Cards, tags, Anki[App]
(Russian version of this very same blog post is available here)
How to train your brain to better memorize new concepts from any field of knowledge? And what does Damien Elms and / or Admium Corp company to do with?
Four months ago, I discovered a program called Anki, and still can’t stop being happy about it. It’s intended for learning everything in the world (for example, foreign languages, geography, medical terminology, solfeggio, programming) by using the spaced repetition technique.
Strictly speaking, Anki does not appear to be one program, but rather a whole family of the spaced repetition software. As such, separate versions are available for various operating systems and devices (including the mobile ones).
(image credit: https://play.google.com)
As of now, this family includes
a) so-called “close relatives”:
-free desktop version for Windows / Mac / Linux, and this version is written — who would doubt! — in Python, the world’s best open source language, with PyQt
-free AnkiDroid for Android devices
-free web version of AnkiWeb
-AnkiMobile for iOS devices ($ 24.99)
plus
b) a huge number of “cousins and second cousins,” where each member of the family contains either the word Anki or the word flashcards in its title.
(Some people, for example, Reddit’s regular visitors tend to call non-original Anki-services “clones”, but I prefer the much softer name).
While the spaced repetitions technique existed since the 1930s, Anki program appeared much later, only in year 2006. It was invented by Damien Elmes , an Australian who lived then in Japan and studied Japanese. It is no wonder that he chose to name his software program by a Japanese word for “memorizing” that sounds like “Anki”.
If you take a closer look at the Anki pricing for mobile devices, you will immediately spot a curious feature. From the very beginning owners of Android-smartphones did not have to pay for use of #AnkiDroid. Yet iPhone / iPad users somehow got discriminated and required to pay as much as 25 bucks.
On one hand, investment in your own education is a sacred thing, and it should not be neglected. On the other hand, it’s way too much for applications from the AppStore where far lower prices are typically found. And even if you do not like an “average price” indicator, it makes sense to ask yourself how often you see something more expensive than $ 9.99 in the AppStore. And who could guarantee that this app is worth its money?
The choice of price for the iOS version made me seriously “question” Google about true reasons for this distortion and at the same time to look for more information about Damien Elmes.
This task appeared by no means simple. Damien did not update his Twitter account since year 2012. The only record available there instructs all visitors to refer to Anki website. Of course, there exists his account on GitHub, but for non-technicians it is almost useless. To understand immediately what type of man Damien Elmes is, and what connects him with Japan would rather be difficult. Crunchbase’s website did not indulge with detailed information as well. It only provided with this scant summary (see a screenshot below).
Meanwhile Google still remembers something :). For example, it finds
- a more detailed interview with D. Elmes, in which he talks about himself and how he came up with an idea to develop this program;
- a project repository with a list of main contributors, and it’s evident that D. Elmes is still very active here (he handled over 50% of all commits in the last 12 months);
and finally
- an explanation of D. Elmes’ colleague why such a non-typical price was chosen for the iOS version.
Anyway, because I still did not manage to buy any decent Android devices on which AnkiDroid could be run, I had to look for iPad alternatives (freeware or shareware), even if they were not as advanced as the original app. That’s how I came across a completely acceptable solution called AnkiApp Flashcards.
I have no desire to diminish in any way the merits of the main Anki, but dare to say that AnkiApp is also more than capable of developing person's memory.
What do I like about the AnkiApp Flashcards, in particular?
- You don’t need to go online to run the application.
Do you want to create / update a deck or practice in memorizing existing cards? There is nothing easier than that. Just launch the program and go ahead.
- You can search inside each deck.
It would seem a trifle, but this feature simplifies life to a huge extent. It helps to locate the proper card in seconds, and thus allows to avoid repetitions, especially in large decks.
- You can add tags to your cards.
Sometimes, you need to create a large deck that combines words from adjacent fields of knowledge, and then practice in memorizing only selected terms. For example: in the “business English” deck, you can add words with tags: “finance / marketing / advertising / PR / sales / accounting / auditing / financial reports”, and then choose any particular group for training.
By the way, it makes sense to create decks based on a thematic principle. The human’s brain works in such a way that it is much easier to remember the words from the same body of knowledge or used in a similar context. So if the deck is too large, make sure that it includes terms close in meaning plus increase a number of words shown when testing.
- Pre-made decks. (with graphics and audio support) are available on several topics.
All this great stuff could be downloaded directly from the application as Admium Corp, AnkiApp’s developer stores all the decks in their cloud
- You can share your decks with other AnkiApp’s users.
This is convenient, for example, if you work as a private tutor and want to track study progress of your students. Let’s say, see in real time how they are developing their vocabulary fluency.
- You can also exchange decks with other spaced repetition services (AnkiWeb, Quizlet and many more).
To do this, however, you would have to go here, and then you can upload your files in the appropriate formats:
1) a file in .csv or .xlxs formats ( created in MS Excel / Google Sheets / LibreOffice Calc);
2) or a file with AnkiWeb deck;
3) or a file with APKG extension.
Now let’s speak a bit about shortcomings of AnkiApp.
Here I’m talking about a free AnkiApp version, so please don’t’ mix it with its paid “sister”. (Yes-yes, it also exists, moreover it is available in two variants — lifetime and one-year subscription).
And while I do not know if there is some sort of an integrity check in the paid version, the free version does not generate any system warnings about a missing tag or any other incomplete field (as this is typically done in more advanced DBMS). Do you feel like adding a tag? OK, go ahead. If not, nobody cares. On top of that, there are no system checks for duplicate tags either, and this is quite frustrating. I value a freedom of choice, but not in this case.
It is sometimes possible to add a backdated tag, but in my practice there were decks where I could not do so. So if you work on a deck within a couple of days, I would rather suggest to plan it at first and draft a list of tags, so that you avoid creating extra entities later. Such approach is much easier than puzzling over how to fix or remove a wrong tag.
What also disappoints me is impossibility to change decks that were pre-loaded from similar services (i. e. from Quizlet). It’s because decks created by someone else may contain both useful entries and empty fields / duplicates. And while for pre-made decks a minimal quality control at the developer’s level could be expected (at least, in theory), then it’s naive to count for the very same quality control done by ordinary users.
Of course, I’d also prefer this app to have a built-in reminder as well as an option to transfer files from mobile devices to a computer through a USB cable. But this is in fact not so crucial. I might live quite well without all these features. Much more important is to train yourself to enter information into the cards. It is this habit of creating cards along with the algorithm for demonstrating them that provide a major share of success in learning and help to digest new information better.
As far as AnkiApp’s learning algorithm is concerned, it does not give any reasons for doubt. Judging by the developer’s website, Admium Corp’s team consists of people who at one time were engaged into DARPA’s project called CALO (Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes). This AI project spawned a myriad of spin-off initiatives, of which the most famous one is perhaps Siri (now belongs to Apple).
So in Admium Corp. there may be problems with anything (i.e. it looks like they do not have a regular PR / marketing person at the moment), but definitely not with their R&D line of business.
Want to check whether I am right in my guesses? Here is Admium Corp.‘s website, and here is their blog on Medium platform.
