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Flashcards vs. Extensive Reading | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| khad Newbie United States Joined 6602 days ago 4 posts - 4 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 1 of 39 10 May 2006 at 6:41am | IP Logged | |||||
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Actually a more accurate title might be:
"Flashcards (plus extensive reading)" VS. "Extensive reading (plus even more extensive reading)." Is there anyone that prefers to learn vocabulary without flashcards, preferring to acquire them through pure reading? One of my favorite things to do is to use RikaChan (a pop-up Japanese dictionary) and read http://kids.yahoo.co.jp. I learn many words just from reading and have made flash cards using various flashcard programs like SuperMemo and FullRecall. I hate making and doing them though, since learning word pairs and random sentences is boring for me and takes considerable time to create, and even further distracts my reading. I figure that time could be used for even more reading, which is something I actually really enjoy. But I don't know. Do you guys think flashcards are worth it? I appreciate your advice. Daniel Edited by khad on 10 May 2006 at 6:42am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 6810 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes  Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 39 10 May 2006 at 10:30am | IP Logged | |||||
I do. For the languages I've learned so far, I haven't needed to use flashcards, relying instead on plenty of native reading materials. Maybe it's just my own method of learning, but I find flashcards (however fancy they may be) a bit too "artificial" for my tastes. Also, on the one occasion I decided to give them a go, I lost them! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lenkadv Hexaglot Newbie Czech Republic Joined 6944 days ago 21 posts - 24 votes 3 sounds Speaks: Czech*, English, German, SpanishB2, Russian, FrenchB2 Studies: Japanese | Message 3 of 39 10 May 2006 at 10:40am | IP Logged | |||||
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I certainly prefer "pure reading", as you put it. I tried flashcards and it worked fine, but I never seemed to have enough time to get a fresh set. I wanted to have my flashcards with the relevant context instead of decontextualized words, and it required a lot of time spent at the desk. I do miss flashcards sometimes, especially when I have to wait somewhere unexpectedly and putting my headphones on is not an option.
However, extensive reading works as well, sometimes I really wonder how it is possible at all because it sure doesnīt feel like learning. But then I realize I know words I didnīt know before and the only possible explanation is my reading. Sure thing, my reading comprehension is excellent and usually far more advanced than the other skills. When I take a test, I usually get 100% from the reading comprehension part, even if the rest is not that convincing. Lenka 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6738 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German | Message 4 of 39 10 May 2006 at 11:03am | IP Logged | |||||
Does "pure reading" mean reading without opening a dictionary, or just not recording the words you look up? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| khad Newbie United States Joined 6602 days ago 4 posts - 4 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 5 of 39 10 May 2006 at 11:10am | IP Logged | |||||
I have noticed that reading something in context helps so much in remembering it. In the past year I've tried many attempts to memorize a high-frequency list of words, failing every time. It was god-awful. Using heavy mnemonics was about the only way I could make them stick in my head, and even then I only had a vague notion about the word. But when I read, it's like they just stick, with very little help needed from mnemonics--probably having something to do with the fact that I had a general idea what kind of sentence it was in. How do you guy go about reading? Do you have any sort of "technique"? For example, when I read, I basically analyze the text bit by bit probably like an archaeologist would study a fossil. I read a sentence, if I miss a word, I read the sentence again. When I get it right, I do the same for the second sentence and so on, going back a few sentences if I mess one up. When I complete a paragraph for the first time, I'll read it again. And when I finish a full page, I'll read the page again. Granted, I'm mainly doing this because I am an intermediate student of Japanese. Even these kids websites tend to give me a hard time sometimes. Though, it's the greatest feeling in the world when I come across a sentence I have no idea what it means, and only after reading it over and over and thinking about it I figure it out in a stupendous "Ah ha!" moment.
I'm not sure about lenkadv, but I meant it as the latter. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| CaitO'Ceallaigh Triglot Senior Member United States katiekelly.wordpress Joined 6652 days ago 795 posts - 829 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian Studies: Czech, German | Message 6 of 39 10 May 2006 at 11:50am | IP Logged | |||||
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I have a love-hate relationship with flashcards. I must have a stack of 1000 cards somewhere on my table. I think I learn words more quickly with flashcards and I forget them more quickly as well.
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| tomasus Pentaglot Groupie Czech Republic Joined 6827 days ago 54 posts - 56 votes Speaks: Slovak, Czech*, EnglishC1, German, Russian | Message 7 of 39 10 May 2006 at 12:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
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If flashcards work for you, do it the flashcard way, if they don't work for you for whatever reason, don't worry about them, that's my take.
For quite a long time, I wasn't able to use the flashcard software consistently, but now I'm full speed into them and enjoying it. I learned Hiragana with almost no time investment just by putting the characters into Fullrecall. When I read stuff, I write out the words that I don't know, or that I only feel I know, and whenever I have time or inclination, I create Q&A pairs from them. It takes almost no time, with software based flashcards, it's often just a matter of a copy/paste. With paper flashcards .... I think I would feel it's taking too much time too, or I would become more picky as for which items are worth of learning that way and which not. And btw., reading is a passive way of learning, while flashcards are both active and passive. IMHO important difference. Edited by tomasus on 10 May 2006 at 12:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Zorndyke Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6753 days ago 374 posts - 382 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Czech | Message 8 of 39 10 May 2006 at 12:17pm | IP Logged | |||||
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For me flashcards work much better; When I read a text and I donīt know a certain word I look it up, but in fact when I keep on reading then one sentence later, Iīve already forgotten the word again.
When I learn with flashcards I learn them fast and they stick in my head. But it needs much time to write them... I think those who learn better by "pure reading" are lucky, because it does not need that much time and it is more fun... Edited by Zorndyke on 10 May 2006 at 12:17pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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