There's no need to panic when faced with a large stack of cards. Just methodically work your way through them and you'll be back on track in no time.

I would suggest that you just accept the fact that they are going to expire and plan to make some extra time in your schedule when you return to work your way through the expired stacks. This should start with the lowest stack and then you can gradually work your way back up the stacks.

The reason I say this is that the Leitner system is balanced to present the cards just when they need to be reviewed, and if you "pause" the system then you are throwing everything out of synchronization, all the way through the stack. You're really just lying to yourself - telling yourself that something doesn't need reviewed, even though it does.

Of course, the best solution would be if you could continue your reviews while you are away. There are threads which discuss the export of cards to anki, and if you had a laptop then you could take it with you and review from the hard drive.

Otherwise, it's probably a good idea to pop the book into your bag and revise a chapter every time you have a spare few moments. Best of luck whatever you do.

Last edited by Floatingweed5 (2008 February 23, 9:31 am)

Floatingweed5 さん,
Thanks for your reply. Actually I expected something like this, but I preferred to hear it from someone else !?
Do you know where I could find the threads you mentioned?
Also, do you think I can also feed the information back into this site afterwards -- otherwise I would be left out of sync anyhow?

This has happened to me a few times in the last couple months, and yeah, it's kinda painful to have to take two steps back (at least). Shikata ga nai...deshoo ka.

I still use a paper-based system that I started before finding RtK. I use a 4 x 8 reporter's notebook, Gregg Ruled with 21 lines. As I learn new kanji, I write each one on a separate line, followed by a very brief, one-line hint. At the bottom of the page, I write the keyword. e.g.

袋  substitute garments for a sack
傾  person leans a spoon on my head
... ...

sack / lean / ... /


I take the notebook(s) to Staabakusu and use a napkin to cover up the kanji-description pairs while I try to recall from the word lists on the bottom of the page. It works well except for one thing ... it's a sequential system, not random-access, and so it doesn't follow the SRS methodology. But when I am traveling and not plugged in, it's better than nothing.

Hmm...Fabrice, how about a feature to output a print-ready page containing X number of random kanji-description pairs followed by a list of keywords in the same order? Someday/maybe at least...

All I know is that my next mobile device will have to be J-capable (alas my Blackberry is not) so that I can dial up this site from wherever.


Ivan

ziggr wrote:

Heisig mnemonics mean you can be lazy without losing all your hard work.

Absolutely right!  As long as you weren't lazy making the stories.  So a break can be a good gut-check, when you can see which stories need tweaks.