olivianewtonjohn
Well-Known Member
Are you a student? Want to learn new language? Or just need to remember information?
Just wanted to let everyone know about this badass, free, "flashcard" program I have been using, called Anki.
It has multiple modes, basic which is your standard front/back flashcard; I started making biology flashcards using this and noticed everyone recommending "cloze" mode instead. Sure enough when practicing I found basic flashcards to be less helpful than cloze cards. Basic is probably more helpful for languages, having a vocab word on one side and the same word in another language on the other side.
Cloze mode is fill in the blank but even more helpful. You can take a phrase and make many flashcards at once. Seeing things in different ways is very helpful.
Ex)
ribosome subunits are manufactured in the nucleus and consist of RNA molecules and proteins, the two subunits, labeled 60S and 40S, move across the nuclear envelope and into the cytoplasm where they are assembled into a single 80S ribosome
Each one of the blue words is a new flash card. Multiple flash cards are quickly and easily added by highlighting the word and pressing CTRL+shift+C. This makes a bracket like so:
{{c1::ribosome subunits}} are manufactured in the {{c2::nucleus}} and consist of {{c3::RNA molecules}} and {{c4proteins}}; the two subunits, labeled {{c5::60S}} and {{c5::40S}}, move across the nuclear envelope and into the cytoplasm where they are assembled into a single {{c6::80S ribosome}}
Notice 60s and 40s are both in brackets with c5? I manually changed this so they both are blank on one card, originally it was {{c5::60S}} and {{c6::40S}}; just changed it to c5 and magic.
Obviously when you flip the card over the blank(s) will have the answer but in addition you can also have a picture. Pictures are easily added by just copying and pasting an image URL
Notice this picture illustrates what the flashcard is saying. We are visual learners after all.
Did I mention that your decks of flashcards can be uploaded to ankiweb. Once this is done every time you exit the anki application it is synced (scores, need cards, etc). Anki is available on pretty much everything, PC, mac, ipad, iphone, android. I just installed ankidroid on my phone then logged in. All flash cards quickly downloaded!
Its an intelligent memorization program, so when you flip a card over you can type 1, 2, or 3; 1 being hard (shows it again in like a minute), 2-good (shows the card again in 10 mins), 3-easy (shows card again in a few days). On top of all of this it gives you a small chunk to learn each day. You dont move from study mode to quiz mode without getting all the cards right (inputting 3 for each answer).
Not the easiest program to learn, but its easy to use once you get over the learning curve. Luckily there are many youtube videos and also an anki forum.
Hope this helps someone!
Just wanted to let everyone know about this badass, free, "flashcard" program I have been using, called Anki.
It has multiple modes, basic which is your standard front/back flashcard; I started making biology flashcards using this and noticed everyone recommending "cloze" mode instead. Sure enough when practicing I found basic flashcards to be less helpful than cloze cards. Basic is probably more helpful for languages, having a vocab word on one side and the same word in another language on the other side.
Cloze mode is fill in the blank but even more helpful. You can take a phrase and make many flashcards at once. Seeing things in different ways is very helpful.
Ex)
ribosome subunits are manufactured in the nucleus and consist of RNA molecules and proteins, the two subunits, labeled 60S and 40S, move across the nuclear envelope and into the cytoplasm where they are assembled into a single 80S ribosome
Each one of the blue words is a new flash card. Multiple flash cards are quickly and easily added by highlighting the word and pressing CTRL+shift+C. This makes a bracket like so:
{{c1::ribosome subunits}} are manufactured in the {{c2::nucleus}} and consist of {{c3::RNA molecules}} and {{c4proteins}}; the two subunits, labeled {{c5::60S}} and {{c5::40S}}, move across the nuclear envelope and into the cytoplasm where they are assembled into a single {{c6::80S ribosome}}
Notice 60s and 40s are both in brackets with c5? I manually changed this so they both are blank on one card, originally it was {{c5::60S}} and {{c6::40S}}; just changed it to c5 and magic.
Obviously when you flip the card over the blank(s) will have the answer but in addition you can also have a picture. Pictures are easily added by just copying and pasting an image URL
Notice this picture illustrates what the flashcard is saying. We are visual learners after all.
Did I mention that your decks of flashcards can be uploaded to ankiweb. Once this is done every time you exit the anki application it is synced (scores, need cards, etc). Anki is available on pretty much everything, PC, mac, ipad, iphone, android. I just installed ankidroid on my phone then logged in. All flash cards quickly downloaded!
Its an intelligent memorization program, so when you flip a card over you can type 1, 2, or 3; 1 being hard (shows it again in like a minute), 2-good (shows the card again in 10 mins), 3-easy (shows card again in a few days). On top of all of this it gives you a small chunk to learn each day. You dont move from study mode to quiz mode without getting all the cards right (inputting 3 for each answer).
Not the easiest program to learn, but its easy to use once you get over the learning curve. Luckily there are many youtube videos and also an anki forum.
Hope this helps someone!
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