Should I be saying the words out loud when doing Anki?
Should I be saying the words out loud when doing Anki?
I've been doing it since day one, but I fear that if I don't do it carefully enough, it might cripple my accent later on.
Also, saying the words out loud kind of demotivates me from doing anki as it's a lot more work and gets stressful since I don't want to pick up bad speaking habits, so not saying words out loud would actually be a relief, but I want to do what is most optimal for learning.
Language learning is a long, long process, and it's important to make sure your habits are sustainable. It doesn't really matter what's optimal if you get demotivated and stop learning, so above all, you should do whatever keeps up your learning process. Don't force yourself to speak the flashcards aloud if that will discourage you from the whole thing.
That, and don't worry about optimal. There are no bad habits that can't be unlearned (and the value you'd get out of speaking would far outweigh any effort you need to invest in the future if you want to improve your accent). Speaking would be great, but as long as you're learning grammar and vocabulary, you're on track.
Honestly, its not too valuable. Japanese phonemes are mostly straightforward for english speakers, with the exception of "n", the "d" and "r" syllabes, and the small "y" syllables (kya, ryo, etc). Those deserve some practice.
The stuff that gets complicated is things like devoicing, pitch accent, and redaku, which are all contextual. Listen for these in your anki so you get familiar with them, then practice them either in person or by shadowing in your immersion.
SRS helps you remember the shape of the word so you can qet to know it when you meet it in the wild, but it won't teach you the job that word plays in laguange.