Dr. Anki or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace Multiple Decks (GUEST POST!)

A special guest post from Step Up Japanese student Phil Kinchington!

Anki is a flashcard app that uses a Spaced Repetition System (SRS) to help you learn and memorise information by creating strong, long-lasting memories. It does this by aiming to present you with a flashcard exactly at the point you were about to forget it.

You should be able to recall the information, but at a slight stretch. If you remember the card correctly, it will increase the length of time before it shows it to you again. If you can’t remember (or remember incorrectly) it will show it to you again sooner. It was originally developed for language learning (being named after the Japanese word for ‘memorisation’) but has since been applied to many subjects, including medical studies.

While I saw Anki mentioned and recommended everywhere, I could never figure out a way to use it that really worked for me. Some people recommended that you should download a pre-made deck to match the textbook you are using (there is a huge library of decks submitted by users accessible from within Anki.) But I felt this would mean that it would start automatically adding vocabulary past the point I’d got to in the book.

(Note from Fran - you can “suspend” all the cards and manually “unsuspend” them as you work your way through a textbook, although I appreciate this is a bit fiddly!)

A lot of people recommended that you should use a single deck, and dump everything you came across into it, which seems a bit too messy for my liking. Also, I'd then be constantly having the dilemma of "do I put this in, or is it not worth it, or how can I add this in a meaningful way, that I'd understand why it was there when I came back to it?"

A big part of the problem is how open and flexible the system is. Anki doesn’t guide you or force you to work with it in a specific way, and the design of the cards is almost infinitely configurable. Of course, this is also the reason it has been possible to adapt it for so many different subjects.

I’d pretty much given up trying, and then I discovered the Alivia’s Japanese Nook YouTube channel. On that channel Alivia has a video specifically about using Anki to study Japanese that has been very useful to me. It's a bit long, as it covers every detail of how to use it, and exactly how she has all the settings configured. But if you’ve never used Anki at all, it’s a very good guide to getting it set up and starting to use it.

As a result of watching this video, I have developed a way of using Anki that seems to be working for me. I have multiple decks. Firstly I have a 'Genki' deck, which I'm manually populating with the vocabulary from the vocab pages in each chapter. This way, I can control how far ahead it goes. The other deck is the one recommended in this video called 'JLPT Tango N5 MIA Japanese' (it is a deck that has been built to go along with the JLPT Tango N5 study book*.) Over a month later and it still seems to be working for me, which is better than I've ever managed with it - every time I've tried, I've bounced off pretty hard and pretty fast.

The JLPT deck mostly uses the vocabulary in phrases, which is more useful for remembering and understanding the usage (although, I've just been through a batch where it felt it was essential to go through every month of the year, and also a whole load of one person, two people, three people, six people, etc.)

It also uses kanji from the start, and you don't get the furigana until you click through to the answer, which could be a bit harsh depending on how many kanji you‘ve already been exposed to. But so far they've all been pretty common kanji that I was already comfortable with. Each card also has full voice recordings that automatically play when you click to show the answer. Sometimes several versions with different voices.

So now my method is: look at the card, read the phrase aloud, then say aloud "that means" followed by saying my translation aloud. When I click through to the answer, depending on whether I've got it right or not I'll click either 'Good' or ‘Again’. I don't use the ‘Easy’ or 'Hard' options at all. As far as I'm concerned it was either Good/Satisfactory or Again/Wrong.

I give myself a bit more leeway on the translation of, for example, words like 'international/foreign student' or 'nice/pleased to meet you, how do you do, etc.' But when it comes to the Japanese, I try to be pretty hard on myself regarding kanji recognition, pronunciation, etc. Better to practice something a little more than you needed to, rather than less than you required.

Now that I’ve found that there’s no need to worry about getting overwhelmed by having multiple decks, I’m thinking of adding more. First candidate is all of the sentences from the first book or two in the Unko Sensei series. This will have the advantage that it will force me to develop my own English translations, adding an extra layer of study.

How do you study Japanese with Anki? How are your decks set up? Let us know in the comments!

Links with an asterisk* are affiliate links, which means I (Fran) may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you, when you click through and buy the book. Thanks for your support!

Click here for more guest posts from Step Up Japanese students!

Games in Japanese - Course Introduction Video (and transcript)

On Games in Japanese (日本語でゲーム), we practise communicating in Japanese by playing games!

This footage is from the 2019 Games in Japanese Summer Course at Step Up Japanese in Brighton, UK. In summer 2020, we also held our first Online Games in Japanese course.

Thanks to Daniel Sheen for making this video!

Watch the video, or scroll down to read a transcript. Click "CC" to turn on the subtitles 👍

What is Games in Japanese?

David: In 日本語でゲーム (Games in Japanese), we play a variety of games, only ever using the Japanese language.

Showing students how to play:

Fran: どれですか。(Which one is it?)

Fran: そうですね。木が同じです。(That’s right! KI [tree] is the same)

Fran: ３，２，１、はい。(3, 2, 1, go!)

Fran: あ！あ！ハサミ！(Ah! “Scissors!”)

Fran: 私は取ります。(So, I take the card)

Sara: You’ve got all the numbers, the names out on the floor, and it’s the reading and trying to get to it before everyone else, which is quite funny.

N: クエスチョン、はてなマーク (“question mark”)

What do you like about “Games in Japanese”?

David: I find it difficult to play games in only Japanese, but I really relish the challenge to speak only Japanese. It really makes me have to think in a way that maybe I wouldn't have the opportunity to do if I wasn't taking the course.

David: サングラス　(“sunglasses”) (Laughter)

Sara: It’s very good vocab practice. I think it’s more, the games we have, it’s a lot more sort of random words so I feel like you’re a lot faster with it, so you tend to do a bit less thinking about the words that you want, you just kind of go like “that word, quick!”

Fran: はい　(OK, let’s go)

A:ピエロ (“clown”)

Sara: So you’re trying to beat everyone else to it, so it's a bit more, a bit more silly.

Fran: 音楽　(“music”)…音楽　(“music”) (Laughter)

A: クモ　(“spider”)

Sara: ドラゴン　(“dragon”)

B: 花　(“flower”)

Sara: I quite like that game, it was funny.

Would you recommend Step Up Japanese?

Sara: I think Step Up Japanese is really good way to go, it’s really good practice, it’s a really relaxed atmosphere, and Fran’s such a good teacher. I’ll go home and I’m like, right, “I’m gonna do this”, I feel motivated to keep going at the weekends.

What's it like to be a Step Up Japanese student? Student Interview - David

David has recently completed the STEP 3 course. We talked to him about what it's like to be a Step Up Japanese student, what the lessons are like, and his favourite things about the Japanese language.

And he tells us about using his Japanese to help some lost property in Japan find its owner!

Watch the video, or scroll down to read a transcript:

Why did you start learning Japanese?

[It was] after going to Japan for the first time.  It was an interesting trip, and it made me realise that I wanted to be more involved in Japan, and Japanese culture and language. 

I started at Step Up Japanese midway through what was then called the Beginner course [now STEP 1], and have carried on through STEP 3.

What are the classes like at Step Up Japanese?

We play a variety of games, only ever using the Japanese language. I find it difficult to play games only in Japanese, but I really relish the chance to speak only Japanese. It really makes me have to think in a way that maybe I wouldn't have the opportunity to, if I wasn’t taking the course.

I find the grammar of the Japanese language to be quite interesting. I enjoy learning the rules, and all the exceptions to the rules. 

How do you practise Japanese outside of class?

I enjoy Tadoku, as it gives me the opportunity to understand Japanese without the pressure of understanding every single word. Tadoku is the practice of reading lots and lots of books, with the focus being on skipping things you don’t understand.

Have you gone to any Step Up Japanese events?

During my time as a Step Up Japanese student, I’ve taken part in quite a few events. I really enjoy when we get together, and do karaoke, barbecues, and various other Japan-related things. And I also enjoy…ending up down the pub afterwards :-)

How have you actively used your Japanese?

When I went back to Japan, after starting lessons, I found that I could make pleasantries with people.

And there was an occasion when I was on a train and found some lost property. I had to take it to someone who worked at the train station and explain what train I’d just gotten off, and where it had come from, and where the train was headed.  I had to look up some of the words, but being able to piece together a sentence and explain to this man what was going on, it felt really good.

Ok, let’s talk in Japanese!　

日本について何が好きですか。
(What do you like about Japan?)

日本はとても面白い国です。日本のゲームが大好きです。
(Japan is a very interesting country. I love Japanese games.) 

好きなゲームは何ですか。
(What games do you like?)

 太鼓の達人が好きなゲームです。とても楽しいです。
( I like Taiko no Tatsujin [the Japanese drumming arcade game]. It’s really fun.

日本語の文法は面白いです。日本に行って、とても楽しかったです。
(I find Japanese grammar interesting. And when I went to Japan, it was really fun).

Would you recommend Step Up Japanese?

I would recommend Step Up Japanese to friends and family – and have.

I really enjoy classes, I really enjoy the teacher, [and] all of the students as well. It’s just a really friendly bunch, and I’d like for more people to be part of the Step Up Japanese family.

Huge thanks to fellow Step Up Japanese student Daniel Sheen for making this video!