"Tower of Babelfish" method: heavy Anki use

[제이]

http://lifehacker.com/5903288/i-learned-to-speak-four-languages-in-a-few-years-heres-how

http://www.towerofbabelfish.com/Tower_of_Babelfish/Welcome.html

This method relies a lot on memorization and Anki. Both of which I've tried before but can never seem to commit myself to as I find it takes forever to make the cards. Like I spent like an hour just making flashcards for native Korean numbers one time.

Your opinions on this method and heavy-memorization for Korean?

[hwana]

It's probably not for everyone but I also swear by this method. I have a terrible memory and rely on Anki to keep prodding my brain on a regular basis. The frustrating "I've studied this word but can't remember it now" feeling that I used to often have in a conversation basically doesn't happen any more - if it's in Anki then 99% of the time I know it and can recall the word I want at will. It's a time commitment but in my case at least, I think it definitely pays off.

I'm up to almost 3000 cards now and usually add between 5 and 10 new cards a day. I usually have around 60 reviews per day which takes 20-30 minutes.

BTW once you get accustomed to using Anki, adding a card shouldn't take more than 20 or 30 seconds - can't fathom how you spent an hour making cards just for numbers?!

[제이]

It's probably not for everyone but I also swear by this method. I have a terrible memory and rely on Anki to keep prodding my brain on a regular basis. The frustrating "I've studied this word but can't remember it now" feeling that I used to often have in a conversation basically doesn't happen any more - if it's in Anki then 99% of the time I know it and can recall the word I want at will. It's a time commitment but in my case at least, I think it definitely pays off.

I'm up to almost 3000 cards now and usually add between 5 and 10 new cards a day. I usually have around 60 reviews per day which takes 20-30 minutes.

Do you use pictures like they recommend? Or sentences? Or just one word? I've heard of numerous different methods. Like "don't include the translation, just the sentence" etc.

Also, I always feel like I start dozing off as soon as I start breaking out the flashcards, but usually when I study them I go pretty hard with it. Maybe shorter and more frequent is better.

BTW once you get accustomed to using Anki, adding a card shouldn't take more than 20 or 30 seconds - can't fathom how you spent an hour making cards just for numbers?!

I have slow Korean typing I think. And I don't know if it took an hour exactly but it just felt like an hour, lol.

[hwana]

Do you use pictures like they recommend? Or sentences? Or just one word? I've heard of numerous different methods. Like "don't include the translation, just the sentence" etc.

For simple noun flashcards a picture is great - I agree that it's a good idea to keep English translations away from the deck as much as possible. Most of my deck is composed of sentences though, which show the word I'm trying to learn in context (especially important for verbs, where the usage might depend on the situation). An important concept to bear in mind when adding new sentences is "i+1", which means each new sentence should only include one unknown item (if possible!)

I usually don't include an English translation of the entire sentence as it's much more beneficial to understand the Korean as-is. I do include translations of individual words on the back of the card, and of course you'll probably translate some words back to English in your mind when you read the sentence. But, not having the full translation there in front of you will help in the long run!

This works well with grammar-based cards. There are many Korean grammar points which don't always correspond exactly with an English equivalent, so including a translation is often a futile exercise anyway. So long as you can understand the meaning of the Korean sentence, each time you review it you're creating a connection in your mind between the particular situation and suitable grammar to express it. It's hard to explain this process, but in the long-term should lead to you having an intuition for when to use which grammar/vocabulary based on what is appropriate, rather than having to go back and forth between English and Korean. For new grammar points, I usually add at least 5 new cards (using mostly vocabulary I'm familiar with) to help become familiar with it.

Something I've been trying for the last few months and have found very effective is cloze-deletion. This means omitting the word you are studying from the sentence and having to recall it from memory. In it's place you could put a translation if necessary, or just leave it blank if you'll be able to remember the word from the context. I personally usually replace the word with hanja, with the hangul on the back of the card. For example, from a recent card:

Card front:

에너지 절약을 [弘報]하기 위해 가수들이 출연한다

Card back:

에너지 절약을 홍보하기 위해 가수들이 출연한다

홍보하다 [弘報] : publicise


Anki has a tool for creating cloze-deletion cards which saves a lot of time.

I have slow Korean typing I think. And I don't know if it took an hour exactly but it just felt like an hour, lol

haha.. I know the feeling. Your typing speed will improve quickly if you're making a lot of cards though, so it'll get easier  :)

[Aqvm]

I didn't like flashcards at first but now I use them pretty heavily. One thing that helped me get started was learning all of the names of Korean foods and ingredients. It's really easy to make a picture/Korean Anki deck of Korean foods. No more trouble ordering at restaurants and you'll always have something to talk about during school lunches. Every Korean likes to talk about Korean food.

[Mark van]

These anki flashcards are AMAZING. After reading this thread I installed Anki on my computer and smartphone and gave it a try. Remembering vocabulary is very difficult for me but after using the flashcard interval recall method I could easily remember.

There are three things to be careful of. People are lazy (like me) and don't want to make hundreds of flashcards so it's very easy to download a deck. For example I just downloaded a 3000 word deck to use in Anki. These decks are pointless to learn because you might as well be learning from the dictionary. Find a deck that is relevant to your level or a deck that comes from a Korean textbook. The grammar and vocab from there is much better. Be careful there are often spelling mistakes. The meaning of the word can also have varied meaning and your interpretation of the English answer isn't necessarily correct. Use Google translate to check! But a co-teacher is better :D

I've found the smartphone app "AnyMemo" a little bit better than Anki. With Anymemo you can also download decks from many different sources. Don't get discouraged by bad decks, just download another or make changes to the deck as you work through it :)

[제이]

These anki flashcards are AMAZING. After reading this thread I installed Anki on my computer and smartphone and gave it a try. Remembering vocabulary is very difficult for me but after using the flashcard interval recall method I could easily remember.

There are three things to be careful of. People are lazy (like me) and don't want to make hundreds of flashcards so it's very easy to download a deck. For example I just downloaded a 3000 word deck to use in Anki. These decks are pointless to learn because you might as well be learning from the dictionary. Find a deck that is relevant to your level or a deck that comes from a Korean textbook. The grammar and vocab from there is much better. Be careful there are often spelling mistakes. The meaning of the word can also have varied meaning and your interpretation of the English answer isn't necessarily correct. Use Google translate to check! But a co-teacher is better :D

I've found the smartphone app "AnyMemo" a little bit better than Anki. With Anymemo you can also download decks from many different sources. Don't get discouraged by bad decks, just download another or make changes to the deck as you work through it :)

I'm trying anki again, and you're right. Downloading a deck and trying to learn from that really is like reading a dictionary. That's why I think I thought it was so boring before.

I have a set of picture flashcards now, as well as a few sentences and stuff thrown in. I think making the cards on the front-end is pretty tiring, but once you get it going it is very minimal work to put a few in every day.

I don't know too much about this guys "Babelfish" method, as trying to get pictures to associate with certain words is a pain, and I still find myself translating in my head.  Also, Google Image Search is perverted. Even something as innocuous as 농구 or  올라가다 gets some pretty NSFW pics

[hunterst]

I tried using Anki, but didn't like its interface.  I use quizlet.com now.  You can make decks, and download tons, and it has some word games you can play to help you remember, as well as a testing function, and you can easily combine decks to test how well you know everything. 

[제이]

I tried using Anki, but didn't like its interface.  I use quizlet.com now.  You can make decks, and download tons, and it has some word games you can play to help you remember, as well as a testing function, and you can easily combine decks to test how well you know everything.

Hmm I haven't tried quizlet yet but I will give it a shot. It seems like the interface is a little easier to use although less flexible. Also, it has more community features. However, I don't know how quizlet will handle things like cloze questions, or when I go back to studying Japanese, Kanji with readings.

Anki is kind of a pain in the ass to set up, but with a little research I think it works well.

[furtakk]

I don't have too much extra time between class/work, so I just use Anki for the Sogang vocab at the moment. It definitely helps, but seeing it in context helps the vocab stick more. I don't have too much time to get creative with decks so I just do word/english translation at the moment. Works fine for now as I see a lot of the vocab in the readings and listenings.

[SpaceRook]

I've had a love-hate relationship with Anki for several years.  Now that I have a smart phone and the Anki app, I love it again.  The convenience fits my style perfectly.  I can review cards while eating breakfast, or on the bus. 

Yes, pre-made decks are pretty useless.  You need to use words that are relevant to you.  Every day, I find the most important Korean email I received and add the 5 most useful-looking words to my Anki list. 

[Meat_Sanchez]

I'm not a huge fan of flash cards but I found some nice sites for my Japanese studies.  I think I might try it for Korean.