The 8,000-card graveyard
Somebody always has an Anki Korean deck with a number that sounds like a personality.Eight thousand cards. Due: 412. They look tired. They have not spoken Korean this week.SRS is a good machine. It is a terrible teacher if you let it run the whole show.Anki remembers. It does not converse.
What I use it for
Words that already appeared in a chapter. A sentence I failed in conversation. A particle I keep mixing up.That is a closed set. It came from life or from a book. The card is a reminder. Not a first meeting.
If you cannot remember where you saw the word, it probably should not be a card yet.
Shared decks
Shared Anki Korean decks are tempting. Someone else did the work. Frequency lists look scientific.Then you learn 냉장고 before you can say I am tired. The order is not your order.If you insist on a shared deck, choke the new-card count. Ten a day is plenty. Reviews should stay under the time you would actually spend reading.Audio on the card helps. English-only backs turn Korean into a matching game.
Where the minutes should go instead
After reviews, open the book those cards came from. Or speak.A textbook you finish gives Anki something honest to remember. Conversation practice tells you which cards were theater.Easy reading puts the same words in a paragraph. Closer to language than a flash side.If pronunciation is the hole, listen on the site. Not only in the deck. Cards do not teach mouth shape.
A sane Anki Korean routine
Cap new cards. Clear reviews or you cut new cards until you catch up. Never let Anki eat the speaking slot on your study plan.Make cards from yesterday's Korean. Not from a stranger's 10,000 list.A small deck you finish is a tool. A huge deck you fear is a second job.Ummm Anki is useful. I use it. Just don't let it run the week. You may love giant decks. If you don't agree with me, you're absolutely right.
