Spaced Repetition
Here is an interactive article on the concept, use cases, and how spaced repetition works. Read this article to make memorizing things (anything) easier than ever.
Recommended Tool: Anki
For using this method of memorization, I recommend using an open-source software called Anki (app page, GitHub page).
Pros of Using Anki for Spaced Repetition:
- Supports All Mainstream Platforms: The official app is available and free on Linux 2023+, Windows 10+, macOS 12+, and Android. The official iOS app costs $25 upfront as a one-time purchase fee to support the development team. I will talk more about it below.*
- Cloud Storage and Sync Everywhere for Free: With a free account and an internet connection, you can sync your decks, notes, and cards to every device you wish to use for memorization. Can’t use the app for some reason? Anki’s got you covered! Log into ankiweb.net and you will see all of your cards right there for you to study (the web interface is somewhat ugly…). Cloud storage and syncing are free,** even if your notes contain audio or images—no extra payment needed. There is no reason for you to skip a day; every day is a memorization day.
- Premade Decks for Free: Shared decks is where you can check out and potentially download premade decks by other members of the community if they meet your standards. Still, everything is free. You can also share the decks you made there if you wish to.***
- Add-ons to Spice Up Study Sessions: No matter if you think vanilla Anki tastes too plain for you, isn’t powerful enough for you, or doesn’t have the feature you wanted in it, you can give it another shot by heading to the add-ons page and see if something matches your needs.
Troubleshooting & Help
I hope this is already enough for you to try it out. Enter the conversation for more info and explanations on the asterisks (*).
Ran into troubles? RTFM or contact me. I will try my best to help you out or give you advice as a two consecutive years and five years on-and-off veteran.
Footnotes
* I recommend those who wish to use Anki’s service on iOS try only using Anki on other platforms for at least 2 weeks first. Then, and only then, consider if buying the iOS app is worth it for you. Consider the following questions: 1. Do you study on the go a lot? 2. How many notes of information do you plan on studying? 3. Does the outcome of the information studied offset the $25 spent? (The outcome is not necessarily money—it could also be your pleasure in learning that information or other benefits.) If any of the above questions have been answered “yes,” you probably do want to purchase the app. If not, then don’t bother. If you are really unsure about it, you are welcome to talk about your learning goals and situation with me and I’ll share some of my opinions.
** I do not know if there is a cap on the total amount of data you are allowed to store on the cloud, and I’m too lazy to research it rather than write this out. Even if there is one, since I have not yet reached it, the allowed size is probably huge. If you know me, you know I’ve been memorizing a lot of stuff (more than 40k notes) from different categories for more than 2 years now, with 7k of them having either audio or images attached to them. The cap should be very high if there is one.
*** Little ad for myself lol—I have created a GitHub repository where I put some of the decks I made to help myself study, but I realize the quality of these notes are good enough for me to share with people who also want to study the same material but don’t want to make their own decks. The styling on these notes is very simple—I dare say poor—but it gets the job done.
There aren’t many decks that have been released yet in the repository because I just created it a short while ago. There are two decks right now: one focuses on the unit circle and one on regex. Both are quite “intro” and fundamental, so check them out! I am now planning on making some of the decks I’ve made for a while look a little nicer and less messy so I can share them with y’all.