The goal of learning Chinese is surpass black and white and find out how you can make the most out of them. If you’re planning to learn Chinese grammar then flashcards may work well for you.
There are two things which make Chinese grammar flashcards best for remembering specific information:
- Spacing effect is a psychological miracle which has been noticed in various learning domains from sports to language learning. In short, repetitions over time cause long-term results in comparison to massing repetition together. Simply put, it is good to learn a word ten times in ten days, than learn it ten times in a single day. It is also known as space repetition.
- Active recall occurs while you actively focus on your memory for the data you’re looking for. For instance, if you’re asked to write “memory”, jìyì, and you write 记忆/記憶, it is called active recalling. So, when you see a Chinese sentence with the word and you are asked to read it, you will assess those characters but you wouldn’t be able to write them by hand.
These two reasons are why flashcards work.
Advantages of using flashcards to learn Chinese
- An effective method to learn the basic of Chinese characters and words: Flashcards are extremely effective when it comes to reviewing grammar and words quickly. Even if you’re busy with other things and have just 15 minutes in hand, you can just review flashcards within that time and gain a quick memory.
- Great for learning to write characters by hand: If you wish to gain mastery over writing Chinese characters, you can rely on flashcards. You can learn Chinese characters by writing them on flashcards. Start with a few characters, read them aloud while writing and slowly increase your vocabulary and grammar.
- Immediate feedback: A fundamental tenet of flashcard design is that you can test your knowledge with just one paper. Assess if you know how a grammar is used and pronounced, how it is written. If you follow this, you can actually pinpoint the things you remember and those that you have forgotten. If you’re reading textbooks and not using flashcards, it may be tough to find out what have you forgotten as checking the whole book is tough. Using flashcards, you can mark anything you have forgotten with ease.
- Easy availability and flexibility: Flashcards are available at your convenience anywhere, anytime. Even if you have a spare time of five minutes, you can make the most of the situation and review the characters. If you have a lot of time, you can include flashcards in other activities and make learning more interesting.
- Assess progress and boost your motivation: Flashcards means visible learning. You can assess the cards you have created and what you have learned from it. It gives you a chance to measure your progress. Of course, it is two-edged sword as not all which is measured can be counted and not all that’s countable can be measured.
With flashcards, your possibilities are limitless. You can boost your language learning in numerous ways than you can imagine. So go ahead and start now.
