Developer(s) Damien Elmes | Development status Active | |
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Stable release 2.0.38 / December 2016; 2 months ago (2016-12) Operating system | ||
How to use anki
Anki is a spaced repetition flashcard program. Anki (暗記) is the Japanese word for memorization.
Contents
- How to use anki
- Anki tutorial 1 how to install anki and make your first flashcard
- Notes
- Syncing
- Japanese and Chinese reading generation
- Comparisons
- Mobile versions
- History
- Copera Incs Anki for Palm OS
- References
The SM2 algorithm, created for SuperMemo in the late 1980s, forms the basis of the spaced repetition methods employed in the program. Anki's implementation of the algorithm has been modified to allow priorities on cards and to show cards in order of their urgency.
The cards are presented using HTML and may include text, images, sounds, videos, and LaTeX equations. The decks of cards, along with the user's statistics, are stored in the open SQLite format.
Anki tutorial 1 how to install anki and make your first flashcard
Notes
Cards are generated from information stored as "notes". Notes are analogous to database entries and can have an arbitrary number of fields. For example, with respect to learning a language, a note may have the following fields and example entries:
This example illustrates what some programs call a three-sided flashcard, but Anki's model is more general and allows any number of fields to be combined in various cards.
The user can design cards that test the information contained in each note. One card may have a question (expression) and an answer (pronunciation, meaning).
By keeping the separate cards linked to the same fact, spelling mistakes can be adjusted against all cards at the same time and Anki can ensure that related cards are not shown in too short a spacing.
A special note type allows for generation of cloze deletion cards (in Anki 1.2.x, those were ordinary cards with cloze markup added using a tool in the fact editor).
Syncing
Anki supports synchronization with a free (but proprietary) online server called AnkiWeb. This allows users to keep decks synchronized across multiple computers, and to study online or on a cell phone.
There is a third-party open source (AGPLv3) AnkiServer software which users can run on their own local computers or servers, though it is not compatible with recent Anki versions. It also provides a RESTful API for manipulating Anki collections.
Japanese and Chinese reading generation
Anki can automatically fill in the reading of Japanese and Chinese text. Since version 0.9.9.8.2, these features are in separate plug-ins.
Comparisons
Anki's scheduling algorithm is based on an older version of the SuperMemo algorithm (SM2). The Anki author claims that versions 3-5 of the Supermemo algorithm are more susceptible to incorrect scheduling.
Mobile versions
The following smartphone/tablet clients are available:
The flashcards and learning progress can be synchronized both ways with Anki using AnkiWeb. With AnkiDroid it is possible to have the flashcards read in several languages using text-to-speech (TTS). If a language does not exist in the Android TTS engine (e.g. Russian in the Android version Ice Cream Sandwich), a different TTS engine such as SVOX TTS Classic can be used.
History
The oldest mention of Anki that the developer, Damien Elmes, could find in 2011 was dated 5 October 2006, which was thus declared Anki’s birthdate.
In 2010, Roger Craig obtained the all-time record for single-day winnings on the quiz show Jeopardy! after using Anki to memorize a vast number of facts.
Version 2.0 was released on 2012-10-06.
Copera Inc.'s Anki for Palm OS
An unrelated flashcard program called Anki for Palm OS was created by Copera, Inc. (formerly known as Cooperative Computers, Inc.) and released at the PalmSource conference in February 2002. Anki for Palm OS was sold from 2002 to 2006 as a commercial product. In late 2007, Copera, Inc. decided to release Anki for Palm OS as freeware.