A flashcard stores information on a set of cards, with the information being typically portrayed as words and numbers. The purpose of flashcards is to enable individuals to store verbal and visual information, often as a learning drill by way of spaced repetition. The Leitner system is a popular method of studying with flashcards using spaced repetition.
When you learn flashcards of new words each day for a number of days, this information is stored in your short-term memory. Flashcards also exercise the mental process of active recall. This is an efficient learning principle where an individual’s memory is stimulated during the learning process. Unlike a passive review (e.g. reading a book), active recall is designed to consolidate long-lasting memory of information. Transferring information from short-term to long-term memory is essential in studying for an examination.
Flashcards are one of the best tools for memorizing information. This is partly because of their versatility. They can help teach multiplication skills, learn a foreign language, recall facts, historical dates, in fact anything that can be learned in an intuitive way.
This roundup focuses on the finest terminal-based flashcard tools. Here’s our verdict captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion.
Let’s explore the 10 terminal-based flashcard applications at hand. For each program we have compiled its own portal page, providing a screenshot of the software in action, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources.
| Terminal-Based Flashcard Software | |
|---|---|
| hashcards | Plain text-based spaced repetition system for flashcards |
| repeater | Like a lightweight, text-based Anki you run in your terminal |
| mdfc | Learn with flashcards and spaced repetition |
| hascard | Minimal command-line utility for reviewing notes |
| HardV | Billed as a powerful cross-platform flashcard program |
| Vocage | Minimalistic terminal-based vocabulary-learning tool |
| Flashdown | Spaced repetition using flashcards in Markdown |
| carddown | Spaced repetition for markdown notes |
| terminal-anki | Keyboard-driven flashcards with spaced repetition and Anki imports |
| GoCard | Markdown-based flashcard system with spaced repetition |
Looking for graphical flashcard tools? They are covered in a separate roundup.
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