I’ve been learning Mandadrin for a few years now and have lived in China for just over a year. I’m at the lower intermediate level.

I spend quite a long time using flash cards, probably more than I need to but actually I prefer it this way because it I can really take the time to study the characters that I haven’t learnt succiently – in detail by looking at the composition of the characters and plenty of example sentences. Doing this, I find that I can recall characters better than when I first started using it. Back then I’d go through it quicker but I wasn’ satisfied with my long-term recall ability.

Was there ever a time when you had to spend a longer amount time on spaced repition flash cards to remember characters?

Also, I very very rarely finish a set of flash cards in a day so I can’t even compare the amount of time I spend to you but I can say it’s over 40mins, probably just over an hr every day.

BTW, I’ve followed HC on and off for a few years and I love the work your doing. Best of all you have greatly influenced the way I study so thank you.

Thanks for pointing this out! I have fixed the errors and updated the article.

I have also used spaced repetition since the very beginning because it just made sense to me. I was a bit stupid and actually developed my own system without really checking the available tools and research. I ended up with big spreadsheets telling me when to study what (in smaller chunks), which worked okay until I found Anki.

Yes, good point. Any time where short-term retention is the most important thing. I mean, even if you use SRS normally, if you care about the grades enough, cramming will probably add a few points if done addition to SRS too.

Always been a fan of spaced repetition, even before I knew it was a thing I was doing it. I’m surprised people think it’s not effective even after trying it.