Lots of Flashcards floating down from buildings to the street below

Mastering Verbs with Anki: A Step-by-Step Guide

Verb conjugation is a sticking point for many language learners at some point. Of course, some languages let us off the hook with minimal paradigms, like Chinese, or Norwegian. As for the rest of them, there’s no getting around endings, stem changes, auxiliaries and the like.

Memorising entire conjugation tables by rote might work as an overview. But retaining reams of conjugation tables in memory, then using them naturally in context, is a different story.

That’s where Anki can help. By customising your cards to include not only disembodied parts, but also real-world, conjugated, in-use examples, verb drills will be less wading through treacle and more in-the-moment fast recall.

Here’s how.

Custom fields for verbs

It’s all about customising your note types to contain contextualising info, and not just a simple dictionary form and translation. A good ‘verb note’ should probably contain the main dictionary elements – infinitive, simple past and past participle, for example – but also a space for a sample sentence (or several, if you like).

To add these custom fields to a note type in Anki, start by opening the Manage Note Types menu. You can find this by clicking Tools > Manage Note Types in the top menu. Choose an existing note type you want to customise (or create a new one by clicking Add) and select Fields. In the fields editor, you can add new fields by clicking Add and giving the field a name, such as “Dictionary Form,” “Conjugated Sentence,” or “Notes.”

Making a custom note type for verbs in Anki

After you’ve done that, you can start adding items to your decks in this new format.

Adding an Anki card using a custom note type for verbs

We’re not quite done yet, though. Your new, custom note is up and running in terms of storing data – just not displaying it in cards, yet.

To include these fields on your flashcards, hit the Browse link in main Anki window, select the note type in the left-hand menu, then edit the card templates by selecting Cards in the right-hand pane. Insert your named fields into the template using curly braces, e.g., {{Dictionary Form}} or {{Sample Sentence}}. You can use basic HTML to style your data, too.

Customising a card view to use a new note type specifically for German verbs

Experiment with different strategies for where you place the info. The front side might contain just the English prompt, with the target language all on the flip side. Alternatively, you might want to keep your cards solely in the target language, with the infinitive on one side, and the parts / context material on the back.

Form and Use

The beauty of the customised note types approach is that a deck can contain multiple types. So, for verbs, enter your vocab using the note type created in the steps above. For other items like nouns, adjectives and so on, add using a basic card. Either that, or customise for those parts of speech, too – there’s no limit!

Mastering irregular verbs is all about context. Anki gives you the tools to leverage context in any way you please, through its extensive customisation tools. By taking advantage of Anki’s spaced repetition when learning verbs in full sentences, you’ll not only memorise their forms, but also their use. It’s especially effective when you make Anki cards one of your daily tactics.

Ready to take control of your verbs? Start building your deck today, and let Anki do the heavy lifting!

Coins

Anki for iOS – on the cheap

Like all the best language hackers, I’m a long-time convert to the Anki flashcards system. It’s one of the power tools of language learning, combining science-smart learning methodology with a simple, no-nonsense interface and complete customisability. I use it to build my own personal word lists as I browse and read in my target languages; I come across a new word, look it up, and pop it in.

I generally administer my vocab lists on the free desktop client (available for Windows, OS and Linux), and test myself in my spare moment during the day on the mobile app. However, after switching back to iOS from Android recently, I was, admittedly, discouraged to learn that the iOS version of the app is a not insignificant £18.99 / US $24.99. After using the free Android version, having to pay rankled a bit (being a thrifty Midlander at heart!).

However, with a bit of rational processing, it’s easy to see why the price is more than fair for such a brilliant app. The author does a good job of justifying the cost at this link, and as a fellow independent app developer, I more than get it. The Android version, it turns out, is developed and maintained by a separate group of people. From the official channel, you’re still getting the very powerful desktop software for nothing at all, and £18.99 for adding mobile capabilities doesn’t seem like much compared to other language learning tools, or subscription-based services.

So far, so good – I’d justified why the app was worth £18.99. But the thrifty Midlander in me still seethed silently at the thought of spending that much on an app.

Enter Swagbucks. On the face of it, Swagbucks is a run-of-the-mill survey / pay-per-click site, where bored Internetsters with some spare time go to earn rewards. The site has been fêted a lot on thrift-seeking sites, particularly MoneySavingExpert.com, in recent years. But wait – Swagbucks can pay out in iTunes gift cards!

I signed up, and set myself a goal – no more than 30 minutes of Swagbucking a day, until I’d earnt enough to cover the app. I won’t lie – surveys and pay-per-clicks aren’t particularly riveting to plough through, so setting yourself a max goal is a good idea. In fact, Swagbucks helps you with this by setting you a daily goal to hit for a bonus. In less than a month, I’d got my two £10 gift cards – that app was mine! *cue maniacal laughter*

So, summing up, this is an age-old tale of a slightly stingy language learner at Christmas time. But if you’re also keen to get the power of Anki on your iOS device, and feel the sting is a bit too sharp, then sites like Swagbucks are definitely worth considering. Happy Swagbucking / Anki-ing! #hohoho