[Jd]

Seems like you pretty much contrast:

[1] SRS flashcard apps as an exclusive language learning system

[2] Extensive reading

While (2) is clearly better if those are your only choices, as you point out yourself SRS can easily be integrated into other curriculum or used as a supplemental tool. I'm not sure how many languages deep you are but I find getting through the first 1000-3000 words a real slog in the language and it is also quite hard to read in a language when you are at sub-3000 words unless you are reading especially prepared texts in a textbook for language learners.

My preferred method is to do the basic grammar of a language and first 2000 words as quickly as possible with a cram method and then work on speaking and transitioning from passive to active vocabulary. SRS is a nice tool, esp. if the SRS tool you are using also has included sentences in context (I mostly use learnwitholiver.com). Then usually I work to train for the state run test of the language that I'm studying at a reasonably high level.

[Jd]

Turns out Gwern has a very well researched article on SRS: https://www.gwern.net/Spaced-repetition

[AlchemistCamp]

That's odd. Your strategy of rushing through basic grammar and a small number of words quickly is actually a use case I said SRS is useful for.

In the link you're responding to, I said:

> "The second situation where spaced repetition works really well is when you're studying something more complex, but you can use spaced repetition as a scaffold to get through the initial phases a bit faster. Learning vocabulary is like this. Though there are the issues that pointed out earlier about context and collocations and word boundaries, spaced repetition can still be a huge win. And that's because you don't have to use it to learn and remember everything. You can use it to get a scaffold, to get started with whatever foreign language you're learning or medical vocabulary or whatever kind of vocabulary. And after having memorized, say, five hundred or a thousand or even five thousand words in this new area that you're studying, you can then do a lot of reading and use those words and encounter them in many different contexts and actually acquire a solid grasp of that topic."

I would definitely start with training my ear to the sounds in a language at the very beginning, but flashcards can also be a useful supplement early on. It's funny you mention Oliver! I was in contact with him when he first launched his site (just for Chinese, initially). For what it does, it's made well. LingQ is probably my favorite for getting the initial base down, though.

FWIW, I don't think I've every encountered anyone who saw SRS as an exclusive language learning system, except maybe a few hopeful app developers who have realized how easy it is to make a flashcard app.

The real question is how much of your study time do you want to spend on decontextualized sentences or words vs time spent on sustained reading, listening or conversation?

[Jd]

I track my time via 22 minute segments and typically do ~3 per day of vocab vs 9 per day of structured language learning and another 6 per day of reading and writing. So of the structured time I spent language learning it is a bit less than 20% of the time I spend. My target is about 100 words per day but my actual best time over an extended period is about 58 words per day on tracked words. Oliver is good but there are a bunch of features I'd add if I could. Will check out LingQ as well.