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SoerenMind comments on Learning languages efficiently. - Less Wrong
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It's true that the Anki developers have good reasons for selecting the time intervals the way they do. I'd also agree that for long term language learning Phase 6 is sub-optimal. But there's two ways this particular situation is quite different from the usual situation: Having to learn stuff fast (basically cramming) and the fact that these words need to be in the active vocabulary, not the passive one. That is, being able to use them in conversation, rather than just remembering when asked for. I don't know how strong these points are, but from my subjective impression it was quite useful to have shorter time intervals than usual.
The marginal benefit of learning more words diminishes, which is a reason in favour of learning the important words better.
One of the core principles of learning is that good learning is deliberate practice. If you review a card to early and it's easy to remember the card you are not getting your full deliberate practice and if Wozniak is right, that leads to worse learning.
There no evidence that reviewing cards before they are due does anything useful. A carrot doesn't grow faster when you pull on it. Cramming before an exam produces memories that are gone after the exam.
If you want stronger memories, mnemonics is a valid tool. It's also possible to get strong memories by making connection between concepts and use emotion.
I recently started to have cards that ask for IPA pronunciation of words (in X-Sampa). That provides more added knowledge than reviewing a card 3 times before it's due.
Both Anki and Mnemosyne have cramming plugins.