[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [lojban] Re: flashcards?

I agree with most of the  the things that have been said about flash
cards. This is why i suggested using a leitner system flashcard
program.

Flashcards are only useful up to a point in getting words into short
and medium term memory. In that sense they are useful in giving you
some vocabulary to use in your other drills, and it is actual use of
the language that is the most efficient method for getting the
language locked in.

(This is why I'm doing some work on getting access to films for
dubbing into lojban. Chatting to a trademark lawyer soon to work out
the legal details etc, and will let you all know when I've got
something solid)

The way that a leitner flash program can assist in regular language
learning. A leitner system will automatically ignore drilling you on
words you are currently using, and focus you on new vocabulary.

If you find a word keeps popping up every day and doesn't stick, just
writing a sentence or two using the word on the back side of the card
can give you something to lock onto. You have to own a flashcard
program or system and integrate it into the rest of your learning to
ensure you get the most out of it. Just having a program or some cards
that have words on them (without any context) and leaving it at that
is always going to be an inefficient method. Using it properly as a
small component of a complete language learning system makes it
worthwhile.

Paul


On 6/22/06, Alex Martini <alexjm@umich.edu> wrote:


On Jun 21, 2006, at 6:50 PM, Chris Capel wrote:

> On 6/21/06, Alex Martini <alexjm@umich.edu> wrote:
>> However, if you want to learn Lojban quickly, daily flash card
>> sessions are the way to go.
>
> See, I'm not sure this is true. If you practice daily by reading
> Lojban text, or doing other sorts of exercises, and make sure that
> you're exposed to a good round selection of vocabulary, it's my
> intuition that you will pick up vocabulary more quickly than if you do
> flashcards or logflash or Supermemo. And I actually used Supermemo
> with Lojban for about a month. My progress just felt slow, compared to
> what might be possible with other techniques.
>
> Now, maybe flashcards are fine once you already know all the basics,
> to help you finish out learning all of the cmavo and gismu. Or maybe
> flashcards really are pretty efficient, just really boring. But they
> didn't feel efficient.
>
> [ li'o ]

I'm really not sure how efficient they are over the long term. I know
they are very efficient for 'cramming', however. On several
occasions, I have used a flash card program to learn a list of
vocabulary words for a class for school around 20 or thirty words in
an hour or so for a day or two. Most of what I memorized was quickly
lost though, without practice. I would expect that with practice I
would retain it better.

I agree though, that reading Lojban text is better. And, yes flash
cards are about as boring as watching walls. Many of the words I know
have an original context from which I remember them. {ba} for
example, I learned from The Porous Prophet. When I confuse myself
between {pu} and {ba}, I recall the phrase {le ba panje xusra} to get
them straight again. Songs and stories are infinitely more interesting.

If you feel so inclined, I would ask/invite you yourself to write
with the Lojban you know -- there is an unfortunate shortage of text
that is truly beginner's level. The challenge is to write with
vocabulary and grammar you actually know instead of looking it up in
the dictionary. Which is actually why I haven't written Lesson 5 on
the Reader for quite a while; I haven't been up for that kind of
mental challenge.

mu'o mi'e .aleks