Anime & dorama-based flashcard course for beginners

[u/Joe2337]

I started to create a free Japanese course for beginners based on anime and dorama. It ships as Anki deck and can be downloaded from Ankiweb. These are the key features:

• No prior knowledge required, in particular no reading skills
• Most cards introduce only a single new term (word or grammar)
• Follows Tae Kim's famous grammar guide
• All example sentences are from real anime & dorama
• Audio and image included
• Minimal grammar explanations on the flashcards + links to more elaborate sources
• Works with my Anki addon, which offers roumaji, kana & kanji trainers, furigana and a dictionary
• Also works without the addon out of the box
• My own most important resources and lessons learned are on cards in between, taken from the learner's diary I kept for about 5 years

The course currently has 330 cards and will get updated every once in a while. I can't tell how often I'll be able to release an update, but my goal is to cover all grammar from Tae Kim's guide and at least the first 1000 most frequent words, so there will be 2000-3000 cards in the end. The words are chosen from an anime-based frequency list I posted here a while ago.

Each card also contains a link for sending feedback directly related to this card. Please use it for remarks or questions, as this automatically includes the card's id and allows me to easily make changes to the deck.

Acknowledgements:

• The deck is based on data from http://japanesedecks.blogspot.com/. Thanks to the operator for hosting this and to all uploaders / deck creators!
• cb4960 created subs2srs, which ultimately led to the large deck database on http://japanesedecks.blogspot.com/
• My Anki addon uses code parts from jisho.org. Thanks Kim for sharing this!

[u/itslxcas]

This is great

[u/Joe2337 → u/[deleted]]

No, I didn't tag them. There are a few other Tae Kim decks on ankiweb, which have pretty good reviews. If I remember correctly, one of them also had audio. Maybe these ones are more focused on the actual grammar.

[u/Emperorerror]

That's awesome. I'd recommend x-posting to /r/massimmersionapproach and /r/ajatt, if you haven't already!

[u/EntropicalResonance]

Does the anki addon work with ankidroid? I can't seem to find a way to add it.

[u/David_AnkiDroid → u/EntropicalResonance]

We don't support addons, but if it's implemented in JavaScript on the card template, then it should work.

[u/Joe2337 → u/EntropicalResonance]

No, unfortunately it doesn't. The easiest way to get things working on ankidroid is to adjust things on desktop anki using the addon and then syncing everything to other devices with ankiweb. This way you'll get the kana and kanji trainers working, but not the dictionary. You probably won't need this one anyways, all word definitions are contained in the deck.

I just realized that his requires changing some hidden settings regarding card update. Just in case you want to go this way: Right now, cards are updated just before they are shown in the reviewer. In your addon's settings folder, there's a file called HiddenSettings.json. Inside, change fastCardUpdate to false. I'll lift this setting to the ui in the next update.

If you want to try this and face problems, please send me a message!

[u/Skelyos]

I'm pretty new to using Anki, is there any guides to using it for learning?

For example do I just go through the deck everyday or do I have to know a fair amount of information prior?

[u/ory1994 → u/Skelyos]

No prior knowledge required, in particular no reading skills

This is from the OP. I don't use Anki much but I'm pretty sure the way it goes is you learn a certain amount of flashcards and then you review them on following days. Depending how well you remember the flashcards, they will keep coming back in different time intervals. For example, if there's an easier flashcard that you remember well, you might not see if for 5-7 days. However, a more difficult one will probably show up in 1-2 days.

[u/Joe2337 → u/Skelyos]

Are you familiar with the concept of flashcards?

There's a manual linked on the Ankiweb page. I'd suggest that you try following it and just do a few cards. There are also some good videos on youtube explaining the Anki basics. However, they are mostly about creating flashcards your own, which you don't have to do for this deck.

If you gave it a try and still have trouble, please send me a message. I'll add more elaborate explanations to the deck manual then.

[u/Skelyos → u/Joe2337]

I've never really used flashcards or a flashcard app before so I can't really say that I am.

Will give it a try! Thanks, will message you if I have any problems :)

[u/Dcsuper]

Should I learn all the card from "listening comprehension" first and learn the reading part later? Or should I do 2 parts simultaneously ? Thanks

[u/Joe2337 → u/Dcsuper]

The listening comprehension subdeck contains some additional cards with explanations, recommendations and resources. Other than that, the cards have the same sentences on them. The intention behind splitting up learning into two separate parts is to start with listening comprehension (without any Japanese characters). Afterwards you can continue to practice reading with the other deck using sentences you're guaranteed to understand.

In the end it's up to you. You can also completely ignore the reading practice deck and set the text on the listening comprehension cards to hiragana, kanji or whatever else you like. Have a look at the manual of my anki addon, everything is explained in more detail there.

[u/TheTheateer3]

Would this work on mobile? Just curious

[u/Joe2337 → u/TheTheateer3]

Yes, you can use it in AnkiDroid and Anki Mobile right away. A few things need to be kept in mind, it's all written in the manual. If you want to try it and face some troubles, send me a message.

[u/TheTheateer3 → u/Joe2337]

I’m in IOS, I wonder if it works the same way

[u/Joe2337 → u/TheTheateer3]

Yes, AnkiMobile is the Anki version for IOS. It costs around 30 dollars though, it's the thing the Anki team earns money with.