Anki note types for Korean

2020.12.12

At the moment I mainly use two note types that are specifically tailored to Korean. While many functionalities of Anki can be enjoyed with the included basic note types, I do think that customising the notes and the cards generated from them to be very useful.

Note type for translated words or expressions

Since I am still in the process of building a basic vocabulary in Korean, I mainly rely on cards with translations. Of course, I am in the privileged situation where I can use multiple languages as translation candidates and even use Korean Hanja as a substitute for an actual translation.

The note type has the following fields:

Hangul, the only mandatory field of the card for the Korean expression
Hanja, an optional field for the corresponding Hanja, if one exists
Translation, another “optional” field, mandatory if no Hanja exists for a given word
Translation_Language, a field used to control if the translation shows up on the cards and what styling the translation shall have. This field asks for a two-letter character code, for example ‘EN’ or ‘JA’
Audio, for an optional audio file

Styling

The styling of the generated cards is fairly plain, controlling fonts, font sizes and colours on a plain background. The only intricate part is that CSS subclasses are used to control the formatting of different languages.

.card {
 font-family: arial;
 font-size: 20px;
 text-align: center;
 color: black;
 background-color: white;
}

.korean{
	font-family: Batang;
	font-size: 50px; 
	color: orange;
}

.hanja{
	font-family: Mincho;
	font-size: 50px; 
	color: darkorange;
}

.translation{
	font-family: Helvetica;
	font-size: 25px; 
}

.translation.XY{
	color: green
}

.translation.EN{
	color: blue
}
.night_mode .EN {
 color: yellow;
}

Korean Recognition

This card type gives the Hangul expression with the (optional) audio on the front and asks for a translation and/or Hanja:

<span class = korean>
	{{Hangul}}
</span>
<br>
{{Audio}}

The back side obviously provides the answer:

{{FrontSide}}

<hr id=answer>

{{#Hanja}}
	<span class = hanja>{{Hanja}}</span>
{{/Hanja}}
<br>
{{#Translation_Language}}
<span class = "meaning {{Translation_Language}}">
	{{Translation}}
</span>
{{/Translation_Language}}

Korean Recall

This card type asks the other way round for the Korean expression, presenting the Hanja if existing and an optional translation:

{{#Hanja}}
	<span class = hanja>{{Hanja}}</span>
<br>
{{/Hanja}}
{{#Translation_Language}}
	<span class = "meaning {{Translation_Language}}">
		{{Translation}}
	</span>
{{/Translation_Language}}

The back side gives the answer, with audio if it exists:

{{FrontSide}}

<hr id=answer>

<span class = korean>{{Hangul}}</span>
<br>
{{Audio}}

Note how only relevant information will be displayed, for example the translation can easily be hidden by emptying the Translation_Language field of the card in question, which can done easily during reviews, even on mobile.

Note type for translated sentences

This note type is fairly simple, consisting of four fields:

Korean, a mandatory field for the Korean sentence
Translation, a mandatory field for the respective translation
Translation_Language, a control field used to determine the formatting of the translated sentence This field asks for a two-letter character code as well.
Audio, for an optional audio file
Notes, for optional explanatory notes

Styling

The styling is similar to the vocabulary cards.

.card {
 font-family: arial;
 font-size: 20px;
 text-align: center;
 color: black;
 background-color: white;
}

.korean{
	font-family: Batang;
	font-size: 30px; 
	color: orange;
}

.translation{
	font-family: Helvetica;
	font-size: 25px; 
}

.translation.XY{
	color: green
}

.translation.EN{
	color: blue
}
.night_mode .EN {
 color: yellow;
}

Card

This card gives the sentence with optional audio and queries for a translation:

<span class = korean>
	{{Korean}}
</span>
<br>
{{Audio}}

The back is equally simple, formatting the translated sentence according to given preferences:

{{FrontSide}}

<hr id=answer>

<span class = "translation {{Translation_Language}}">
	{{Translation}}
</span>
<br>
{{Notes}}

Reusability

These note types are not only functional on any on any platform, but they can also be easily adapted or even be repurposed for entirely different languages!

joseti.me