Anki is a flashcard program, a learning program whose main focus is repetition, showing the same information again and again until it sticks. It follows a spaced repetition algorithm that adapts to feedback given by the user to optimize the learning effect.
In addition to static content (text and images), Anki supports audio and video and generally dynamic content (like stroke animations) and is highly customizable. Anki is not a single program but consists of the following ecosystem:
- Anki (Desktop)
- for Windows, macOS, Linux; free
- AnkiDroid
- for Android phones/tablets; free
- AnkiMobile
- for iPhones/iPads; US$24.99
- AnkiWeb
- online platform for synchronization and deck sharing; free
In addition to installing Anki for your preferred device, we highly recommend registering for AnkiWeb and linking the program to that account. It's free of charge and synchronizes among different devices, saves any progress, etc. If you need help, here are the main resources:
When downloading the package files, it may happen that the browser automatically adds a
extension. So instead of, for example,
. If that happens, just rename the file without the
extension (there might be a warning, but this can be ignored), and "Import" the file from within, for example, AnkiDroid. This should do the trick.
The decks basically consist of the glosses of the stories with the words sorted by their appearance in the text. The cards are Cantonese-to-English followed by English-to-Cantonese. Special features of the cards:
- stroke animatons,
- jyutping and yale romanization,
- text-to-speech audio.
Finally, if you prefer a "night mode" style of the cards, you can
change this easily with Anki (Desktop) by going to "Tools" → "Manage Note Types" → choose "chinvocab_HBL" → "Cards" → go to "Styling". Then change the first lines from
:root {
--colBackgr: white;
--colTxt: black;
--colOutl: lightgray;
--colStroke: black;
/* for night mode just uncomment the following: */
/*
--colBackgr: #2f2f31;
--colTxt: white;
--colOutl: gray;
--colStroke: white;
*/
/* -------------------------------------------- */
--colBtn1: #2196F3;
--colBtn2: #ccc;
}
to
:root {
--colBackgr: white;
--colTxt: black;
--colOutl: lightgray;
--colStroke: black;
/* for night mode just uncomment the following: */
--colBackgr: #2f2f31;
--colTxt: white;
--colOutl: gray;
--colStroke: white;
/* -------------------------------------------- */
--colBtn1: #2196F3;
--colBtn2: #ccc;
}
and the styling of the cards will change to night mode.
Note that every deck is also available from the respective story page; the following list is just for reference.