Many language learners keep their new words in Anki. You put words on cards, or download a deck someone shared, and Anki picks the day each card comes back based on how well you knew it.
Who Anki Suits
Whether it's worth it depends on whether you'd rather pick every word yourself.
| Anki suits you if… | Something else may suit you if… |
|---|---|
| You want to pick every word you learn | You'd rather find words in stories and shows |
| You like adding your own audio and pictures | Making cards feels like a chore |
| You need words that rarely come up in reading, like those for an exam | You keep putting off a growing pile of reviews |
Why Some Learners Stop
On Reddit (r/languagelearning), one learner at a language school in Japan tried ready-made decks and found they held words they already knew and words they never used in Japan. Another quit Anki twice because making cards took so long that it already felt like studying, and now writes down about five words a week that slipped away mid-conversation.
The pile of reviews is the other reason. Anki's manual says more than one person has added hundreds of new cards in their first few days and then felt overwhelmed by the reviews. Too many Anki reviews? shows the settings that help.
Other Ways to Keep Words
You also meet your words again when you read and listen. In Bubblegum, Poppy, your AI tutor, works the words you save into new lessons at your level where they fit, so you review by reading. Bubblegum calls this Regenerative Review™. If you'd still like flashcards, Bubblegum can export those words to Anki.
Bubblegum
Bubblegum is the best app for serious learners. You learn from text and audio you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
- When a saved word comes back, Bubblegum counts it as remembered if you read past it, so you don't have to rate it yourself.
- An Anki export can keep the review dates Bubblegum already set.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- Cards you made in Anki don't move over, so their pictures and audio stay behind.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
For apps that work like Anki or next to it, see Anki alternatives for language learning, and for ways to keep words without cards, see flashcard alternatives.
Common Questions
Can I use Anki on my phone?
Yes. AnkiMobile is the official iPhone app and AnkiDroid is the Android app, and AnkiWeb syncs your cards between them.
How many new Anki cards should I add?
Start small. Anki's manual says each new card adds extra reviews for a while, so add more only once the reviews feel easy.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Anki: Powerful, intelligent flashcards (media, add-ons, sync, AnkiMobile and AnkiDroid)
- Anki Manual: Deck options (new cards and review limits)
- r/languagelearning: I don't understand Anki and I didn't find flashcards very useful. Am I missing something?
- r/languagelearning: I tried Anki and... I don't understand the hype
- r/languagelearning: Anyone not use flash cards/anki?
- Bubblegum
Checked on October 16, 2026 against each app's own pages.
