[actionablefiber]

One of the most popular applications for these controllers, at least in the circles I run in, is doing flashcard reviews in Anki. It's super convenient if you have a controller since you can do the reviews while on the go, while huddled under the covers, while relaxing on the couch and so on. You can search `"8bitdo" site:reddit.com/r/medicalschoolanki` or `"8bitdo" site:reddit.com/r/anki` and you'll get a bunch of results from people configuring these for flashcard reviews.

From what I see in the comments here it looks like some people also use them to play video games!

[pawelduda]

I don't understand, you still need to hold your phone, don't you?

[actionablefiber]

Yes but doing reviews on a phone can get tedious under some circumstances. Since a lot of people, particularly med students but really any dedicated learner who uses Anki, puts tens or hundreds or thousands of hours into Anki during their journey with it, making the experience enjoyable and comfortable really matters. (And for med students, getting the learning right is one of the most foundational important things they'll ever do in their lives, since everything they do as a doctor is a result of learning well and passing exams.) With a controller you have tactile feedback and better ergonomics. Plus it's easier to stay focused if you're using the controller, since you won't just unconsciously swipe away into another app/window; all your buttons are bound to Anki actions, so unless you set the controller down, you're in Anki.

The optimal setup is generally with a fixed, large-ish screen (tablet, laptop, desktop monitor etc) where you can see all the text and media in your cards and don't have to scroll all the time. Med school Anki decks have a lot of diagrams, long fill-in-the-blank sentences and so on; I learn languages so my cards have a lot of example sentences and sometimes lengthy explanations for idioms, cultural/historical terminology and so on.

It also helps that when you use a controller, your view of the screen and your grip on the controller become separate concerns. You can do stuff like lie in bed with the phone mounted above your face, and do reviews using the controller instead of having to raise your arms up to touch the buttons.

[pawelduda]

Ok thanks, I use Anki a lot for various categories so it sounds familiar :)

> With a controller you have tactile feedback and better ergonomics. Plus it's easier to stay focused if you're using the controller, since you won't just unconsciously swipe away into another app/window; all your buttons are bound to Anki actions, so unless you set the controller down, you're in Anki.

Thought that this could be the case :) maybe I'll give it a try someday

[sgu999]

Any links to share for using anki efficiently for learning languages?

Do you make your own decks or do you download some existing ones, what do you put on it, etc.

[actionablefiber]

I make my own decks. Nearly all of it is word + pronunciation (for Chinese/Japanese) + definition + example sentences, with additional fields for words that have several pronunciations/definitions.

I don't have any particular resources to share on this subject (but there is much discussion on /r/anki and /r/medicalschoolanki about it). Broadly I'd say that the most efficient way to use it is to use it consistently, but not to make it your one-and-only practice. It's passive practice, and it's useful for making sure you see idioms and words that might otherwise be uncommon, and it's extremely useful as a searchable database once you've built up your deck, but it can get tedious, and drilling works better as a complement to, rather than a substitution for, practical experience. The move is to limit yourself to ~30 min a day, and use the rest of the time you want to spend on languages for active engagement, like speaking/writing with other speakers of the language, or reading things you're interested in in the target language.

[sgu999]

Thanks for that honest answer ;) It's indeed my experience from using it to learn Chinese, helpful but not transcending... I didn't look into it much so I was wondering if I was just doing it wrong.