I'm thinking about starting an anki deck and adding various sentences that I come across. According to AJATT, you're not supposed to add in english translations, which is a good thing because I'm not going to translate 10 000 sentences. The only problem is that anki is asking me to furnish a translation. I've so far entered random letters, but it's somewhat annoying because anki also wants the random letters to be a unique combination. So, is there a better way to do this?
QuackingShoe
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2008-04-19
Posts: 721
samesong wrote:
You should be supplementing your sentences with definitions to the words and information regarding the given grammatical structures.
If you don't need to add any additional information to understand the sentence, why are you adding it?
I don't supplement my sentences with anything. They're there only so that I'm guaranteed to see the vocabulary and grammar in question again, give me an artificial means by which to make my brain focus on them, and to practice going from reading to kanji.
I also shouldn't need additional information to understand the sentence, because if I don't understand the sentence, it doesn't go in my deck. I learn, then add, not the other way around.
Thanks for your answer Alantin, that's exactly what I was looking for.
You should be supplementing your sentences with definitions to the words and information regarding the given grammatical structures.
If you don't need to add any additional information to understand the sentence, why are you adding it?
I don't plan on adding additional info to my sentences. It's just too long to look up the words in a dictionary then copy the definitions. I think it will be shorter to just look up the words that I forget as I review. Most of the time, the hardest part is remembering the reading of the word and anki already adds that.
It would be great if anki could automatically pull a definition from edict for all the words in a sentence and put it inside a field, separating each word on a different line. It probably wouldn't even be so hard to implement. There could even be an option to exclude words based on their JLPT level.
Last edited by Transparent_Aluminium (2008 November 16, 10:39 am)
yukamina
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2006-01-09
Posts: 761
Transparent_Aluminium wrote:
I don't plan on adding additional info to my sentences. It's just too long to look up the words in a dictionary then copy the definitions. I think it will be shorter to just look up the words that I forget as I review. Most of the time, the hardest part is remembering the reading of the word and anki already adds that.
It would be great if anki could automatically pull a definition from edict for all the words in a sentence and put it inside a field, separating each word on a different line. It probably wouldn't even be so hard to implement. There could even be an option to exclude words based on their JLPT level.
Why don't you use Trinity then? It automatically gets the definitions from edict, so it's really easy to enter sentences and words. Or you could even go without add vocab to the answer field and just use rikaichan for anything you forget. I find if I don't add definitions for new words I'm studying, it forces my brain to hold on to the information, and I remember it.
samesong wrote:
You should be supplementing your sentences with definitions to the words and information regarding the given grammatical structures.
If you don't need to add any additional information to understand the sentence, why are you adding it?
I often do this when I SRS sentences. They're like reading practice. They aren't easy, but if I sit and read them, I'll know what they mean.
Nukemarine
Member
From: 神奈川
Registered: 2007-07-15
Posts: 2347
Kona, it's suggested that you go Japanese definition with no English translation of the sentence as soon as you can. Likely, this is after you've done something like the 700 sentences for Tae Kim's site then perhaps some vocabulary sentences from else where.
You should not start out doing Japanese to Japanese. And even going J-J, you can pick how much you get into it. The benefit though is that when reviewing or even creating your sentences, you are staying in the Japanese mindset. You're using Japanese to better your Japanese.
You're not thinking "Obasan - Aunt or one of your parent's older sister", you're thinking
叔母さん－父か母の姉さん。
小母さんー父か母の妹。
父ー親のうちの、男の方。
At first, do it with words you already know: 車、猫、犬、子供、家、大学校、 etc. As you become comfortable, you'll probably keep it that way.
QuackingShoe
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2008-04-19
Posts: 721
You can do whatever you please, of course, and it depends on what you're trying to achieve. But I don't need English translations for sentences in-deck, and find them distracting and annoying. I also don't need Japanese definitions, don't like going through the effort of picking a specific one out for the specific usage used, and end up not reading them anyway because I already know.
So in both cases, not helpful + mildly annoying = I don't do it.
(Actually, Nukemarine, 叔母さん = 父母の妹, 伯母さん = 父母の姉, and 小母さん is any middle-aged woman. 'cause 叔 has meanings of 'youth' and 伯 is all 'chief' and stuff.)
Last edited by QuackingShoe (2008 November 16, 7:21 pm)
On a related tangent, I've been wondering about a reoccurring theme that keeps popping up in the forums: if I don't understand a sentence, I won't put it in.
I understand not putting in random strings of words that you don't comprehend, but why aren't people attempting to understand a sentence, rather than simply dismissing it and coming back to it later? Is it simply not having the resources available to have your questions answered?
When I come across a sentence I don't understand, I either ask a friend or my Japanese tutor during the week what the meaning is, and then put it into my SRS. I'm sure down the line I would understand the sentence, but I would rather have the concept explained to me now and learn something new.
Am I misconstruing what most are saying about putting off difficult material?
QuackingShoe
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2008-04-19
Posts: 721
We (or I) mean that we only put in sentences that we understand, after having figured out what they mean. Not that we dismiss any sentence we don't understand immediately - of course we attempt to understand new information. We wouldn't be able to learn anything new that way.
This is merely as opposed to putting in sentences that you don't understand even after actively trying, with what resources you have, to understand them, which many find hazardous (eh) or pointless (yeah). Or spending thirty minutes researching something that's far beyond your knowledge, only to end in a tenuous grasp on the sentence that still isn't really benefiting anything, when you could have simply skipped it and kept reading, moving on to passages that are more appropriate for your level of understanding.
So, yes, I believe you're misconstruing, by assuming that we do not attempt to understand.
Last edited by QuackingShoe (2008 November 16, 10:07 pm)
