Alright Vegemite, Un-real Banana Peel
bodawei
June 08, 2010, 02:57 PM posted in General Discussion
bababardwan
course not mate..but its Spaced repetition software...flashcards where the program decides when to test you again based on your feedback
xiaophil
Okay, thanks.
orangina
June 09, 2010, 04:05 AM神秘的博士pod! 我喜欢！
xiao_liang
June 09, 2010, 06:12 AMI use both - SRS, and the Chinesepod method, which I guess is kind psuedo "social learning" - creating a situation that is comfortable and interesting and putting language in context. One thing is really clear: SRS takes a LOT more effort. I have to really focus to get anything memorised, because blank repetition simply doesn't work unless you're prepared to put ungodly amounts of time into it. It's also a lot more boring to sit watching flashcards than it is to listen to podcasts :-p
RJ
Yea I thought SRS was going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread as they say, but it turned out to be only, dare I say it, Vegemite (since bodawei has mentioned it). I have come to hate flash carding and SRS just means I miss all of them, since I have eliminated the ones I can identify correctly. :-)
I just read an article that said you learn much faster when you feel safe and are emotionally happy. When I do flash cards I am not happy. I learn characters much faster as parts of new words. Memorizing characters is just painful. (and so is eating Vegemite).
bababardwan
yeah,well I certainly haven't been diligent at all with anki. Still,I see it as just another useful tool in the armamentarium and not a panacea for all learning woes. Thus ,despite the intro comment,I hope John still has it on the agenda for this site as I think it would be superior to anki as it would circumvent the need to export and update exports and also the site here has other options like audio which are not so easy to integrate with anki.
hkboy
RJ,
I think I know what you mean. I have my Anki set for a limit of 15 minutes a day. I should be doing it now but....
I haven't heard the "greatest thing since sliced bread" since my father was around. He used to say it all the time. Thanks for that. I hadn't thought about it in years.
daniel70
When I have new words, I add them to smart.fm, and do the initial learning on smart.fm, then maintain them on srs ... or at least I try to. It removes some of the pain.
jen_not_jenny
I once heard someone say "the greatest thing since graham crackers," which I found alliteratively pleasing and much more true-to-life. Sliced bread just isn't that great.
Wonder if there is any remotely similar Chinese saying? Greatest thing since rice cookers, maybe? ;)
bodawei
jen_not-jenny
I feel uncomfortable when I go into a kitchen that does not have a rice cooker, or two big 'wok burners' for that matter. So I know what you mean.
xiao_liang
I never really understood the benefits of a rice cooker over a saucepan, other than making washing up more difficult...
jen_not_jenny
If you lived in China I would strongly encourage you to spend 69RMB and invest in the cheapest one available. I'm confident you'd be a convert in no time flat. When you use them regularly they make life so much easier!
xiao_liang
Oh, we have one. I still don't get it though. Saucepans are so much easier to clean...
sebire
Oh my goodness, how can you not understand rice cookers? You just switch them on and leave them, and not watch them constantly, like you do with a saucepan. A decent rice cooker should have a non-stick coating, and another trick is to switch the rice cooker off for 5 minutes before you serve it (actually off, not on the warm setting), and the rice should lift from the bottom of the pan.
I'm going to make my millions selling rice cookers to the British and Indians, and cheese to the Chinese.
xiao_liang
But I don't watch my saucepan. I put water in, I set it to simmer, and leave it for the right number of minutes while I do something else. I don't need a gadget to do that for me.
changye
A rice cooker （电饭锅） is a 命根子 of Japanese people. You can often see TV commercials of a rice cooker in Japan, but not in the PRC. An electric rice cooker was invented by Japanese, of course. I have a Panasonic rice cooker at home, which I brought from Japan.
bodawei
Hi Changye
The Japanese also improved soy sauce. They came up with the idea of using wheat to make soy sauce and I can't eat it. But they also make some without wheat - do you happen to know a Japanese brand of soy sauce that doesn't use wheat? I want to see if I can find it in China. All Chinese brands I have found now use the Japanese method with wheat.
sebire
It's the "right number of minutes" that is the problem. Last time I left it in a saucepan, my kitchen smelled like I was making popcorn, i.e. I forget about it. It's quite good just to set going while you're doing other stuff, and takes up fewer hobs.
What I don't understand is why British cookers seemed designed to be impossible to cook on. The Wok burner is in the middle, so you can't use any of the other burners. Clever, innit?
xiao_liang
No idea what you're on about! Never seen a british cooker with a special wok burner on it...
xiaophil
June 09, 2010, 12:16 AMAm I dumb if I ask what is SRS? I know I have heard it many times before, at least it seems I have, but I never really paid attention to it.