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Anki Language Learning: Use Anki for Language Learning or Go for Other Options

Last updated: February 1, 2026

How to learn languages using Anki, and why Migaku is better - Banner

You've probably heard about Anki if you've spent any time in language learning communities online.⭐ Anki actually works, but it takes some effort to set up properly. The spaced repetition system behind Anki is genuinely powerful for memorizing vocabulary and phrases. But there are better ways to learn languages in 2026, especially if you want to move beyond just drilling flashcards. Let me walk you through how to use Anki effectively, then show you why tools like Migaku offer a more complete approach.

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What is Anki and why language learners use it

Anki is a flashcard app built around spaced repetition.

The basic idea is simple: you review cards right before you're about to forget them.

This timing helps move information from short-term to long-term memory way more efficiently than cramming or reviewing on a fixed schedule.

The algorithm tracks how well you remember each card. When you see a flashcard, you rate how difficult it was to recall. Easy cards come back in weeks or months. Difficult ones show up again tomorrow or in a few days. Over time, Anki schedules thousands of reviews automatically, so you spend the least time possible maintaining what you've learned.

For language learning, this means you can build a massive vocabulary without forgetting words you learned months ago. A language learner might add 10-20 new words daily and review 50-100 cards, spending maybe 20-30 minutes total. The spaced repetition does the heavy lifting.

learn a language based on forgetting curve
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Do Anki and its spaced repetition work for language learning

Yeah, Anki works. The research on spaced repetition is solid, and millions of people have used Anki to learn languages successfully. I've personally used it for Japanese vocabulary and can confirm that words I added three years ago still stick because of the review schedule.

But here's what Anki actually does well: it helps you memorize discrete pieces of information.

Vocabulary, kanji, verb conjugations, grammar patterns. Anki excels at this. What Anki could never do alone is make you fluent or teach you to understand native content comfortably.

The effectiveness depends entirely on how you use it. Bad flashcards make Anki useless. Good cards combined with actual immersion make it powerful. Most beginners make terrible cards at first, which is why so many people quit after a few weeks.

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Setting up Anki for language learning

Download Anki from ankiweb.net. The desktop version is free (though the iOS app costs $24.99, which honestly funds the whole project). The interface looks like it's from 2006 because it basically is, but don't let that fool you.

  1. When you first open Anki, you'll see an empty deck list. A deck is just a collection of flashcards. You can create decks for different languages, topics, or learning stages. Most people organize by language, then maybe split into vocabulary, grammar, and sentences.
  2. The intro will guide you to set up your daily new card limit. Start with 10-15 new cards per day. You can increase this later, but beginners often burn out by adding 50 cards daily and ending up with 300 reviews after a week.
  3. Set the maximum reviews to unlimited. You need to clear your review queue, or the algorithm breaks down and cards pile up. The whole point of spaced repetition is reviewing when Anki tells you to.
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Creating effective flashcards for vocabulary

This is where most people mess up. The quality of your cards determines whether Anki for language learning actually works or becomes a frustrating waste of time.

  1. Sentence cards beat single word cards. Instead of a card that says "dog" on the front and "perro" on the back, use a full sentence: "El perro corre en el parque" (The dog runs in the park). You learn the word in context, see how it's used grammatically, and build pattern recognition.
  2. One target word per card. Your sentence should test one unknown word, with everything else being familiar. If you have three new words in one sentence, you won't know which one is causing you trouble. Make three separate cards with three different sentences.
  3. Include audio. Pronunciation matters, and reading without hearing creates a disconnect between written and spoken language. Record native audio or use text-to-speech tools. Hearing the word while reviewing helps with listening comprehension and speaking.
  4. Add images when useful. For concrete nouns, pictures help create direct associations without translating through English. You see an image of a dog and think "perro," skipping the English middle step. For abstract words, skip the image.
  5. Use cloze deletions for sentences. Anki has a cloze card type where you blank out the target word: "El ... corre en el parque." You need to recall "perro" to fill the gap. This creates active recall, which is way more effective than passive recognition.
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Shared decks and why most of them suck

Anki lets you download pre-made decks that other users have shared. There are thousands available for every major language. This sounds great, but honestly, most shared decks are pretty bad.

The problem is that effective cards are personal. What makes sense to someone else might not match your learning level, interests, or the content you're consuming. Shared decks often have inconsistent formatting, weird example sentences, or translations that don't quite work.

That said, some shared decks are genuinely useful.

  • For Japanese, the Core 2k/6k/10k decks provide common vocabulary with sentences and audio.
  • For European languages, frequency-based decks can give you a foundation. Just be picky and willing to delete or modify cards that don't work for you.

The best approach is to create your own cards from content you're actually consuming. Reading an article and don't know a word? Make a card with that sentence. Watching a show and hear a useful phrase? Card it. This ensures every flashcard is relevant and connected to real context you've encountered.

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How many Anki cards a day for foreign language learning

Start with 10-15 new cards daily.

This seems low, but it adds up fast. After a month, you'll have 300-450 new items and probably 50-100 daily reviews. After three months, you might be reviewing 150-200 cards per day.

You can increase to 20-25 new cards once you're comfortable with the routine.

Some intense learners do 30-50, but that's a serious time commitment. At 30 new cards daily, you'll be reviewing 300+ cards per day within a few months, which takes 45-60 minutes.

The key is consistency. Doing 15 cards every single day beats doing 50 cards sporadically. Anki works because of the spaced repetition schedule, and that breaks down if you skip days and let reviews pile up.

If you miss a few days, you'll come back to hundreds of overdue reviews. This is where people quit. The solution is to reduce your new card count or just power through the backlog over a few days. Don't let the guilt spiral make you abandon the whole system.

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Add-ons that make Anki flashcards better

Anki supports add-ons that extend functionality. Some are genuinely useful for language learning:

  1. AwesomeTTS adds text-to-speech and audio recording features. You can automatically generate pronunciation for your cards using various TTS engines. Pretty useful if you're making lots of cards and don't want to manually find audio for every word.
  2. AnkiConnect lets other programs interact with Anki. This is crucial if you want to integrate Anki with browser extensions or other learning tools. It basically opens up automation possibilities.
  3. Image Occlusion lets you hide parts of images and test yourself on them. Good for maps, diagrams, or visual learning. Less useful for pure vocabulary but handy for certain types of content.
  4. Morphman analyzes your cards and reorders them based on frequency and what you already know. This is advanced stuff, but it can optimize your learning order so you're always learning the most useful words next.
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Learning vocabulary beyond flashcards: Anki or Migaku

Here's the reality: Anki helps you memorize words, but memorizing words doesn't make you fluent or even conversational. You need to use the language, consume native content, and practice output.

Use Anki with the immersion approach

The best approach combines Anki with immersion.

  1. Use Anki to build your foundation vocabulary, maybe the most common 1,000-2,000 words. This gives you enough to start understanding basic content.
  2. Then shift your focus to reading, listening, and watching stuff in your target language.
  3. When you encounter new words in context, add them to Anki. This way, your flashcard reviews reinforce words you're actually seeing in real content. The words have meaning and context beyond the isolated flashcard.

Migaku integrates immersion with flashcards directly

Anki works, but the workflow is not for everyone. You're constantly switching between consuming content, looking up words, creating cards, and then reviewing them separately. It's fragmented and time-consuming.

Migaku integrates the whole process.

  1. You watch shows or read articles with the browser extension
  2. Click unknown words to see definitions instantly
  3. Create cards with one click. The card automatically includes the sentence, audio, screenshot, and definition. Everything you'd manually add to an Anki card gets generated automatically from the content you're actually consuming.

This solves the biggest problem with Anki language learning: the friction of card creation.

When making cards is annoying, you skip words or give up on adding them. When it's one click, you actually do it. You end up with way more cards, all from real content that matters to you.

The 10-day free trial gives you enough time to see if the workflow clicks for you. Way more streamlined than wrestling with Anki add-ons and manual card creation, especially in 2026 when better tools exist.

learn foreign languages with migaku
Learn Languages with Migaku
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Who wouldn't love learning new languages with media consumption

As kids, when picking up the first foreign languages, the dreariest part is always textbooks, classes, and tests. Grammar explanations are dry, and vocabulary requires rote memorization... It makes sense that some language learners quit halfway. The real "marathon runners" in language learning, however, are usually the ones who genuinely enjoy the media and culture of the foreign language.

If you consume media in the language you're learning, and you understand at least some of the messages and sentences within that media, you will make progress. Period.

Good things come slow — especially in distance running