kamishibai github ↗

Words make sense in context

You will be reviewing these cards for months, so choose material that matters to you. With kamishibai, you recall a word as part of a whole phrase: how it sounds, which words it goes with and when it fits.

Here is what this approach gives you:

  • familiar words and expressions help you remember new phrases
  • you hear every phrase spoken with near-native pronunciation
  • spaced repetition keeps your cards in one queue, so you don’t have to decide what to review today
  • the work is spread out over time, and reviews help you remember what you learn for months and years

This approach helps me understand the language better and use it with more confidence.

links between phrases

These ten phrases share 16 words and constructions, used 78 times in total. The table shows where they appear. As you review the phrases, you practice familiar words and constructions in new contexts.

recurring words and constructions

how to learn a language effectively

  • Black-and-white kamishibai card illustration: someone on a hillside watches a bird in the sky and makes a note in a notebook.

    pick words from your own life

    Take words from books, articles, conversations and lessons — sources that matter to you. Some words rarely appear outside a particular subject, so they are easy to forget without practice. Look out for set expressions too: knowing the individual words may not tell you what the expression means. Add these words and expressions to kamishibai.

  • Black-and-white kamishibai card illustration: a hand pulls the edge of a net and the whole catch rises from the water.

    recall the whole phrase

    Each card focuses on your word, but you recall the whole phrase, including its articles, prepositions and word order. Each review reinforces several elements of the language at once. Over time, familiar constructions become easier to recognize and use in conversation.

  • Black-and-white kamishibai card illustration: a parrot by a window repeats the voice it hears every morning.

    listen and repeat the phrases aloud

    Pronunciation takes more than reading: you need to listen and speak aloud. After trying to recall a phrase, I recommend playing the audio and repeating it a few times. This helps you notice differences between your pronunciation and the recording. The illustration helps you remember the situation the phrase belongs in.

  • Black-and-white kamishibai card illustration: before assembly, a craftsperson spreads a diagram across the table.

    adjust the phrases to your needs

    By default, kamishibai generates a phrase that best fits the word’s meaning. But you can control generation by choosing only statements, questions or dialogues. In mixed mode, these phrase types appear in roughly equal numbers across the batch. You can also set the difficulty: if the phrases are too hard, lower the level for the whole batch.

  • Black-and-white kamishibai card illustration: two ways of watering a garden bed, with a watering can and in heavy rain.

    keep the workload manageable

    Anki decides which cards are due for review, and you choose how many new ones to study today. Take on too many and the workload will jump over the next few days: new phrases need frequent reviews at first. About four new phrases a day works for me, with seven as my upper limit. On a difficult day, you can skip new cards and review as many familiar ones as you have the energy for.

More on workload, costs and data in the questions and answers →

$ brew install anatoly-chichikov/tap/kamishibai