Use flashcards

mandarinboy

September 08, 2008 at 03:01 AM

I use flashcards for repetition of Chinese characters. I usualy remember the actual word without the cards but for the characters i need them.

This is what i do:

- I use a program that i developed my self but there are many other on the net, ZDT is one of the most popular ones. In that i create lists with words based on lessons in Cpod or the books i use to study off line.

- The cards can be used just as the flash cards on Cpod or printed. I print them on 120 grams paper and cut them with a paper  knife to the desired size. I do print two versions, both with the Chinese characters on one side but the back is either pinyin or the translation.

- In my own software i can do the same on the computer as i do off line with the paper versions. I still like to use the paper version as a complement when travelling, sitting in from of the tv at night etc.

- Once i have the cards with Chinese characters I make a deck of them and start to go through them. I use the Leitner system to place the cards in different decks depending on how well I know the word. If i know it very well i put it in one pile, if I know parts of the character but maybe feel not 100% sure about it or missed a stroke or so i place it in another deck. In total i use 4 different decks besides the original deck. The one with the highest number is words unknown to me.

- The decks with the highest number i study over and over again until i feel that they are remembered. The cards in the other decks i revisit from once a day to once every month for the number one deck. By revisiting those decks they will be rewived and they will stuck. Every time i revisit the other decks I can upgrade or downgrade the cards to reflect how well i know the character.

- Since it is not enough to just know the words i usualy take the deck with known words and pick one card and then try to construct questions or senetnces based on that word.  

- As a computer geek I do use the computer a lot when practicing. So, i like to use software with the decks of cards and then just show the translation and then sit with a lap sized white board and write my answers. I write both the character and the pinyin. If i am wrong, i place the cards in an lower deck and vice verce for correct aswers.

- There are flashcards to be used on CPOD in the ME section. By creating different vocabulary lists or decks you can test your self there.

- A Chinese student in Sweden have come up with an idea to a game with Flasch cards. Very effective if used by a group of students:

 

Number of players: at least two plus a teacher or someone who reads translations from the cards.

Stack the cards with characters up in the middle of the table. The students then take turns clockwise to translate and explain the characters on the cards until the stack is all gone. The students must promise NOT to look at the explanations on the backside of the cards unless they have won the cards in accordance with rule 1 or 2 below.

• 1: When a student has a turn, he/she should start to take the top most card from the stack and lay it down in the middle of the table so that all students can see the character on the card.
• 2: TRANSLATE. When a student has a turn, he/she can choose to translate any of the cards visible on the table or on top of the stack, but not in front of a different player. The student is to give both pronunciation and translation of the character. If the teacher says that either the pronunciation or the translation is incorrect or insufficient, the student can be given a chance to correct the answer. If the answer still cannot be accepted, the turn goes to the next student. If the teacher accepts the answer, the student lays down the card in front of himself/herself on the table and can continue to make more moves.
• 3: PUT TOGETHER. As an alternative, a student can choose to build a sentence or word using at least two or three of the cards visible on the table. This means that the student can "steal" cards that are lying in front of other players. The student must be able to pronounce and translate the combination. If the teacher accepts the combination, the student can take all the cards (including those that other students had acquired previously) and keep them hidden in hand for the rest of the game. After this, other students cannot "steal" these cards. The same student may then make another move. If the teacher doesn’t accept the combination, the next student continues the game.
• 4: BUYING EXPLANATIONS. If a student cannot translate any card or make any combinations, he/she can use a card that he/she has previously acquired in accordance with rule 1 or 2 above to "buy" explanations from the teacher. The student pays one card to the teacher, who then gives pronunciation, translation and possibly some examples, that are written on the backside of each card. The student can choose to get explanations of any card visible in the middle of the table or on the top of the stack, but not cards lying in front of other students. When the explanations have been given, both the explained card and the paid card are put back to the bottom of the stack (or kept by the teacher for a while), and the next student in turn continues the game.
• 5: EXPLANATIONS FOR FREE. When a student gives a correct answer according to point 1 or 2 above, he/she may choose to get an explanation according to point 3 without paying for it. However the student may not continue to translate any more cards until he/she is in turn again. The explained card is then returned to the bottom of the stack, and the next student in line continues the game.
• 6: If there is only a small number of cards in the stack, the teacher may start to collect explained cards and "payments" on hand until there are enough cards to create a new stack with at least as many cards as students. The teacher can also pick up some of the cards from the middle of the table, give explanations, mix the cards and make a new stack. The teacher may not pick up cards that lie in front of any student or are held on hand by a student.
• 7: The game ends when there are no cards left in the middle of the table, in the stack or in the hands of the teacher. The students count how many cards they have on hand and in front of themselves on the table. The winner is the student with the most cards.

jjcarson

September 08, 2008 at 02:16 AM

How do you use Flashcards? I never used them at all during anything during school. Normally I have a great memory, but I guess it turns out that my memory only deals with trivia and math, not so much a new language. I'm still trying to develop new strategies for studing, so if you have at least a system for me to copy, that'd certainly help me get started on the use of Flashcards, which I'm hopeing will work.