Using Anki | Studying Effectively for GCSE's & A-level's

Summary

This video tutorial guides viewers on integrating flashcards into Anki, a popular study tool, focusing on GCSE students. It covers creating decks, adding flashcards with tags for organized studying, and customizing study sessions. The host shares tips on efficient note-taking, leveraging Anki's features for effective learning, and managing 'leech' cards that frequently cause lapses in memory. The video also touches on the importance of active recall and the gradual improvement of memory retention through consistent Anki use.

Takeaways

• 📚 Start by creating a deck in Anki for organizing flashcards, such as a 'Chemistry' deck with sub-decks for specific topics like 'Organic'.
• 🔖 Add flashcards to Anki by copying and pasting content, ensuring to reformat if necessary, and using tags for specification sections to create custom study decks.
• ✂️ Use the snipping tool for copying tables or diagrams that don't copy well directly into Anki.
• 💡 The process of creating notes in Google Docs before turning them into flashcards is recommended for easier editing and combining of cards.
• 🚀 Establish a daily Anki routine, which can vary in duration based on the number of flashcards and personal study pace.
• 🔄 Understand that Anki limits new cards to 20 per deck per day to prevent information overload, but this limit can be adjusted in settings.
• 💪 Make an active effort to recall information during flashcard reviews to strengthen neural connections and improve future recall.
• 🔍 Use a scrap piece of paper or the Anki app's whiteboard feature to sketch and compare with flashcards involving diagrams or chemical reactions.
• 🎓 Utilize custom study decks created from tags to focus on specific topics for upcoming tests or exam preparation.
• 🔑 Recognize 'leech' cards that are consistently difficult to remember and address them by editing or re-understanding the topic to improve retention.
• ✏️ Edit and delete flashcards as you encounter better ways to phrase information or identify unnecessary details through practice and past papers.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is about adding flashcards made from previous notes into Anki, a flashcard application, and discussing features of Anki that are useful for GCSE students.

What is the first step in adding flashcards to Anki as described in the video?

The first step is to create a deck by pressing the 'create deck' button and naming it, such as 'Chemistry'.

How can sub-decks be created within a main deck in Anki?

Sub-decks can be created by making a new deck, such as an 'Organic' deck, and then dragging and dropping it into the main 'Chemistry' deck.

What is the purpose of adding tags to flashcards in Anki?

Tags are added to flashcards to reference the specification and to create custom study decks based on these tags for upcoming topic tests.

Why does the video suggest copying and pasting flashcards from Google Docs to Anki instead of creating them directly in Anki?

It is easier to make notes all in one document using various resources, then turn them into flashcards in the same document because it allows for better organization and editing before transferring to Anki.

What is the recommended way to copy and paste tables or maps into Anki if they do not copy well directly?

The video suggests using the snipping tool to take a screenshot of the table or map and then paste it into Anki.

How often should a student review their Anki flashcards according to the video?

The video suggests reviewing Anki flashcards daily, with the frequency and duration depending on the number of flashcards due for that day.

What is the maximum number of new flashcards per deck per day that Anki will show by default, and why is this limit set?

Anki shows up to 20 new flashcards per deck per day by default to avoid overwhelming the user with too much new information at once.

What is a 'leech' card in Anki and how is it identified?

A 'leech' card in Anki is a card that has been marked as difficult to remember, identified by the user pressing the 'again' button eight times for a card, causing it to lapse and be tagged as a leech.

How can custom study decks be created in Anki using tags?

Custom study decks can be created by going to a deck, pressing 'custom study', choosing 'study by called state or tag', selecting the desired tags, and then pressing 'choose tags' to create a session with those flashcards.

What is the purpose of the 'mark' feature in Anki and how is it used?

The 'mark' feature in Anki is used to flag flashcards that need attention, such as those with potential issues or those that need to be reviewed later. It is used by pressing 'mark' under the 'more' options.

How can a student tell if a flashcard is useful or not while reviewing for exams?

A student can determine the usefulness of a flashcard by doing more practice questions and past papers, which will give them a sense of what information is commonly looked for by examiners and what is not.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introducing Anki and Flashcard Integration

This paragraph introduces the process of integrating flashcards into Anki, a popular digital flashcard tool. The speaker explains how to create a deck for chemistry, including sub-decks for specific topics like organic chemistry. They discuss the method of adding flashcards, formatting issues that may arise, and the use of tags to categorize and organize flashcards. The speaker also shares a personal strategy for combining flashcards and emphasizes the benefits of creating flashcards from Google Docs before transferring them to Anki.

05:00

🔄 Daily Anki Review Routine and Custom Study Decks

The speaker outlines a daily Anki review routine, suggesting that the time spent reviewing flashcards can vary depending on the number of new cards and the individual's familiarity with the content. They explain Anki's limit of showing up to 20 new cards per deck per day to prevent information overload and how this limit can be adjusted. The paragraph also covers the importance of active recall and the benefits of saying answers out loud. Additionally, the speaker introduces the concept of custom study decks created using tags and demonstrates how to use them for focused review sessions.

10:01

🔄 Addressing Forgetfulness with Anki's Leech Card Feature

This section delves into Anki's leech card feature, which helps users identify and address cards that are frequently forgotten. The speaker explains how a card becomes a leech card after eight lapses and how these cards can be suspended or simply tagged. They provide guidance on how to view, edit, and unsuspend leech cards, as well as how to adjust the settings for what constitutes a leech card. The importance of regularly checking for leech cards and making necessary adjustments to flashcards is emphasized.

15:01

✏️ Editing and Marking Flashcards for Effective Revision

The final paragraph discusses the process of editing and deleting flashcards in Anki based on the user's evolving understanding of the material and their experience with practice questions. The speaker shares insights on refining flashcards to include only the most relevant information and deleting those that are deemed unnecessary. They also introduce the 'marked' feature in Anki for flagging cards that require further attention or changes. The paragraph concludes with advice on balancing the level of detail in flashcards and the importance of adapting them based on real exam experiences.

Keywords

💡Anki

Anki is a popular flashcard application designed to enhance memorization through spaced repetition. In the video, Anki is the central tool used for creating and managing digital flashcards to aid in study and revision, particularly for GCSE students. The script mentions using Anki to create decks, add flashcards, and utilize features that facilitate efficient studying.

💡Flashcards

Flashcards are study tools that usually consist of a question or topic on one side and an answer or additional information on the other. In the context of the video, flashcards are created from notes and then imported into Anki for review and memorization. The script discusses the process of making flashcards on Google Docs and then transferring them to Anki.

💡Spaced Repetition

Spaced repetition is a learning technique where material to be learned is reviewed at increasing intervals over time, which helps to move the information from short-term to long-term memory. The video mentions Anki's use of this technique, as it schedules flashcards to appear for review based on the user's performance, thus optimizing memorization.

💡Deck

In Anki, a 'deck' is a collection of flashcards on a specific subject or topic. The script describes creating decks such as 'Chemistry' and sub-decks like 'Organic Chemistry' to organize flashcards in a structured manner, allowing for focused study sessions.

💡Tags

Tags in Anki are labels used to categorize flashcards, making it easier to filter and study specific topics. The script mentions using tags like '6.1.1 Aromatic Compounds' to reference the specification and create custom study decks, which is useful for targeted review sessions.

💡Custom Study Decks

Custom study decks in Anki are user-created collections of flashcards based on specific criteria, such as tags or card state. The video explains how to create these decks for focused study, such as preparing for a topic test or reviewing material for an exam.

💡Leech Cards

Leech cards in Anki are flashcards that the system identifies as difficult for the user, based on frequent incorrect responses. The script discusses how Anki marks these cards and provides options to either suspend them or simply tag them for review, helping users to address weak areas in their study material.

💡Lapses

A lapse in Anki occurs when a user fails to correctly recall the information on a flashcard. The script explains that multiple lapses on the same card can lead to it being marked as a leech card, indicating that the user struggles with that particular piece of information.

💡Cramming

Cramming refers to the act of studying intensively in a short period before an exam, often as a last-minute effort. The video mentions using Anki to create custom study decks for cramming, allowing for concentrated review of specific topics right before an exam.

💡Marked Cards

Marked cards in Anki are flashcards that the user has flagged for some reason, such as needing revision or containing potential errors. The script describes using the 'Mark' feature to create a reminder to revisit these cards later, providing an additional layer of organization for the study process.

💡Bury

In Anki, burying a card means to defer its review to the next day, effectively postponing it in the study queue. The script mentions using the 'Bury' option for marked cards, ensuring that the user will see them again the following day to make necessary edits or checks.

Highlights

Introduction to adding flashcards made in a previous video into Anki, a digital flashcard tool.

Creating a deck in Anki and organizing sub-decks for specific topics like 'Organic Chemistry'.

Method of copying and pasting flashcards into Anki and adjusting formatting as needed.

Utilizing tags in Anki to reference specific sections of the specification for organized studying.

Explanation of the benefits of creating flashcards in Google Docs before transferring to Anki.

The process of daily Anki reviews and adjusting the number of new cards shown per day if necessary.

Importance of active recall when using flashcards and the benefits of effortful learning.

Techniques for dealing with complex flashcards involving proofs, maps, or chemical reactions.

Creating custom study decks in Anki using tags for focused review sessions.

Managing the review process by understanding how Anki schedules cards for review based on performance.

Identifying and handling 'leech' cards in Anki that are frequently forgotten.

Advice on editing flashcards based on practice exam questions and past papers.

The use of the 'Mark' feature in Anki for noting cards that need further review or editing.

Strategies for refining flashcards by removing unnecessary information and focusing on essential details.

Discussion on the importance of not over-relying on resources and the value of encountering information through practice.

Final thoughts on the process of creating and managing Anki flashcards for effective studying.

Transcripts

hey friends and welcome back to cyber

series and something effectively for

jesus these nail arlors

in the previous video we learned about

the basics of anki in 15 minutes

and in the one before that we learned

about how we can uh learn new content

for the first time

and made flashcards on that content in

this video we will be adding the

flashcards we made

onto anki and discuss a few features of

anki that are useful for gcse's nailers

as always timestamps will be in the

description down below so do check those

out during the video so now we can start

adding the flashcards that we made in

the previous video ontanki so the first

thing we do is create a deck by pressing

the create deck button

and writing the deck name which is

chemistry and we can create a deck

inside this deck

such as an organic deck by creating that

and then dragging and dropping it

into the chemistry deck so we can start

adding flashcards to it by pressing add

and then on the deck section we choose

chemistry organic

and for now we choose basic and we can

just start copying and pasting these

flashcards over into an keys so the

front of the flashcard

is uh how can female reactions be

grouped

and then paste this onto the back of the

flashcards and i like to make this

unbolt

and now for the tags section what i do

is i reference the specification

so this part of the specification is

6.1.1 aromatic compounds

so what i write in the tags section is

6.1.1

aromatic compounds and then i press add

and you can see the tag stays the same

here so i can start adding the

laser flash cards as well and the nice

thing about having the tag

that you'll see later in the video is

that we can create custom study decks

based on these tags for any upcoming

topic tests we may have

so now if i just add the rest of these

flashcards

so now i finish adding these flashcards

on tanki and you can see that in some

cases i had to reformat the flashcart

for example if i copy and paste these

two bullet points in tanki

and you can see that one of the bullet

points ends up here and the one doesn't

so i press the delete button on the end

of this row

and then press enter again and both of

the bullet points end up

together also if you want to copy and

paste any maps or chemistry equations on

tanki

and have them come out nicely then i

have a video on how to do that which is

linked above right now and for other

cases when there's a table or something

which you can't exactly copy on tanki

i usually just press windows shift ns to

copy open up the snipping tool and then

select some area i want

and then pressing paste so whilst it's

easy to copy this image

uh it's quite difficult to copy your

table um which we may have

included in our flashcards so i just use

that now you're probably thinking to

yourself

okay so we made notes on google docs

turn them into flashcards

and now we have to spend time copying

and pasting them into an key

what's the point couldn't we have just

written the flashcards directly into key

to begin with and whilst we could have

it in my experience it's much easier to

make

the notes all in one document using the

various resources that we mentioned

before

and then turn them into flashcards in

the same document that's because it's

often the case that when we make a

flashcard from a bullet point on google

docs

then we realize after making five more

flashcards that we can combine two

flashcards together

or add some information onto an existing

flashcard i find the process of

combining flashcards together and adding

any extra information

as i'm making them from bullet points to

be much easier to do on google docs than

it is on anki

that's because i prefer to easily see

all the flashcards i have

in one document when making them because

on anki after you add a flashcard the

only way to go back to it is to press

the history button over here

and then look through all the flashcards

before and if i were to click on one now

then it would show that flashcard in

isolation and if i go back

and then click on another one then they

would show that as well

now whilst i can go down and select the

tag

i just made which is as 6.1.1 aromatic

compounds i can see all of them right

now

i can't see the contents of the

flashcard and

the images and everything side by side

so whilst you can add them directly on

tanki

it just means that you may have to go

back more often

and maybe add something to a flashcard

you've just made because you didn't

realize at the time

or combine flashcards together and

whatnot now i must admit the process of

copying flashcards over on tanki

it does get quite repetitive so i often

do it late at night before bed when my

brain doesn't have to do any heavy

thinking

and i can play some music or listen to a

podcast episode whilst doing it or

something

right so now that we've added our

flashcards on tanki it's a good idea to

set out some time to go free anki every

day

usually i went through anki every day on

the commute to and from school

which was about an hour in total on my

phone but how long you spend really

depends on how many flash cards you have

to do that day

some days you may have to do around 80

which may take 10 to 30 minutes

depending on how

confident you are with them and how

content heavy they are and on other days

you may have to do only 25.

the variation between days will be

especially noticeable for the first

week or two after using anki but slowly

the flashcards will balance themselves

out

as you get uh some writing offers wrong

and whilst this may seem like a large

time investment

it really isn't doing 10 minutes in the

morning when having your breakfast

and maybe 10 more in the toilet on your

phone or maybe and over five minutes or

when you're waiting for dinner

all these times can add up throughout

the day and you can easily manage to do

all your flashcards during the day it is

worth pointing out if we add a lot of

flashcards in on one day

then anki will only show up to at most

20 new flashcards per deck per day the

idea they have is to not present you

with too much information on one day

because they think they may overwhelm

you and there's only so much new

information you can remember each day

but if you find 20 to be too low then

you can override this default setting

by clicking on the cogs of any deck

and then going to options and then

choosing

options group default and then where it

says

new cards per day you can set that to

maybe like 30 or something and do

remember that learning is a gradual

process

it's not black and white in that one

moment you don't know it and the next

you do

when you see a flashcard it may be

difficult to recall the answer

but don't give up too easily because if

you manage to recall the answer

then your brain will strengthen those

synapse connections

for that piece of information making it

easier to recall the next time

and the next time the following time and

you'll get faster and faster recalling

it in general the more we're using our

brains when learning this information

free flashcards

the better it is in other words the more

effort you put into recalling something

the easier will be the next time

so try not to give up and look at the

answer too soon try making an

active effort to recall the information

and maybe if you can't recall it for

about 30 minutes seconds to a minute

then you should look onto the other side

if you can't recall information and you

make no effort to recall information

and you just keep looking on the answer

after maybe five or ten seconds

then you won't learn as much i also find

it helpful to say the answer out loud or

under my breath with my lips moving

because it also helps you to avoid you

tricking yourself then you go down to

rights also as you gradually do more

flashcards you will find yourself

becoming more confident with the

material

and being able to recall the things to

do with the topic quickly in class

and in exam questions you may slowly

find yourself building a mental model

on the whole topic and how all the

flashcards fit together and occasionally

because the order is randomized you may

have two flashcards shown close together

and discover links between them also for

flashcards involving proofs and maps

or drawing chemical reactions or

molecules

i usually find it helpful to use a scrap

piece of paper and a pen

when i'm going through the flashcards on

a computer or using the whiteboard

feature on the anki

app on your phone this helps me to

sketch out the molecule or reaction or

something

and then compare with the actual flash

card see how much i got right so here i

have all the actual flash cards which i

used during my a levels

you can see that i have a lot of cards

due because i'm no longer doing a levels

and don't need to go over these

flashcards anymore although if you want

to use them then there is a link to

download them in the description down

below so another thing we can do is

create custom study decks by

uh using the tags that we add onto

flashcards early in the video

so you can see all my uh physics

flashcards are in a single deck

so if i go to the physics deck and press

custom study

and then press study by called state or

tag and then choose

all review cards in a random order and

press choose tags

and now select require one or more of

these tags so let's say i have a topic

test coming up on capacitance and

electric fields

so if i scroll down and then select

capacitance

and hold the control button down and

select electric fields

then it selects both of them and i can

press ok

so now it's created a custom study

session and if i go back to dex and you

can see it appears over here

so i can press study now and start going

through these uh

decks and once i finish going through

the flashcards it says you finish a deck

for now

so i go back to dex and i can see that

and nothing is true from this deck

so i can then press uh the delete button

and then

the flashcards in that custom study deck

will go back to the original physics

deck and this process is known as

cramming flashcards because you

essentially repeat flashcards in the

short term

using specific tags and i did something

quite similar before my actual exams

so for my physics exam if i press custom

study

study again all cards in random order

i know that um these topics uh

these topics over here they all appear

on a single paper

so if i just select all these topics

they all appear in paper one

and then unselect these topics and press

ok

now i have a 180 flashcards study for my

paper one exam

and usually by this point i've studied

the flashcards enough

um such that when i actually go through

the answers then i can go through them

very quickly

because i've studied them enough

throughout the year this is just a

chance for me to review the material

once more and keep it fresh in my mind

for the exam which may be happening

tomorrow the day after so now and

everything to point out in an key i'll

call

each cards so when you're reviewing

flashcards and getting them right

then the interval between reviews slowly

increases

but for some cards you may get it right

and then have it show up a day later

only to then forget it and choose the

gain option every time you choose a gain

option after

getting a flashcard and the flashcard is

said to have elapsed this means that the

spacing between reviews of the card

has been sent back to zero now this

isn't a bad thing this is what you want

because it means that you're reviewing

the material

and you're getting wrong more often

which makes revision more effective but

it becomes concerning when you keep

forgetting the same card over and over

because it means a card ends up taking

too much of your time so and key cards

these cards

leech cards and it helps you to identify

the leech cards

so by default if you press a gain button

eight times for a card

then it will be marked as a leech in

other words if a card lapses eight times

then it will be tagged as a leech and it

will be suspended which means that it

won't appear again during your review

sessions anymore so if you want to see

which of your cards of leach cards

you can go to browse and then scroll

down and on the left hand side

you should see a tag which says

leech and now you can see all these

cards here are leach cards

and then leech cards because i kept

getting them wrong so often

uh by pressing the gain button so since

you're getting these cards wrong so

often

it means that either something is wrong

with the card such as it's not well

worded

or you keep from getting it which means

you may have to go back and

re-understand the topic using your notes

videos help from your teacher and

whatnot and then edit the flash card to

improve it and after you've done that

for example if i've edited this then all

i do is go over here

and remove the leech tag and remember

that the tags are separated by space so

if i remove the leech tag then it only

has one tag now and then if i just press

enter and then if i reload this leech

tag

and you can see that card at the top has

gone back to being normal and now if you

don't want the card to be suspended

and only wanted to be tagged as leech

meaning it was still up in your decks

but we'll have that tag or you want to

change how many lapses

it takes for the card to be marked as

leech then you can do this by clicking

on any of the cogs

and then pressing options uh choosing

the default options group

and then going to lapses and then where

it says leech

threshold you can change this to say 10

lapses 12 lapses

and you can choose a niche action to be

either suspend card

or tag only so i usually keep here 8

lapses and choose tag only and then

press ok

and now i would recommend checking every

week for any new leech cards

and do you know that ankit doesn't

magically make the card a leech card

without telling you

if you're on your a flaps with a card

then it will give you a warning that the

card has been marked as a leech in the

bottom

corner and that you may not see it again

until you do something about it

which is by removing the leech tag

by going to the leech tag here

and then just removing any of these

leech tags after making your

improvements to god and do bear in mind

that if you have changed your setting

from suspend

to tag only then you may have some niche

cards which have been suspended from

uh before when you didn't know about

leach cards

so if you scroll down then you should be

able to see some codes in yellow which

have been suspended

so to unsuspend them you just select

them all

by holding shift and then right clicking

and press toggle suspend

and now you can see the yellow around it

disappears

and by the way the purple also means

that it's mocked

so then we can just go back to removing

the leech tags

for each of these and then reload the

leech tag from here and they'll

disappear

and another useful thing to do is to

edit or delete your flashcards

whilst going through them you may

occasionally spot a mistake or want to

change your wording of something

and on both your phone and your computer

you can simply press the edit button

which is in the bottom left on the

computer and then just make the changes

here

so if i were to i don't know remove this

airflow stop

press close then you can see that

that's now gone now the mean time i

edited my flashcards was as i did

uh practice exam questions and past

papers on the side

whenever i do an exam question and mark

it now write down some of the keywords

from the mock scheme on a separate piece

of paper

and then find out where my flashcard on

that information

is and by going to browse and then

filtering through tags and stuff

or by going to google doc which i

mentioned before because that's easy to

find there

and then after finding the code i uh

reword it and i make certain things bold

and underline them

to remind me that that's what i'm going

to have to mention

to mark the flash card as rights when

i'm going over it and if i don't mention

those keywords and i can't market as

right for myself

now it doesn't mean that you will get

the existing question wrong the next

time you review that material

but it also means that you will be using

the words the mock scheme likes to use

and the examiner pretty much has to give

you the mark in that case

and do remember that often mock schemes

are similar for similar questions year

by year

they may put a new spin on the question

or put some new context on it

but if the question is similar to one

you've already done then you will know

what keywords a mock steam is looking

for because

it still looks for the same keywords

also if you do more and more

past papers and exam questions you will

begin to get a sense of what information

is useful and what isn't

when reviewing the flashcards then i

would often realize that there's too

much unnecessary information here

and edit it to remove it and in some

cases when i'm convinced that there's no

way they'll have asked a question

on that flash card and then i would just

delete the flash card by going to more

and then pressing delete note but in

this case

i've seen this question come up so i'm

not going to delete this obviously it's

quite difficult to describe but doing

more exam questions and past papers

gives you a feeling for what is useful

and what isn't so like i said

in an earlier video try not to get too

worried about getting the level of

detail just right you can always trim

down on any excess information

and for any information you may be

missing as

uh you will find out before you're doing

practice questions

uh you can just make a new flashcard on

that piece of information this also

means that you shouldn't use tons of

resources when making your flashcards

and worrying about getting

every single small piece of information

on them if that if that information is

important

then it will come up on a previous exam

question or something

and by doing enough questions then you

will encounter that piece of information

if it doesn't come up on any of them but

it does on your real exam

then most of the people won't get that

question right either so it doesn't

really make see much of a difference in

grade boundaries

and after editing and deleting

flashcards you can always go back to

google doc

and edit and delete it here but i didn't

really bother because i knew my

anki flashcards the ones i had on here

were going to be the latest version

and this didn't really matter too much

in there and now another nice feature

i'd like to use is marking flashcards

the only time i tended to use this was

when there was an issue with the

flashcard

for example if i think that the picture

wasn't very good and i wanted to change

it

but didn't have time to do it now or was

using my phone

and then i would make that into a marked

flashcard

by going to more and then pressing mark

note so now you can see the see a little

star appears in top right and usually i

find it helpful to also edit the card

and write a note to myself such as

mark colon check

the equation is correct so if i don't

have time to fully check the equation

then i

will go do that later and then press

bury note

and this means that you won't see it

again for the rest of today and you'll

see it again tomorrow

and then go to browse and then if i go

to

the marked tag here then you can see all

the cards that i've marked over here and

if i go to one that i just mocked

um wherever it is i think it was

combustion

and you can see it's over here and then

i can just edit

the card and check the equation it's all

right

and then remove the tag for marked so

it's no longer marked

so i also use this feature when

reviewing a flashcard and noticing it

was a very similar to another flashcard

i had previously encountered and i

wanted to combine the two flashcards

together

or even when i felt there was some

tension between two flashcards because

something in one flashcard would

contradict it was something else i knew

i would mark it write a sentence uh by

editing it

and then make some time to resolve the

complex light in the day

and that's just by going through uh

going to browse and then pressing marked

and these are the flashcards i've marked

and probably need to go free at some

points and

make some changes too and then just

removing the marked tag but yeah that's

basically for this video and i'll see

you next one in the series