Overlap of grammar and vocab decks in Bunpro: How 一方 is in N4, but only explained in N3

Bunpro
#1

Hey everyone, please excuse me as I complain a bit :slightly_smiling_face:

I just came across the N4 vocab 一方 (いっぽう). I immediately noticed how versatile this word seemed, which means it would be tough to learn in the vocabulary deck context (with just the meaning and a few examples). I then asked ChatGPT to help me grasp its usage and thought “this looks like something that would be a grammar point in Bunpro”.

Sure enough, it shows up as N3 grammar points meaning “more and more” and “on the other hand”. What annoyed me is that those are meanings that I will be tested on when reviewing the N4 vocab entry, without the helpful explanations of the (two separate!) N3 grammar points.

I appreciate that sometimes when I get to a grammar point I would have already been exposed to it as vocab, perhaps making the grammar point easier. However, for words that can be used in contexts so different like this one, it is difficult and frustrating to jump in without explanations. It seems much more efficient to not have this as a vocab if it will show up in grammar later on anyways.

This happens to many other points in “official” Bunpro decks so it is done by design. Are other people also frustrated by this? Shouldn’t the overlap between Bunpro grammar and vocab decks be minimized? I know that a lot of people don’t even use/follow the vocab decks in Bunpro, but I like it not only as a way to learn new words, but also practice the grammar by reading the short phrases.

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#2

You raise a great point, I fully agree and it’s actually prompted me to start writing a webapp that addresses this with words (mostly verbs) that have varied meanings. I think Bunpro’s issue is just a limitation of having one SRS card per word and never deviating from this, but combining it with very diverse sentences. There’s vocab on Bunpro where every sentence except perhaps two is one meaning, with random meanings for the other two and I just kind of think… what’s the point of doing that? You’re certainly not going to help me remember that usage by showing me the word in that context once.

With a lot of words (again, especially verbs), what I really feel like I want is a “tree” where you start with one meaning, then spawn new cards as you get to a certain levels of the SRS, rather than jamming 5-10-15-20 meanings onto one card. They have separate cards for some of the grammar, but I think vocab actually needs it way more, especially with the verbs, but also with these ones like 一方 and 筋 and 節 and so on. If you want my advice - don’t study these words on Bunpro, make your own anki cards for the separate meanings with the example sentence on the front and you’ll have a much better time imo

1 Like
#3

That’s true! Even just splitting meanings/usage so we have multiple entries for the same vocab (just like it is already done in grammar decks) would be easy to implement and help a lot.

I’ve been staying away from Anki because Bunpro is “easier”. But I’ve been feeling more and more that I should try something different like vocab mining and custom decks/cards.

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