I use Anki and the MOST consistent reason a word lands in the leech pile is not because I can’t remember what it means, but because I consistently think it means something different than what it means.

So for, instance, I keep thinking French costaud means, “rib or side”, probably because I associate it with *costal" from anatomy class or costilla from Spanish.

What I do in this instance is make a Match Pairs card with:

  • costaud matching “strong, burly”
    and
  • côte matching “rib.”

This way I practice differentiating them and simultaneously learn the correct word for rib.

But I do worry that I’m unintentionally strengthening the connection by having them always together like this.

What do you guy do for these situations?

Edit: You may notice that a properly formatted card would include le/la to indicate the gender of the noun, which costaud, as an adjective, would not have but I am inconsistent and also don’t like depending on little tricks that only work in index cards, so for the matching card I do not write “la côte” because that way I could guess the card based on part of speech instead of definition.

  • dragontamer
    4·
    4 days ago

    Don’t use Anki for this. Instead learn meanings through reading (including reading the dictionary in the target language).

    I see Anki as the bridge between ignorance and immersion. You should only study the most common meaning to get started in the language. But you must always review the word in the dictionary.

    At A1 or even A2 you aren’t strong enough to read a native dictionary however. But at B1+ (well, I’m at A2+) you will suddenly notice that the native dictionary isn’t so bad anymore

    At A2+ I can read the example sentences and different meanings. I don’t understand it all but I can learn from dictionaries now…

    A2+ meaning I completed A2 months ago but am still very far away from B1.

    Anki is just good enough for seeding your understanding. The hard work happens at the immersion step. Don’t try to make Anki do something it’s bad at.

    Use a dictionary. Seriously. If you aren’t strong enough for a native dictionary use a bi-lingual dictionary instead.

    • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.worksOP
      3·
      4 days ago

      Gotta disagree with you on native language dictionaries. Even in my best language, Spanish, where I am conversationally fluent, dictionary definitions are often impenetrable.

      For instance: I could make a card with sapo on one side and the dictionary definition anfibio anuro de cuerpo rechoncho y robusto, ojos saltones, extremidades cortas y piel de aspecto verrugoso on the other.

      But words I don’t know in this definition are: anuro, rechoncho, I’m not sure what robusto means here, or verrugoso.

      The definition of anuro is: Que carece de cola.

      I don’t know carecer.

      Carecer means lacking. Ok. So anuro means lacking a tail.

      Rechoncho defines as grueso y de poca altura ok–so thick and short.

      verrugoso means que tiene verrugas ok and verruga means excrecencia cutánea por lo general redonda.

      Exrecencia means Protuberancia, generalmente carnosa, que se produce en animales y plantas, alterando su textura y superficie natural.

      but…

      **Or **

      I could just write frog.

      I’m guessing you’re a reader, but my interest in languages is mainly in conversation, which has a significantly smaller vocabulary; I make do with word reference bilingual.

      I agree with you on everything else. The true nuance of a word is learned, as you say, from context, so knowing the root/literal meaning of a word is the core of what your anki study can give you. I used to learn all the different definitions, but usually there is a core meaning and the other meanings are merely metaphorical extensions, and it’s good to practice staying flexible.

      • dragontamer
        5·
        4 days ago

        For instance: I could make a card with sapo on one side and the dictionary definition anfibio anuro de cuerpo rechoncho y robusto, ojos saltones, extremidades cortas y piel de aspecto verrugoso on the other.

        Oh no. That’s not what I mean at all.

        Again, I CANT read a dictionary yet. I’m A2 lol. But it’s still useful!!

        Read what you can. At A2 level you should have already mastered the words noun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition (etc. etc). How many categories is the word in?

        How many definitions? Is this a flexible word with 50 definitions or is it a simple word with 3 related definitions under one subheading?

        What’s the frequency count of the word? Are there any synonyms or antonyms that you recognize?

        Are there any “related” prepositions with the word? In German, it’s “helfen bei” (which is different than English “help with”), the native level dictionary makes it clear which preposition is closely associated to the word.

        Even though I can’t read definitions, there’s still a TON of information here that I learn from.

        I NEVER make the Anki card from a native dictionary.

        No, I make very simple Anki cards. I then spend lots of time in the dictionary (native and bilingual) to learn more about the word. Anki remains a simple one definition per word flashcard.

        • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.worksOP
          2·
          4 days ago

          You never answered my question about reading. I think your approach makes a lot of sense for someone who really needs to boost their vocabulary to get through literature. When I was learning English, my native language, we’d also learn etymology (the root and derivation), and that really helps me understand unfamiliar vocabulary, but it was a huge investment.

          • dragontamer
            3·
            4 days ago

            I mean, I plan to learn everything I can.

            There aren’t much German speakers here in the USA. So I can’t get that much conversation practice. But I do want to be conversational, eventually. I regularly go to a club for that.

            But again, I’m A2. I’m seeking the conversational level but I’m basically a beginner in the great scheme of things.

            I agree with you that conversations I’ve had seem to have a lower count of vocabulary. But all of these nuanced meanings of words used in practice are different between the textbook and real life conversations.

            Ex: I’m glad I looked up the word halten (hold, also “Halt”) in a real dictionary. It really shows how flexible the word would be used in a conversation.

            https://www.dwds.de/wb/halten

            I agree that there are some words better for conversation, and other words better for reading. But in all cases, studying the dictionary and being aware of the variety of uses (even if it’s nearly unreadable) is useful to me.

            • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.worksOP
              2·
              4 days ago

              Yeah, we “learn” languages when we don’t have the opportunity to “use” languages…

              I got really gungho about vocabulary when I was learning Spanish and I found all these delightful words I learned reading books. But when I went to use them with my friends, they’d be confused and correct me. So I decided I would avoid literature from then on, but read books written more accessibly (like right now I’m reading a french autobiography that is written very conversationally).

              How has your experience been with language exchanges? I gave up on it. Too many lonely hearts of both genders.

              • dragontamer
                2·
                4 days ago

                Hmmm, German speakers here in USA seem to be mostly retired folk. I wouldn’t say lonely but they are all like +20 or +30 years older than me.

                I’d be nice to have someone closer to my age but I welcome any practice.