Flash Card Test Types

[darrenchiu88]

Hi All,

I've had quite a break from my Chinese studies (2 years) and now just revising the previously studied New Practical Chinese Reader Book series that I learnt before.
My question is in regards to the flash card system. I've just managed to get my hands on a set of flash cards for books 1-3 of the New Practical Chinese Reader Book series and am wondering if there is a flash card test type that shows the Chinese pinyin and its accompanying definition and you have to remember how to write the character (either on the smart phone or preferably on a grid sheet of paper).
I'm only asking because my biggest issue is remembering how to write the character and not the pinyin or the definition. If this function is available then GREAT, if not then can it possibly be an addition for future releases.

Many Thanks ,

Darren

 

[mikelove]

My question is in regards to the flash card system. I've just managed to get my hands on a set of flash cards for books 1-3 of the New Practical Chinese Reader Book series and am wondering if there is a flash card test type that shows the Chinese pinyin and its accompanying definition and you have to remember how to write the character (either on the smart phone or preferably on a grid sheet of paper).

Yes - you can do a "self-graded" test with "show" set to "Pinyin + Defn", or a "fill-in-the-blanks" test with that same "show" setting and "prompt for" set to "characters" if you want to write it on the phone.

 

[darrenchiu88]

Thanks for the quick reply! I think many people are like me and have downloaded this app without knowing it full potential!

 

[darrenchiu88]

Another question,

Firstly I tried looking on the manual but I couldn't find the answer. I'm trying to learn my flash cards in the order that they are sorted in each of the categories I've setup, how do I do it? Once I go into the Review Flashcards I then went into the Card Selection Option, however, there doesn't seem to be an option to start reviewing my categories by the First to Last Entry.

Thanks in advance

Darren

 

[mikelove]

Firstly I tried looking on the manual but I couldn't find the answer. I'm trying to learn my flash cards in the order that they are sorted in each of the categories I've setup, how do I do it? Once I go into the Review Flashcards I then went into the Card Selection Option, however, there doesn't seem to be an option to start reviewing my categories by the First to Last Entry.

You can set it to "Fixed" and order by creation date - that will usually correspond to the order for an imported list - but there's not currently a way to review the cards specifically in their category order.

If you really really want to do that, though, export the cards from all of the categories you're interested in doing this in, delete or rename those categories, then reimport the cards with duplicate cards set to "allow" - that will ensure that the creation date order perfectly matches the category order and therefore that they show up in that exact order with "fixed."

To be honest, while this is something we get quite a few requests for, we don't really like it pedagogy-wise, so it's gotten lower than it might otherwise deserve to be on our priority list for that reason.

 

[darrenchiu88]

Hey Mike,

I just reviewed a couple of categories all on the one flash card test and the total number of flash cards in the test didn't add up to the amount of flash cards I have if I added up all the flash cards individually in the categories I chose to review. Could this possibly be because if there are multiple entries for the same character across the categories then the flash card test will only show that repeated character once?

Thanks mate,

Darren

 

[mikelove]

I just reviewed a couple of categories all on the one flash card test and the total number of flash cards in the test didn't add up to the amount of flash cards I have if I added up all the flash cards individually in the categories I chose to review. Could this possibly be because if there are multiple entries for the same character across the categories then the flash card test will only show that repeated character once?

That's a very likely explanation, yes. Another possibility is that some cards were "incomplete" / missing text that was required for the test, in which case they'd be skipped over.

 

[radioman]

I wanted to know how to allow switching on the fly of dictionaries when running flash cards.

Basically, I just want to look at various definitions for giving flashcards. Is this possible?

Also, what is the method for exiting a flashcard session early when on android?

Is there a way to upon reveal of a card to show the six choices of how well you know a given card, while skipping the additional step of having to mark the card as right or wrong?

 

[mikelove]

Basically, I just want to look at various definitions for giving flashcards. Is this possible?

Yes - there's an option to enable dict switching in one of the settings screens. (not on by default because it takes up a good-sized chunk of the definition area)

Also, what is the method for exiting a flashcard session early when on android?

Back button.

Is there a way to upon reveal of a card to show the six choices of how well you know a given card, while skipping the additional step of having to mark the card as right or wrong?

Yes - just set the scoring button options (in Scoring) to 123456 or 654321 (no slash).

 

[radioman]

Yes - there's an option to enable dict switching in one of the settings screens. (not on by default because it takes up a good-sized chunk of the definition area)

Sorry, but I have not been able to find this Dictionary Switch setting. Further guidance sought!

Back button.

Yeah, stumbled on this one. Thanks.

Yes - just set the scoring button options (in Scoring) to 123456 or 654321 (no slash).

Got it ... Thanks.

 

[mikelove]

Sorry, but I have not been able to find this Dictionary Switch setting. Further guidance sought!

Card Text / Allow dict switching.

 

[radioman]

Is there a method to fully, flat out search the Pleco User manual for a text string? Just the manual. H

aving a PDF would work, as would a web based document(s). However, it is not obvious to me on how to do this.

 

[radioman]

Sorry, but I have not been able to find this Dictionary Switch setting. Further guidance sought!

OK, I think I got the dictionary switching sorted out. But what is missing is that I want to be able to click on a character and then be able to see all the character information.

 

[mikelove]

OK, I think I got the dictionary switching sorted out. But what is missing is that I want to be able to click on a character and then be able to see all the character information.

Tap it to select it, then tap > - character info is integrated into the definition screen.

 

[gato]

Just to add my 2 cents again, consumer software like Pleco should be useable to its full potential, without the reading of a manual, as much as possible -- not to mention that Pleco's manual runs several hundred pages now. The GUI design should be done with that in mind as much as possible. If it means reducing configurability, so be it. It's original iOS philosophy vs the UNIX/LINUX philosophy, in my mind (I've read my share of UNIX manual pages). The flashcard part obviously is the biggest area to work on in this regard

I've made the same comments before in the UI thread. Just thought I mentioned again since it's been almost three years since my earlier comments.

 

[mikelove]

Just to add my 2 cents again, consumer software like Pleco should be useable to its full potential, without the reading of a manual, as much as possible -- not to mention that Pleco's manual runs several hundred pages now. The GUI design should be done with that in mind as much as possible. If it means reducing configurability, so be it. It's original iOS philosophy vs the UNIX/LINUX philosophy, in my mind (I've read my share of UNIX manual pages). The flashcard part obviously is the biggest area to work on in this regard

I've made the same comments before in the UI thread. Just thought I mentioned again since it's been almost three years since my earlier comments.

Oh, we're aware of the need to work on this, but we've been prioritizing the dictionary for these sorts of improvements since it's a much bigger part of our business (and used by a much larger portion of our customers). To be honest, it's also been instructive to look at how other flashcard systems have developed in the post-iOS era, and how people have responded to that; we've learned a tremendous amount from the negative reactions to Anki 2, for example.

But it's very, very tough to take away features - it seems like every time we do we end up discovering there was a large and vocal community of people using them. So it's more a matter of finding out how to offer the same features with fewer options - for example, combine "weighted" and "spaced repetition" testing through a more flexible spaced repetition system that allows for finer-grained review intervals and for cards to come up again a few minutes later on the same test if the interval dictates it.

 

[HW60]

Is there a method to fully, flat out search the Pleco User manual for a text string? Just the manual. Having a PDF would work, as would a web based document(s). However, it is not obvious to me on how to do this.

With XXX siteleco.com/anmanual/ you can search the manual for XXX using google. You can copy all parts of the manual in the usual way (mark, copy, paste).

 

[gato]

Oh, we're aware of the need to work on this, but we've been prioritizing the dictionary for these sorts of improvements since it's a much bigger part of our business (and used by a much larger portion of our customers).

My comments were about ease of use vs configurability in general. It's about the dictionary as well as the flashcard. Just that the flashcard has the most usability issues.

It's also been about 3 years since I first made the comment in the UI simplification thread when it was started, without too many changes to the UI, so I thought I'd mention it here again.

But it's very, very tough to take away features - it seems like every time we do we end up discovering there was a large and vocal community of people using them. So it's more a matter of finding out how to offer the same features with fewer options - for example, combine "weighted" and "spaced repetition" testing through a more flexible spaced repetition system that allows for finer-grained review intervals and for cards to come up again a few minutes later on the same test if the interval dictates it.

You may just have to be dictatorial like Steve Jobs and say that you know what's the best design.

Or you can try the alternative route of create the best easy-to-use interface first, with a good number of most used configurable settings out in the open, with the rest hidden from most users under an advanced menu.

My bet is that 90% of your users only know how to use about 10% of the settings.

 

[mikelove]

It's also been about 3 years since I first made the comment in the UI simplification thread when it was started, without too many changes to the UI, so I thought I'd mention it here again.

The dictionary stuff has required some massive changes to the search engine, searches we're now experimenting with on Android before rolling them out on iOS - the key to making the dictionary more usable was, as with flashcards, eliminating the need for certain options, and doing that necessitated a massive overhaul. (honestly, if Android hadn't come along I don't know if we could have been so ambitious, given the difficulties of testing out new stuff on iOS - prior to this we hadn't made any major changes to the search engine since Pleco 2.0 on Palm/WM, and on two different occasions a seemingly minor change to it caused some sort of horrible bug that we had to frantically fix / beg Apple to approve quickly)

You may just have to be dictatorial like Steve Jobs and say that you know what's the best design.

Design is one thing, features are another - Apple's had their fair share of reversed feature removals too, e.g. when they turned the iPad orientation lock switch into a mute switch and then had to scramble to add an option to bring back the orientation lock switch. (switching to mute was a good move for iOS-wide design consistency, but it irritated a lot of people)

Or you can try the alternative route of create the best easy-to-use interface first, with a good number of most used configurable settings out in the open, with the rest hidden from most users under an advanced menu.

That's actually the idea now - the intent of the current design was that people would pick the Simple or Spaced Repetition profile and then only change things on the main screen. But since they don't seem to be willing to do that, my favorite idea at the moment is to have two different classes of profiles - profiles based on Simple or Spaced with a limited number of configurable options, but also the option to create an "advanced" profile in which you can customize things as much as you can now; as long as the options screens are visible, people are going to dig into them and get annoyed that they don't know what all of the settings mean, but if you have to go through several steps to even see them at all then people will hopefully not be quite so intimidated by them.

Honestly, though, to me the bigger priority with flashcard usability is to make things more streamlined for advanced users - stop mucking around with "scores" and just use intervals, for example, and add some common-sense features (albeit seemingly little-requested) like a separate review at the start of a test for new cards. Until we have something that will fully satisfy the Anki set, it's probably a waste of time to try to reach out to users with less complicated requirements.