Is it worth making production cards?

Is it worth learning words not just by associating a word with its translation, but also in reverse — from translation to word? For example, if I look at a list of translations and try to recall the corresponding Japanese word. It feels much harder than simply memorizing the translation. However, this method seems to strengthens my memory.

Production cards

Going from translation to word is essentially what we call a production card. However, it's more accurate to describe it as meaning to word. Initially, we use translations on our flashcards, but our ultimate goal is to transition to using monolingual dictionaries. In monolingual dictionaries words are defined in the target language itself, without translating to another language. Alternatively, you can use images instead of dictionary definitions.

AJATT's Approach

The AJATT method recommends using only recognition cards. That is, cards where you go from word to meaning. We never talk about recalling a word by its meaning. Production cards are used in AJATT, but only where the task is to write a word by hand given its Japanese pronunciation and an example sentence. This is the correct way to use production cards.

When memorizing recognition cards, you learn to understand the language. Understanding is necessary in order to activate the part of the brain responsible for language acquisition. In contrast, production cards are considered ineffective because the ability to produce sentences from memory develops only as a result of immersion.

Phases of Language Acquisition

Language acquisition typically occurs in three phases.

1. First, you learn to understand the language through comprehensible input.
2. After you've grasped the language, the second phase involves continuing receiving large amounts of input.
3. Finally, once you've absorbed enough input, you start producing the language naturally.

So, your ability to speak and produce the language stems from receiving lots of comprehensible input. Lots of input that you actually understand. For instance, many of us have experienced seeing a TV commercial so many times that we can recite it by heart, even though we never consciously tried to memorize it. Similarly, we might listen to a favorite song so often that we memorize every lyric without any deliberate effort.

The same principle applies to Japanese or any other language you're studying. Native speakers often repeat the same phrases and patterns. There's a limited number of patterns. They say the same things in the same ways. For example, 「お疲れ様です」, 「よろしくお願いします」, 「頑張ってください」, and so on. If you get thousands of hours of exposure to a language, and if you understand that exposure, you'll eventually hear and see the same expressions so often that your brain naturally learns to produce them. The brain's language acquisition center works by processing comprehensible input. The more input you feed it, the better it gets at figuring out how the language works. Over time, you become able to speak.

Flashcards can't teach production

Forcing yourself to recall words by their meaning without immersion is much more difficult than recognizing words and recalling their meanings. Moreover, this approach is not what we aim for in AJATT. We want to speak like natives, and natives don't translate in their head when they speak. They construct sentences naturally without any intermediate steps. The goal of the SRS is not to enable you to produce your target language. Instead, the SRS helps you reach a point where you can understand your input. It helps make input comprehensible. The knowledge gained through the SRS will assist you in understanding your immersion. Once you can understand, you continue to receive more comprehensible input, eventually allowing you to produce the language.

Another point is that the whole idea of using a flashcard to teach you how to use a word is somewhat silly when you think critically about it, because every word has a bunch of nuances that dictate how it is usually used. For example, in English, we have the words "hit" and "smack." Imagine trying to explain to a non-native English speaker the subtle difference in nuance between "I hit him" and "I smacked him." These phrases sound very different and convey different feelings, which can be difficult to explain to a second-language speaker. How is that non-native speaker supposed to create a flashcard that teaches them when to use "smack" versus "hit"? It's not going to work. The learner might attempt to memorize the definitions and understand the logical explanations, but that's not how language use truly works. Instead, through extensive exposure and immersion in the language, you intuitively grasp the nuances and the emotional weight of different words. When you're going to speak, you intuitively know which word best fits the sentiment you want to express. Thus, the idea that you can use a flashcard to memorize a word and then apply it accurately in a real conversation doesn't hold up in practice.

Learning to Write

Essentially, you shouldn't rely on the SRS to help you produce the language. The SRS aids your understanding. The exception is if you want to learn to write words you already know. In that case, you can use production TSCs. When reviewing production TSCs, you recall the spelling of a word you see in a sentence. Of course, this practice only makes sense for words that are usually written in kanji. And if you're not interested in learning handwriting, it's totally fine to skip it altogether.

To learn how to write in Japanese, you first need to learn how to read it. Once you can read Japanese, you can practice writing it. This is much easier than learning to write words you don't know because, for example, we rarely forget how to read words, but we sometimes forget how to spell them. Even if you can't remember the exact spelling, you can often visualize the word in your mind and recall most of the letters (or kanji strokes in Japanese). When you write the wrong spelling, you often know it looks wrong even if you can't remember the right one. When you finally get the correct spelling, you know it looks right. With kanji, you can reach this point simply by learning to read. Once you know what looks correct, filling in the blanks to remember all the strokes becomes a simpler task and comes pretty quickly.

Tags: faq