Busy But Fluent
Busy But Fluent · Business English Masterclass

How to use your Anki flashcards

Anki is a free flashcard app. It shows you each word again just before you forget it. Follow these steps once and you are set for the whole course. It takes about 10 minutes.

Your roadmap

Six small stops. Do them in this order.

  1. InstallGet Anki
  2. DownloadGet the cards
  3. UnzipOpen the folder
  4. ImportPut cards in Anki
  5. StudyA few minutes a day
  6. SyncAdd your phone
Part 1

On your computer

Start here, even if you plan to study on your phone. The setup is easier on a big screen. In each picture, the yellow ring shows you where to click.

  1. Install Anki

    Go to apps.ankiweb.net and press Download. Pick Windows or Mac. Open the file you downloaded and install it like any other app.

    Anki is free on computers. You can read more about it at ankiweb.net/about.

    By the wayThe word Anki comes from Japanese. It means "memorizing". The app has been around since 2006, and medical students all over the world use it to remember thousands of facts.

  2. Download the flashcards from the course

    Log in to busybutfluent.com and open the Business English Masterclass. Find the section called Course Material and open the lesson The Flashcards.

    The course page with the Course Material section and The Flashcards lesson
    Open The Flashcards lesson.

    On the lesson page, look for Downloads on the right side. Click BEM_Anki_flashcards.

    The Flashcards lesson page with the Downloads box on the right
    Click the file name under Downloads. On a phone screen, Downloads is lower on the page.

  3. Unzip the file

    You now have one file called BEM_Anki_flashcards.zip. A zip file is like a closed suitcase. Many files are packed inside, and you need to open it first.

    • Mac: double-click the zip file.
    • Windows: right-click the zip file and choose Extract All.
    The zip file named BEM_Anki_flashcards.zip
    The zip file. Look in your Downloads folder if you cannot find it.

    A new folder appears. Inside it you see files named BEM1, BEM2, BEM3 and so on. Each file is one set of flashcards.

    The unzipped folder full of files named BEM1.apkg, BEM2.apkg and more
    The open folder. The files end in .apkg, which means "Anki package".

  4. Import a set of cards into Anki

    Open Anki. At the bottom of the window, press Import File.

    The Anki home screen with the Import File button at the bottom
    Anki is empty the first time you open it. That is normal.

    Find your new folder, click BEM1.apkg, then press Open.

    The file window with BEM1.apkg selected and the Open button
    First the file, then Open.

    Anki shows a page called Import options. You do not need to change anything. Press the blue Import button at the top right.

    The Import options page with the blue Import button
    Leave the switches off and press Import.

    Next you see an Overview page with a long list. It only tells you the import worked. Close this window to go back to your decks.

    The Overview page that says 113 new notes imported
    "113 new notes imported" means success. Close the window with the red dot (Mac) or the X (Windows).
    By the wayYou do not need to import every file today. Start with BEM1. When you move forward in the course, come back and import the next file the same way.

  5. Open your deck and study

    A group of flashcards is called a deck. You now see a deck called Business English Masterclass. Click the deck name.

    The deck list showing Business English Masterclass 1 with 20 new cards
    The blue number shows how many new cards are waiting today.

    Press Study Now.

    The deck page with the Study Now button
    By the wayYou imported more than 100 cards, but Anki shows only 20 new ones a day. This is on purpose. A little every day works much better than a lot in one day.

  6. Make a free account and press Sync

    Sync means "make all my devices match". It saves your cards online so your phone can get them. It is also a free backup.

    Press Sync at the top of Anki. The first time, Anki asks for an account. Click sign up, make a free account with your email, and confirm it from your inbox. Then type the same email and password into Anki and press OK.

    The Account Required box with the sign up link, email and password fields
    Click sign up first if you do not have an account yet.

    When the word Sync turns red, Anki has new changes that are not saved online yet. Press it again.

    The Anki menu with the word Sync shown in red
    Red Sync means "press me". Do this every time you finish studying.
Part 2

On your phone

Your phone is perfect for short practice: on the bus, in a line, on a coffee break. The pictures below are from an iPhone. Android looks a little different, but the steps are the same.

  1. Get the right app

    Android

    AnkiDroid

    Free on Google Play.

    iPhone and iPad

    AnkiMobile Flashcards

    A paid app on the App Store. You pay once. Check the current price in the store.

    By the wayMany apps use the name Anki, and some are copies. Use only the two apps above. On iPhone, you can also study for free without any app: open ankiweb.net in your browser and log in.

  2. Bring your cards to your phone

    There are two ways. Pick the one that fits you.

    Way A: you already did Part 1 on your computer

    This is the easy way. Your cards are already saved online, so your phone only needs to collect them.

    • Open the app and tap Synchronize (on Android, the sync button at the top).
    • Log in with the same email and password you used on your computer.
    • If the app asks about upload or download, choose Download.
    The Anki app on iPhone showing the Business English Masterclass deck and the Synchronize button at the bottom right
    Tap Synchronize. Your deck appears in the list.

    Way B: you only have a phone

    You can do every step on your phone. Open busybutfluent.com in your browser and log in to the course. Open The Flashcards lesson, scroll down to Downloads, and tap BEM_Anki_flashcards.

    The course page on a phone with the Course Material section and The Flashcards lesson
    The bottom of the lesson page on a phone with the Downloads box
    Left: open the lesson. Right: Downloads is near the bottom of the page.

    Now open the Files app on your phone and find the zip file. Tap it once. Your phone unzips it and makes a folder next to it. Tap the folder to open it.

    The Files app showing the zip file and, below it, the new folder called BEM Anki flashcards
    The open folder on a phone, full of files that end in .apkg
    Left: tap the zip, then tap the new folder. Right: inside the folder. Scroll to find BEM1.apkg.

    Tap BEM1.apkg. If your phone asks which app to use, choose Anki.

    The iPhone share menu with the Anki app icon
    Choose Anki from the list of apps.

    Anki opens an Import page. Tap the blue Import button, the same as on a computer. Then you see the Overview page. Tap Back to see your deck.

    The Overview page on a phone with the Back button at the top left
    This one says "already present" because the cards were synced before. The first time, yours says "new notes imported". Both are fine.

  3. Tap your deck and study

    Tap Business English Masterclass. Read the card and say your answer out loud. Then tap anywhere on the screen to see the answer, and choose one of the four buttons.

    A card on a phone that reads: She is fully blank of handling difficult clients on her own
    The same card with the answer, capable, and four colored buttons: Again, Hard, Good, Easy
    Left: the question. Tap the screen. Right: the answer and the four buttons.

    The three small numbers at the bottom show what is left today: blue for new cards, red for cards you are learning, green for cards to review.

  4. Synchronize when you finish

    Tap Synchronize at the end of each session. One simple rule keeps everything safe: sync when you finish on one device, and sync before you start on another.

Part 3

How to study a card

Inside each deck you meet three kinds of cards.

Define a wordcapableable to do something well
Fill in the blanka [...] workloada heavy workload
Answer a questionComplete the pattern: based ___ + cityin. "Our legal team is based in Toronto."

Every card works the same way. Read the front. Say your answer out loud. Then press Show Answer.

A card front that reads: a blank workload, with the Show Answer button
The card back that reads: a heavy workload, with four buttons: Again, Hard, Good, Easy
Left: the question. Right: the answer, with four buttons below it.

Now tell Anki how it went

Be honest. Nobody sees your answers. Your choice tells Anki when to show the card again. The small time above each button is how long the card will rest.

Again

You did not know it.

Comes back in about a minute.
Hard

You knew it, but it took effort.

Comes back a little sooner than usual.
Good

You knew it. Use this one most of the time.

Comes back at the normal time.
Easy

Too easy. You answered right away.

Comes back in a few days.

Try it here

Practice deck · nothing here is saved

Tap the card to see the answer. Then choose a button and watch what Anki decides.

Part 4

Why Anki works

Your brain is like a garden. A new word is a tiny plant. If you do not water it, it dries out in a day or two. If you water it at the right moment, it grows stronger. A strong plant needs water less often. After a while, it only needs water once a month.

Anki is the gardener. It remembers every card for you and brings each one back just before you forget it. Hard cards come back soon. Easy cards take a long rest. This method is called spaced repetition.

How much you remember all none Day 0 Day 30 Each yellow dot is one review. After each one, the line falls more slowly.
With Anki reviewsLearned once, never reviewed

This is a simple picture, not exact numbers. The idea is real, though.

By the wayA German scientist named Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered this in 1885. He tested his own memory with made-up words and found that we forget most new things within days, unless we review them at the right time.

Three habits that make it work

  • Study a little every day. Five to ten minutes is enough. Skipping days makes the cards pile up.
  • Say the answer out loud. Your mouth needs practice too, not only your eyes.
  • Finish the green and red numbers first. Those are cards Anki thinks you are about to forget.

If something goes wrong

I imported the file but I do not see my deck.

Close the Overview window. Your deck is behind it, on the main Anki screen.

Anki says there are no more cards today.

Well done. You finished today's cards. New ones appear tomorrow. This limit protects you from doing too much at once.

My phone does not show my cards.

Press Sync on your computer first. Then tap Sync on your phone. Make sure both use the same email and password.

The app asks me to upload or download and I am not sure.

Choose the device that has your newest study work. If your cards are on the computer and the phone is new, choose Download on the phone.

I cannot open the .apkg file.

Install Anki first. Then use Import File inside Anki instead of double-clicking the file.