Anki vs. this site?

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Reply #26 - 2009 December 13, 7:35 pm
Tobberoth Member
From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

meolox wrote:

Tobberoth wrote:

I am helping them by advice them to move over to a superior system.

Once again, you are stating opinion as fact.

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net … ling_blood

Read the part about "Well that's just your opinion".

Reply #27 - 2009 December 13, 8:21 pm
meolox Member
Registered: 2007-08-31 Posts: 386

Tobberoth wrote:

meolox wrote:

Tobberoth wrote:

I am helping them by advice them to move over to a superior system.

Once again, you are stating opinion as fact.

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net … ling_blood

Read the part about "Well that's just your opinion".

You need to learn the difference between a fair opinion and an obstinate one. The thread is delving into flamebait so don't bother replying to my post.

Reply #28 - 2009 December 13, 8:40 pm
Sebastian Member
Registered: 2008-09-09 Posts: 582

Tobberoth wrote:

meolox wrote:

Tobberoth wrote:

I am helping them by advice them to move over to a superior system.

Once again, you are stating opinion as fact.

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net … ling_blood

Read the part about "Well that's just your opinion".

Let's see...

I hate talking to open-minded people.

Back to how much I rule...

Sorry, but that site is dumb.


Hmm, well, going back to the topic of whether Anki is better than RevTK or not, I think it MAY or MAY NOT be. If you think that Anki is better, then, uhh, well that's just your opinion. Anyway it's hard to tell which one is better, since the grass is always greener on the other side. Fortunately, some of the best things in life are better (just like Anki and RevTK), so people can, uhh, try both and choose themselves.

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Reply #29 - 2009 December 13, 11:21 pm
Nii87 Member
From: Australia Registered: 2009-03-27 Posts: 371

Anki has my support. Especially in the long run, its nice to be able to not have to start the intervals from scratch after you finish RtK on this site.

Reply #30 - 2009 December 14, 11:30 am
epsilondelta Member
Registered: 2009-08-19 Posts: 55

Anki has a lot more features (some of which I actually use for Heisig), and you can use it without internet (great for long train rides), but I found the learning curve a bit steeper -- had to consult the "Help" button and Google a few times.

You can always start with this site, and move over to Anki later by using the "reschedule" function on all the cards you already learned, if you ever feel like Koohii's RtK doesn't suffice for your needs.

Reply #31 - 2009 December 14, 12:07 pm
mezbup Member
From: sausage lip Registered: 2008-09-18 Posts: 1681 Website

Only reason Anki is superior is because you can put anything you want into it. A more flexible, long term solution to learning Japanese. I have nothing to say on the spacing algoryhthms.

Reply #32 - 2009 December 14, 12:22 pm
resolve Member
From: 山口 Registered: 2007-05-29 Posts: 919 Website

Neither is "superior", just different, and there's nothing stopping you from using both for different tasks. For many people, what RTK lacks in flexibility is more than made up for by the excellent community integration and easy to use interface.

Reply #33 - 2009 December 14, 12:27 pm
nest0r Member
Registered: 2007-10-19 Posts: 5236 Website

There are quite a few threads already like this one. Useful for discussing practical study ideas, but remember that resolve and Fabrice have both worked hard on their projects, each with different goals, so try to be tactful? Especially since they're both 'here' in a way, as you can see. ;p

I think RevTK's best when you're starting out, unless you're the type who just wants to dive into customizations and dig into software, rather than being kind of overwhelmed and new to it all at first. Plus there's plenty of plugins and whatever Fabrice is doing to enhance the overall site, so it's not hard to customize in a streamlined way. Not that Anki is terribly complicated, but it does require a slightly different perspective.

Personally, I stopped using RevTK's SRS after I contributed stories and passed most of my cards to the final stack. That is, I stopped reviewing individual kanji when I switched to learning their readings in context in Anki. Till then, I had a sense of everything being simple and integrated in a pleasant gold and blue online home--i.e. the forum/stories/cards, and once I was ready to move on, I went on to Anki for other stuff, as some people mentioned.

Last edited by nest0r (2009 December 14, 12:31 pm)

Reply #34 - 2009 December 14, 1:33 pm
Tobberoth Member
From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

Nothing stops you from enjoying the stories and community here just because you're doing your SRSing in Anki. And I don't agree that any harsh things has been said, though I realize everyone is referring to me. But think about this for a second: When Microsoft makes a software which is hard to use, is anyone thinking "Man, that's harsh, they worked really hard" instead of criticizing it? I don't think so. And yes, Fabrice did this site for free and makes no profit outside of donations, so it's different. But I didn't say this site isn't well made and I didn't say anything bad about Fabrice. I just said that when you're SRSing seriously, you will need a lot of features this site lacks. Either he will add features or he won't, nothing bad said about Fabrice in the process.

I'm a coder myself and I've made websites before. I know it's not fun when people claim there's better stuff out there, but if you're actively developing stuff, criticism is nothing you can be afraid off.

Reply #35 - 2009 December 14, 1:40 pm
mezbup Member
From: sausage lip Registered: 2008-09-18 Posts: 1681 Website

I think whether or not you used Anki or this site, everyone is extremely grateful this place exists smile

Reply #36 - 2009 December 14, 1:41 pm
Tobberoth Member
From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

mezbup wrote:

I think whether or not you used Anki or this site, everyone is extremely grateful this place exists smile

Definitely. I may not use the actual site anymore (I do look up stories for unknown kanji I run across from time to time though) but this forum and community is priceless.

Reply #37 - 2009 December 14, 3:07 pm
ファブリス Administrator
From: Belgium Registered: 2006-06-14 Posts: 4021 Website

Thank you, Resolve.

Tobberoth wrote:

When Microsoft makes a software which is hard to use, is anyone thinking "Man, that's harsh, they worked really hard" instead of criticizing it?

That's not the point. But nestOr put it very well already (quoted above by IceCream).

I know I was a little on the defensive, I knew it even as I replied. But I thought your post wasn't fair. Of course I don't expect people to say only positive things about the website.

However, if you're essentially saying that part of the site is completely useless, in the website's community forum,  I would expect to see at least a little bit of fair criticism.

Reply #38 - 2009 December 14, 4:46 pm
Tobberoth Member
From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

ファブリス wrote:

Thank you, Resolve.

Tobberoth wrote:

When Microsoft makes a software which is hard to use, is anyone thinking "Man, that's harsh, they worked really hard" instead of criticizing it?

That's not the point. But nestOr put it very well already (quoted above by IceCream).

I know I was a little on the defensive, I knew it even as I replied. But I thought your post wasn't fair. Of course I don't expect people to say only positive things about the website.

However, if you're essentially saying that part of the site is completely useless, in the website's community forum,  I would expect to see at least a little bit of fair criticism.

I never called it useless, though I did claim it an inferior SRS system to Anki and my criticism was quite obvious: Lack of features and customization. I even said that Anki needs knowledge to be used to its full potential, implying that this site doesn't. I could have written a detailed post with all the reasons why I find Anki superior, but I don't see the point really. If I wanted this site to change and become more like Anki, I could, but I don't. I don't believe in web apps as complicated as Anki, and I know this site would become horribly hard to use if all the features I want and need be supported here. To put it another way, for a website SRS system dedicated to RtK, this site is more or less perfect (some vital features lacking, but I know you're working on them). Unfortunately, IMO a website dedicated to one thing will never be as useful as an all-round SRS application which can be customized and extended. And this is my criticism, which I find fair.

Reply #39 - 2009 December 14, 6:00 pm
ファブリス Administrator
From: Belgium Registered: 2006-06-14 Posts: 4021 Website

Fair enough wink   And I agree, RevTK does lack a lot of customization and features compared to Anki and other desktop or mobile-based SRS'es (with or without online interface).

Hopefully I'll address one of the most critically missing feature (editable flashcard keywords) with the next release.

Reply #40 - 2009 December 14, 7:42 pm
epsilondelta Member
Registered: 2009-08-19 Posts: 55

Tobberoth wrote:

Nothing stops you from enjoying the stories and community here just because you're doing your SRSing in Anki.

mezbup wrote:

I think whether or not you used Anki or this site, everyone is extremely grateful this place exists smile

Let me second both of these.  Even though I'm using Anki for the actual SRS'ing, this site is an invaluable resource for me!

Thanks Fabrice!  And everyone who contributed stories too! smile *bows-politely*

Reply #41 - 2009 December 14, 9:28 pm
Sebastian Member
Registered: 2008-09-09 Posts: 582

Tobberoth wrote:

I never called it useless, though I did claim it an inferior SRS system to Anki and my criticism was quite obvious: Lack of features and customization.

You're being unfair by comparing pears and apples. Anki is a general-purpose SRS, while RevTK is a specific SRS for people using Remembering the Kanji, no more, no less.

Now, thinking only on the scope shared by both tools (RTK), this site is a marvelous tool, specially for people who study RTK for the first time (i.e. people using the original keywords who don't have yet stories for all the kanji). The story sharing system has been in my experience (and I'm sure it's the same for lots of people) irreplaceable, and the single element with the greatest impact in my learning (together with the SRS itself), and that is something that you just can't get replacing this site completely with Anki. You can, of course, use this site stories while using Anki as your SRS, but that would be too cumbersome, unless you don't have internet access.

On the other hand, I personally like the way this site displays the different boxes graphically, because it shows me my progress (or lack of it) in a simple and friendly way, and allows me to manage my cards in a way that Anki doesn't (for example, using different criteria for "passing" a card according to in which box it is).

Of course, you can disagree with me and that's ok, the problem was that you stated as fact something that is only your opinion without being clear on your reasons, and that you were rather rude in expressing your view.

Fabrice, thanks a lot for your hard work, this site and community have being of great importance in my learning, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one.

The main feature that would take RevTK to the next level would be offline access (using Google Gears probably, I don't know much about programming). Fabrice, if you are too busy (and I can imagine you are) to work on that, I'm sure there must be people here who would love to give you a helping hand, if you are interested in sharing a bit of your workload with them.

Reply #42 - 2009 December 15, 1:36 am
nest0r Member
Registered: 2007-10-19 Posts: 5236 Website

epsilondelta wrote:

Tobberoth wrote:

Nothing stops you from enjoying the stories and community here just because you're doing your SRSing in Anki.

mezbup wrote:

I think whether or not you used Anki or this site, everyone is extremely grateful this place exists smile

Let me second both of these.  Even though I'm using Anki for the actual SRS'ing, this site is an invaluable resource for me!

Thanks Fabrice!  And everyone who contributed stories too! smile *bows-politely*

You did not bow deep enough! We are insulted!

Reply #43 - 2009 December 15, 7:39 am
ファブリス Administrator
From: Belgium Registered: 2006-06-14 Posts: 4021 Website

Sebastian wrote:

The main feature that would take RevTK to the next level would be offline access (using Google Gears probably, I don't know much about programming). Fabrice, if you are too busy (and I can imagine you are) to work on that, I'm sure there must be people here who would love to give you a helping hand, if you are interested in sharing a bit of your workload with them.

We are getting there, slowly but surely..

The next release will finally be under version control with Git.

I will soon push my first public project on Github. A build tool used to compile RevTK's front-end code.

The next Github public project will be a package of all the front end "framework" code from RevTK. This will already open some possibilities from contributions, eg. if you want to fix the javascript dialogs for your iPhone, or some obscure browser,.. or add some front-end only features that fit into the site.

The rest.. let's do one thing at a time wink

Reply #44 - 2009 December 15, 10:13 am
Verdana New member
From: USA Registered: 2009-02-13 Posts: 8

I use both Anki and this site and it works great for me so far (1600 kanji). When I study, I have RTK book open, so I can check there if there are any new primitives. If not, I just use the RevTK's study section to get (copy/paste) the new kanji/keyword/story. If I find a story that resonates well with me, I copy it below the keyword in Anki and make the text white so I can't see it while I review. If I can't find a good story, I write my own and share it unless it's too personal.

It takes about 1-3 minutes to learn a new kanji this way. RevTK is irreplaceable in that process. However, I like Anki because I also have kana and sentences decks in it as well as some other subjects that I'm currently learning and are not related to Japanese.

The main reason I'm using Anki for kanji instead of this site is that I started using Anki before I stumbled upon RevTK, so I didn't feel like starting the kanji from the beginning again, even though I was only at kanji 150 or so.

Thanks to everyone for the great work! It's very much appreciated!

Reply #45 - 2010 January 17, 10:02 pm
igomadness Member
Registered: 2009-03-26 Posts: 29

I started on Anki,  but was unable to sync at work due to a firewall.

I was able to use this site at work, so I switched over.

Once I made the switch I realized how useful it was to be able to browse through more stories,  So I think I would prefer this site regardless of the firewall.

Reply #46 - 2010 January 17, 11:51 pm
LegionOfDeicide Member
From: USA Registered: 2009-02-07 Posts: 69

Tobberoth wrote:

meolox wrote:

Tobberoth wrote:

I am helping them by advice them to move over to a superior system.

Once again, you are stating opinion as fact.

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net … ling_blood

Read the part about "Well that's just your opinion".

Man, Maddox is awesome. Uguhguhg I can't stand it when people say to me, " Well that is just your opinion!" They deserve the good ol' one-two shut the hell up.

But IN MY OPINION, ( although it is blatantly obvious ) this site and its forum kick a lot of ass. I use it to help me with RthK 3. The shared stories feature is a god send. And the people on this forum are great help. So thanks Fabrice and everyone else!