Extracting Facts from articles - A Sample

Yesterday, I wrote about how to extract Anki-able facts from articles online. I've been thinking since then and I've decided to give a practical example - the way I would actually do it.

I've taken apart a very important article - the Janki Method. It's an article on how to use Anki, SRS to quickly become a good programmer. 

What I've done is this: you'll see a part of the original article and then, you'll see the important facts extracted from it. 

Pay attention to how I've:

• Deleted the unimportant
• Rephrased some sentences to make them simpler
• Added some words in some places to make full sentences...

Just dig in and enjoy.

This:

"This is a guide to becoming a productive programmer quickly. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell told the world it takes 10,000 hours to master something. Practice three hours a day, and you will shine in ten short years. 

Millions of readers felt inspired since they too could become the next Bill Gates, if only they put in the hours. As the days turned to months we discovered that 10,000 hours was a lot longer than we anticipated. Limitless potential transformed into fantasy about what might have been. 

Janki Method is an attempt to shorten the time needed to learn programming. It grew out of my impatient dream to build an automated web business that would free me financially, geographically and temporally. I didn’t want to wait 10,000 hours. I suspect you don’t either."

Became:

• The Janki Method is an attempt to shorten the time needed to learn programming.

This:

"Well-intentioned learners don’t always learn quickly, despite their smarts and enthusiasm. For most, eventual ability is determined by the volume of time expended. Malcolm’s 10k sounds right."

Became:

• Well-intentioned learners don’t always learn quickly, despite their smarts and enthusiasm.

This:

"You’ve read that learning by doing is better than passive reading; that expressing ideas in writing forces understanding; that knowledge needs constant revision to stay fresh; that creativity comes from linking disparate ideas; and that your past mistakes are your best teachers. How many of these ideas do you apply to your learning efforts? 

Janki Method is built on the assumption that Malcolm’s 10k to mastery can be hastened if you take a focused approach to learning. The core of Janki Method is the use of a spaced repetition flashcard system, Anki, programmed by the brilliant Damien Elmes. 

By following my approach, I believe that any intelligent and disciplined reader can achieve proficiency* in a given field of programming (e.g. web applications, iPhone applications) in less than 12 months.

I call this the Janki Challenge, and I invite you to take part."

Became:

• Learning by doing is better than passive reading.
• Expressing ideas in writing forces understanding.
• Knowledge needs constant revision to stay fresh.
• Creativity comes from linking disparate ideas.
• Your past mistakes are your best teachers.
• The Janki method can make any disciplined person proficient in any programming field within 12 months.

This:

"Problems With Learning - Problem 1: We Forget Too Quickly 

Have you ever spent a week studying for an exam, only to forget 90% of what you learned within 2 months and everything else within a year?
Forgetting impedes learning knowledge-intensive skills such as programming. You need to remember various languages, solutions, libraries and gotchas if you want to build large applications. Because technical material can be so abstract and dry, you forget particularly quickly. 

The first rule of Janki boosts your memory:

'Every time you learn something new create a question and answer flashcard and add this card to Anki'"

Became: 

• We Forget Too Quickly
• Forgetting impedes learning knowledge-intensive skills such as programming.
• You need to remember various languages, solutions, libraries and gotchas if you want to build large applications.
• Technical materials can be so abstract, that you forget what you've learned quickly.
• Every time you learn something new, create a new Anki flashcard.

This:

"Anki is a Spaced Repetition System. Most algorithms make computers efficient; Anki makes you efficient. Using the minimal number of repetitions necessary for permanent retention, Anki drills flashcards into your long-term memory. 

Begin by creating a deck of flashcards called, say, computer science. A deck contains many cards, and each card consists of a question and an answer. You tag these cards with the categories that best describe their contents. For example, one card might be tagged with ‘Rails’, and another with ‘SQL’. Each card can have numerous tags, something useful given how technologies frequently overlap. 

Over time you will build up a repository of knowledge on programming, cleanly categorized, easily searchable and regularly backed up in the cloud. Keeping a repository like is useful, but it doesn’t do anything to help you keep the knowledge inside your head. The key to this is doing your Ankis.

Every morning Anki calculates which cards you risk forgetting, and then prompts you to review these cards. Doing your Ankis only takes a few minutes per day, since you only need to review a fraction of your deck on any given day."

Became:

• Anki is a Spaced Repetition System.
• Most algorithms make computers efficient; Anki makes you efficient.
• Using the minimal number of repetitions necessary for permanent retention, Anki drills flashcards into your long-term memory.
• Begin by creating a deck of flashcards called, say, computer science.
• A deck contains many cards, and each card consists of a question and an answer.
• Tag Anki flashcards with the categories that best describe their contents.
• Each Anki card can have more than one tag.
• The facts you buildup in Anki would be cleanly categorized, easily searchable and regularly backed up in the cloud.
• Doing your Ankis everyday is key to remembering what you've learned.
• Just adding facts to Anki does not automatically make you knowledgeable. 
• Anki regularly calculates which cards you risk forgetting, and then prompts you to review these cards.
• Doing your Ankis only takes a few minutes per day,
• With Anki, you only need to review a fraction of your deck on any given day.

This:

"For every card you review, Anki shows you the question side with the answer side initially blocked out. Your job is to answer the question in your head, and then reveal the answer and check whether you got it right. After you answer, four buttons appear at the bottom of the screen: “again”, “good”, “easy” and “very easy”. Assess how easily you could recall that card and then press the appropriate button. Based on which button you press, Anki determines when next to show you that card, so answering honestly is crucial if you want the algorithm to work. Do this every day and you will not forget."

Became:

• Anki cards work like paper flash cards. It shows you the question side and hides the answer side.
• First, answer Anki questions in your head. Then, click the "show answer" button to check whether you got it right.
• Assess how easily you could recall an Anki card and then press the appropriate button at bottom of the screen: “again”, “good”, “easy” and “very easy”.
• Anki decides when next to show you a card based on which button you press. Therefore, answer honestly if you want Anki to work for you.
• Review your Anki decks every day and you will not forget.

I sure hope you got the gist of how extract important stuff from articles. 

Read the entire Janki Method article. Maybe, practice extracting important facts from the rest of the Janki Method article.

I've not yet written about how to convert extracted facts to Anki cards. HINT: It's called Close Deletion.  I'll do that as soon as I can.