Anki Archives - Top Learning Tips

Hey learning fans!

In this article we’ll learn about the basics of Anki flashcard software. This article is for beginners who are new to Anki and want to improve their learning abilities using this powerful program.

Let’s start from the beginning.

What is Anki?

Anki is free software that can dramatically improve how you learn.

Anki works by using digital flashcards to quiz you in a way that is tailored specifically to your brain. Anki uses the psychological principles of active recall and spaced repetition. We’ll explain the science behind Anki in a later article. However, for now you just need to know that Anki helps you learn almost anything.

Anki helps medical students and language learners remember mountains of information. And it helps people with learning disabilities, like me, learn much more effectively.

What does the word “Anki” mean?

“Anki” is a Japanese word that means “memorization.” Here is the word “Anki” written in Japanese,

諳記 (あんき)

How does Anki work?

Anki works like traditional paper flashcards with a question on the front of the flashcard and an answer on the back.

However, the big advantage of Anki over paper flashcards is that Anki keeps track of what you remember and what you forget. And Anki quizzes you on just the questions you need to improve.

Example of how an Anki flashcard works

First, Anki will show you a question. For example,

Question: Who was the 1st president of The United States?

Then you’ll need to come up with an answer. You can just think the answer in your head or write it down.

Here I’ll answer, “George Washington.”

Next, I’ll press the “Show Answer” button, and Anki will show me the question and the correct answer like this,

Question: Who was the 1st president of The United States?

Answer: George Washington.

In this example, I answered correctly. George Washington was the 1st president of The United States.

Next, I’ll rate how well I knew the answer by pressing one of the four buttons on the bottom of the screen. These four buttons are labeled: “Again, Hard, Good, and Easy.” If I had gotten this question wrong, I would click on the “Again” button. The “Again” button tells Anki to quiz me on this question again in a few minutes.

Alternatively, if I had gotten the question right, but I thought it was difficult, I would click the “Hard” button. And, if I had gotten the question right, and I thought it was somewhat easy, I would click the “Good” button.

But in this case, I answered the question correctly and I thought it was very easy. So, I’ll click the “Easy” button. Anki will remember that this question was easy for me, so it won’t show me this question for a long time.

Anki is designed to use your study time efficiently. Anki won’t waste your time reviewing questions you know well. Instead, Anki will focus your study time on questions you haven’t mastered yet.

Anki is like having the best learning coach in the world sitting on your shoulder and training you in a way that is perfectly tailored to your brain.

How much does Anki cost?

Anki is open-source software that is free for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and the web. All these versions of Anki are developed by volunteers who donate their time. However, the iOS version of Anki is developed privately and costs $24.99.