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Resetting vocab list

balsa   April 3rd, 2012 7:32a.m.

Hello,
A while ago, I remember reading somewhere about SRS, and that it was good to reset the list after a while, and start fresh again. I think AJATT was a proponent of that, but I can't find his post about it.

Has anyone here reset his/her list? Do you think it's a good idea to do that?

junglegirl   April 3rd, 2012 8:31a.m.

I know some people do this (it's usually referred to as nuking one's account), but I never have. If the SRS really works the way it's supposed to then it shouldn't be necessary. I think the key is just to grade yourself honestly. One thing I do is never mark a word right the first time I see it, even if I know it. If you do, it will put the word on a fast-track and after just a few correct answers in a row it will quickly get pushed back several months or even years, and you will probably forget it before then. Marking it as so-so the first time you see it will keep this from happening.

icebear   April 3rd, 2012 9:00a.m.

I think nuking your list of words in a SRS system is usually advocated when becoming increasingly overwhelmed - that is, it is a solution to a symptom.

The real problem is adding too many words, too quickly, without enough context (other, complimentary studies) to remember those words. I think nuking is a good option if you've done this for too long and are facing an seemingly insurmountable number of leeches - a nuked account allows you to start re-adding and gets a lot of noise out of the way.

To avoid the source of this problem (either without, or after nuking) try to exercise restraint in what you add to your account, only adding words which you are encountering in other contexts with high frequency, and at a manageable pace. For me that means trying to keep it at around 10 new words per day, although early on this is much higher because so many words have been learned in the past (i.e. only 10 genuinely new words per day).

Byzanti   April 3rd, 2012 9:12a.m.

What icebear said. If you don't overdo it, and instead add words that you understand (and, in my case, have another source of revision for: sentence flashcards), then you shouldn't need to nuke.

Also, avoid marking stuff so-so if you don't know it. Just mark it wrong until you're confident enough to start marking it right. It'll disappear into the ether soon enough.

nick   April 3rd, 2012 9:28a.m.

I haven't read Khatzumoto recommending nuking, but he does suggest to delete heavily anything that turns out to be not pulling its weight, even to the point of deleting large parts of your items. The point would be specifically to increase the importance and quality of the remaining items, not to quit on them.

balsa   April 3rd, 2012 3:29p.m.

Thanks for all the comments, and you've guessed the reasons for which I asked the question, hehe. I've indeed added too many words in a short amount of time, and now have an overwhelming backlog, which I'll slowly work through, and not nuke my list.

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