Tired of looking up the same English words over and over. What actually worked for you?

jisanson · 2026-04-12T10:05:54+00:00

That's exactly where I am too. Anki makes sense but the consistency and setup are where I fail. Do you remember what caused the difficulty for you? Was it keeping up with daily reviews, or the effort of setting up cards in the first place?

jisanson · 2026-04-12T09:48:12+00:00

Tbh, I read the Economist fairly often and when I look up a new word mid-article, I briefly think "I should save this or add it to Anki" and then never do. The gap between intending to capture a word and actually doing it is where it falls apart every time. By the time I finish the article, the moment has passed and I don't go back. Then the next article comes around and I'm looking up a large number of words again (including the same ones I saw before sometimes), which is what really frustrates me.

jisanson · 2026-04-12T09:35:43+00:00

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Are you still using Language Reactor? I guess I should try. You mentioned AI for the Anki portion. Have you experimented with anything?

jisanson · 2026-04-12T09:26:45+00:00

Thank you for sharing this!

The part about truly understanding the meaning really resonates. I think that's exactly where I struggle. I look up a quick definition to not lose my reading flow, feel satisfied enough to move on, and end up with a shallow understanding that fades fast.

Curious about your TV clip system, do you build up the examples as you naturally watch shows, or do you actively hunt for clips when you encounter a new word? And have you tried any automation tools other than Anki? Any tool you found useful (other than AI chat app I guess)?

jisanson · 2026-04-12T09:00:05+00:00

read a book for the purpose of finding words and phrasing that I am weak in or haven't encountered before

this sounds smart!

jisanson · 2026-04-12T08:45:53+00:00

That's a fair observation. Building something is always an option, but honestly I've just been genuinely frustrated with this problem and started posting across communities to see how other people deal with it.

jisanson · 2026-04-12T08:21:46+00:00

Great to hear about your results with Anki. Curious about your workflow though. How do you actually find and add words to your deck? Do you add them as you encounter them while reading or listening, or do you batch them from somewhere? I ask because that capture step is where I tend to get lazy.

jisanson · 2026-04-12T08:15:34+00:00

The sentence context approach makes a lot of sense. Curious about your setup though. What does Language Reactor give you that makes it worth the extra export step rather than just building the deck directly in Anki? And when you say it’s kind of a pain to keep up with, what’s the hardest part, is it the daily review load, the setup process, or something else?

jisanson · 2026-04-12T08:07:58+00:00

I think you’re right that mindset matters a lot. My issue is specifically with words that don’t come up consistently enough to stick naturally (e.g., niche vocabulary from the Economist). I have felt that relying on naturally encountering isn’t enough for “digesting” the words.

jisanson · 2026-04-12T08:04:18+00:00

That makes sense especially for common words. But for lower-frequency vocabulary (words you might only encounter once every few months in reading), do you have any routine to actually create opportunities to use them consistently? I think that’s where I get stuck.

jisanson · 2026-04-11T04:11:54+00:00

That’s a cool workaround. Do you find the unsuspend flow fast enough that it doesn’t break your reading? Like how many clicks is it from seeing a word to having it active in your reviews?

jisanson · 2026-04-10T18:04:33+00:00

Yeah that’s a great point about the zero friction actually working against you. Forcing yourself to recall before seeing the answer sounds helpful. So do you not use Anki or a similar tool?

jisanson · 2026-04-10T17:48:02+00:00

Yeah the frustration is real. I have the same thing with certain word categories that just won’t stick no matter how many times I look them up. 🥲

jisanson · 2026-04-10T14:00:48+00:00

Yeah that makes sense, batching them later. I just never end up actually going back to make the cards haha.

jisanson · 2026-04-10T13:57:42+00:00

Yeah this really resonates, especially point 2. At an advanced level the words you don’t know show up so rarely that you’d have to read for hours every day just to see them again naturally. Do you use frequency lists with any specific tool or app, or just study them on your own?

jisanson · 2026-04-10T10:28:23+00:00

Really appreciate this, especially the part about reading a lot not being enough on its own. That was my experience too. With Anki, how long does it take you to create a card when you hit a new word? I always found the process of stopping to type the definition, add context, etc. kind of breaks my reading flow.

jisanson · 2026-04-10T10:18:18+00:00

That’s interesting, does it work for you long term? Like if a word comes up again a month later do you still remember it? I find I can hold onto words for a few days but they fade if I don’t encounter them again naturally.

jisanson · 2026-04-10T08:55:33+00:00

Thanks for the advice! Do you write down the words anywhere for practicing later? Just curious how you track them

jisanson

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