Anki is an application designed to help improve memory, so think of it as your own virtual flashcard. Open source and available for desktop and mobile, the application is more than just a tool for memorizing language and trivia as there’s more to it than that.

Anki cards require you to fill in the blanks by typing or just mentally answering each of them, but the important part here is creating your own card deck. Once you’ve downloaded and started the program, it will connect to AnkiWeb where shared card decks are available. These are available for download and cover everything from learning French, Japanese to memorizing the terms used in anatomy.

anki screenshot

When the answer is revealed, the program will ask you how easy or difficult it was to remember. Now if you want to create your own cards, Anki gives you several options, the most basic being the flashcard, but you can also make reverse cards where you will be shown the front and the back. If you’re studying Spanish for instance, the front will display the English word and the Spanish equivalent at the back.

You just need to input the information once and Anki will know what to do. The program can also create Cloze cards, where in you must supply the missing words to a given phrase. There are also options for editing the cards, making it even more convenient to use. Bottom line: this is a serious educational tool and can a real help if you’re a student or just want to improve your memory.

Related Links:
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