That's a good question. Personally, I usually go with 2 after I miss it. It seems a bit counter-intuitive really.

alyks wrote:

I only use 1 if I totally and completely forget it. Or if it's something I forget every twenty minutes.

PS. It's very hard to do it wrong.

True. I guess I'm looking for the most efficient way to review, and kind of confused about what I should choose after the error. It's strange. I was reviewing this way for so long and this question just popped up.

After a correct review following a miss if you think that you really can't remember it well, hit 2, but otherwise I would go with 3.

If I find I've missed a card many times, I'll go with a 2 after finally getting it correct after repeated misses.

Also, if I were you, I would use 1 instead of 0 when you miss a card.

Even if I totally miss a card, if I look at the answer and go "Oh yeah!" then it's a 1.  If I look at the answer and think "Huh?" then it's a zero.

I think "0" completely resets the cards progress, and "1" counts as a miss and knocks it back a few levels.  If you miss a 10 month interval card...there is no reason to reset it with a zero unless you completely totally utterly forgot it...Do a 1 instead and you'll get to see it in eight hours.  Then after that, if you get it right, do a 2 or a 3 and anki will pick a decent interval.

If you miss a card, you shouldn't hit two.  For one thing, it will inflate your stats and make them meaningless since it counts as a right answer.   Secondly, you are missing out on a review of the card.  For young cards this is probably not a big deal...the interval is only ten minutes...but for mature cards, the eight hour gap following a "1" is pretty useful.  If you can get it right after eight hours, then choose 2 or 3.

Last edited by johnzep (2008 September 04, 4:50 pm)

Thank you all. I'm not really too concerned with stats. I just care whether or not I learn the card and the most efficient manner.

I'm looking for efficiency because I have a lot of time right now, but in the near future I won't.

I'm with Mcjon01.  I basically use only 1 and 3, 1 is I forgot or made a mistake, 3 if I got it right.  When I started ANKI I was really excited about the different levels and I put too much energy into ranking things.  I also used 2 a lot so I was seeing the same cards frequently.  Then I went on a months vacation and had a huge pile to deal with when I got back.  I switched to a 1 or 3 method just to speed up my progress through the stack and the interesting thing is that I found that for me it worked much better.  No more time wasted deciding what rank to give my answer, and I actually have much better retention rates with items I fail even several times in one day and then put forward on a 3 then when I ranked those difficult items a 2.  That's my experience anyway.

alyks wrote:

We should be clear.
Me: Total fail, 1. Mistake, 2. Difficult, 3. About right, 4. Easy, 5.
Johnzep: Total fail, 0. Mistake, 1. Difficult, 2. About right, 3. Easy 4.

Do you use Anki or a different program?  It doesn't have a 5 right?

But ya, you summed  up my way of doing it exactly.  I pretty much use 1 or 3 the majority of the time.  And 2 if I got it right but was super uncomforable with it.

Here's my take on Anki scoring:

If I'm doing Reading (and pronouncing out loud): "1" if I cannot read the Kanji (pronounce it), when it comes up again in 20 minutes I give it a "2".  If I read it incorrectly first time, but corrected myself before the answer, or it feels like I'm using context to read it properly, then I score a "2", as I did get it right. Read it outloud with no problems, "3". I just don't use "0" or "4".

For Listening (and writing out sentences): "1" if I write the wrong kanji or cannot understand what's being said even after looking at the kana, when it comes around in 20 minutes and I can get it right, then I'll give it a "2" score. I score "2" if I had to look at the written kana despite listening to the audio a number of times. "3" if I can write it out just by listening to it. I may give a "4" if I can write it out just by hearing it once. I do not use "0".

These are my preferences, obviously it's different from others. What I'm doing recently is "writing" out the sentences in my head. It just seems stupid to waste time writing out the sentences. Perhaps soon I'll "type" out the answer, thanks to the hack that allows Dvorak layout for Japanese IME.

To be honest, I'm sure my preferences will change in the future. Right now I went and re converted all my audio to a faster pronunciation (I had it at -5, now it's at 0). Plus, I shrunk some sentences. A big reason for that was I noticed trying to write out every sentence was annoying me (making me not want to review). I realized, "HEY! I know how to write kanji due to RTK, why not just picture the sentence in my head", which meant I wanted a natural pace for the audio.

Point being, decide how you want to rate miss, barely got, understand, and TOO EASY. Don't be afraid to change up your grading methods.

I've been using button 4 far too often, so lately I've tried to be more strict. I already have a pretty good retention rate, but hopefully this will improve it further.

Anyway, I grade my performance thus:

0: I completely forgot the kanji, or misinterpreted the keyword. If this happens, I take the time to improve or rewrite my story for that character, and occasionally add a brief note to the keyword. Example: "handle" ---> "handle (verb)"
I would use this whenever I encounter 零, just to be funny, but somehow that seems like a pretty bad idea.

1: I mixed up two kanji with similar keywords. In this case, I sometimes add a note to the keyword, or replace it with a Japanese word containing the character. I also give myself a 1 if I make a small mistake that could have been avoided if I had paid proper attention. If I find myself clicking the 1 button too often, I eventually consider it a 0 and rewrite the story.

2: I had to think long and hard before writing the character, or wrote the wrong character and then corrected myself before checking the answer. I also use 2 for new cards, regardless of my performance. The only exception is when I come across a new card that's so easy, I just want to get it out of the way, such as 誰 in RtK3.

3: I haven't used this button nearly enough, but I'm trying to make it my default button. Lately, I click this whenever I can simply remember a character and write it quickly and with little or no doubt.

4: Not only can I very easily remember the character when seeing the keyword, but I also know at least one reading for it, and have likely switched to a Japanese keyword. I also use this one for kanji (RtK1, mainly) that I wouldn't be able to forget even if I wanted to, such as the numbers, gall bladder and my name. For sentences, I don't even use this option anymore. If they're that easy, I delete them and replace them with some material that'll actually improve my vocabulary.

Last edited by hknamida (2008 September 09, 9:11 am)

phauna wrote:

Mark it zero!!

Sounds like a plan