Spaced Reptition Systems
Published May 12, 2021
SRS and Why You Should Use It
Considering the newest version of the HSK contains 11,092 vocabulary words in the highest bracket, as well as 3,000 unique characters, it is quite clear that your system to study Chinese characters should be optimized if you wish to reach a high level of proficiency. This is where SRS comes in.
SRS stands for spaced repetition software or spaced repetition system. What this software does is simple: it tracks what you have reviewed, and presents it to you when you are most likely to forget it. If you get a character or word right over and over and over, each time the time between reviews grows and grows and grows. If you get a word wrong, the system reduces the time until the next review (or sets it back to the initial setting completely!).
This means that you review words at the most optimal time, and spend less time trying to figure out what to study when it comes to vocabulary and even grammar. Unless you are already at the level of proficiency you desire, and have a system to maintain that level, then I believe SRS is for you.
It should also be noted that there are decks that are built with full sentences, aiming for “sentence mining” where you learn new words along with sentences to frame how they are used.
Now, it's time for the implementation of SRS.
Implementing SRS
If you're a beginner, you're in luck. Getting started with SRS is as simple as installing some basic software and downloading a nice deck, starting a subscription, or using the Pleco app. Conversely, if you've been studying Chinese for a while and have quite a bit of knowledge, buckle up, because it can be painful to start and grind through the words you already know depending on the software you choose
I'm going to walk through a few SRS programs that you can use to study Chinese, read them all and see which one sounds best to you. I have personally made honest attempts at using all of these programs, but it is really up to your personal preferences and situation.
SRS with Hack Chinese:
- Easy of Use: High
- Pricing: Subscription: $144/year annual subscription, or $18 month
Hack Chinese has a lot of strengths. Everything just works out of the box. No fiddling, no confusing settings. Just start.
Hack Chinese does what you need it to do and lets you do what is important, study. Also, it lets you tweak the algorithm in a user-friendly way in order to make the process more how you like it. If you do this, it will make it clear which solution will be more efficient and which may be more enjoyable, allowing you to balance your experience as you please.
Hack Chinese has a 21-day free trial.
You can get started with Hack Chinese Here: https://www.hackchinese.com/
SRS with HanyuGuide:
- Easy of Use: Medium-High
- Pricing: $9.99/mo to $69.99/year
HanyuGuide is a new SRS software that is currently in beta. It is free for now, but will likely be a subscription service in the future. It is a web app, so it is easy to use on your computer and mobile. It is also quite simple to use, but it is not quite as simple as Hack Chinese. However, it is still quite easy to use.
The key benefit of HanyuGuide is that is bases reviews on active recall. This means that you are actively input and check your answer, rather than just seeing the answer and saying if you got it right or wrong. This is a key difference between HanyuGuide and other SRS software. As we tweak the algorithm, we will be able to see which solution will be more efficient and which may be more enjoyable, allowing you to balance your experience as you please.
Dive into HanyuGuide and begin learning today!!
SRS with Pleco:
- Easy of Use: Medium
- Pricing: $10 alone; $30 when included in the Pleco basic bundle
Pleco's SRS is strong because of its integration with the rest of the app. Whether it's adding words via a search of the dictionary, or through the optical scanner while you're out and about, the integration that Pleco provides is quite strong. By being able to add words in Pleco, you get to leverage the strength of the rest of the app. This is fantastic. Additionally, unlike Anki Pleco has the ability to let you select sub-decks very easily. So say you have an HSK deck with the levels as sub-decks. Then, you can easily select the sub-deck you would like to study. However, this removes them from your reviews all together, which could be a problem if you forget those words later.
Other than this, there are two big cons. The first con is it's in the Pleco app. On your phone. It can be difficult to study with notifications, or other reminders distracting you from your goal, but if you're someone who just wants to take it with you in your pocket, it may be perfect for you. The second con is that the settings are a bit confusing. I could never seem to figure out which settings were best and how I should be studying, as I was studying I was often questioning if it was set up properly, or if the settings were optimal. Simply put, I found the settings to be quite daunting. However, its integration with the Chinese dictionaries Pleco has and the fact that it is an app meant for learning and studying Chinese mean that it is less work to add cards or create decks when compared to Anki.
Note: Pleco does have free flashcards but they are not spaced repetition.
SRS with Anki:
- Easy of Use: Low
- Price: Free
Anki is by-and-large the most popular SRS software to learn Chinese from what I have gathered. Moreover, it is free and open-source. However, it is quite difficult to use. Performing actions such as adding new cards and filtering the very large decks you get from online can be quite complicated and can be time consuming. However, I wouldn't be too intimidated by this. Anki has a very large and loyal fan base for a reason. You can find loads of absolutely free decks on Chinese grammar, vocab, and more.
I would note for more experienced learners that getting through the reviews of the words you already know in Anki can be quite a long and painful process. It is possible to remove words from decks or to filter decks by tags, but it is quite complex and completely removes those words from your review process.
You can download Anki here: https://apps.ankiweb.net/
You can find a list of Anki decks for Chinese here: https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks/chinese
