Is This The Most Powerful Language Learning Tool?

Hey KoreKara Squad,

Welcome back to another newsletter! I hope you guys are enjoying reading through these things! Maybe you’re even picking up some practical tips and tricks to speed up your learning or shift your perspectives. Today I wanted to focus on something most immersion learners are using daily – Anki.

💡 Tip of the week

Anki, if you’re unfamiliar, is a spaced repetition system designed to show you flashcards right before you’re about to forget them. The idea is that when you’re shown a card right before it slips out of your memory it will prolong the life of the memory.

“Is Anki really necessary for Japanese learning?”

Short answer: No. People have been learning languages long before Anki came around and will continue long after it's gone. But you should be aware of what you sacrifice when you choose not to use this powerful tool.

Heavy Anki use, in the beginning, while immersing, is extremely beneficial.

Anki shortens that initial learning curve and lets you stack thousands of words, in context, extremely quickly. 10 words a day for 3 months is somewhere around 920 words! In the beginning, you could easily learn more than 10 words a day just given how often they appear. So if you’re learning over 1000 words every 3 months you’re going to be making seriously rapid progress.

Think of this early period as the “anki crutch.” Use Anki to get you on your feet as soon as possible.

Personally, I made a list of new words throughout the week while I was immersing. Then, on weekends, I would set aside 2 hours to create cards for all of the new words I wanted to add. Anki would then show me 10 new cards to review every day. This loop was insanely effective and became quite addicting. I could literally feel the progress week to week.

“Anki is such a chore though.”

Then slow down. Chances are you’re overdoing it.

Keep the pace steady, but if the reviews are taking too long then just cut back. Engaging with Japanese is more important than grinding Anki for 2 hours a day.

Remember – balance is best. Japanese should be fun and rewarding.

📺 Immersion of the week 

Do yourself a favor and go watch Paprika on YouTube. It's a beautifully animated psychological thriller that originally came out in 2006 and it’s free on Youtube. The only problem is it's hard subbed so cover those up! The language may seem difficult given the complicated plot and setting but it makes for an entertaining rewatch… or several.

Paprika on YouTube (Free)

✍️ Kanji of the week

A bit of a difficult kanji compound this week but I thought it would be fitting since I’ve been talking so much about the importance of speaking and socializing. 切磋 is a combination of the characters 切 (to cut) and 磋 (polish) together meaning working hard and “applying oneself. Then 琢磨 is a combination of 琢 another character meaning “polish” and 磨 meaning “to grind” or “improve.” Together these characters come together to form the word 切磋琢磨 meaning mutual encouragement. It's about that friendly competition and comradery to push yourself to new heights. 切磋琢磨ができる人

🗣️ Q&A 

How long do typically spend on Anki every day?

How do you feel about setting time aside to add cards in bulk?

Do you feel like Anki is too much of a chore? When is Anki not worth your time anymore? 10,000 sentences?

Alright back to immersing、 またね!

Eric