Re: Using LogFlash

[Logical Language Group <lojbab@ACCESS.DIGEX.NET>]

>So to make sure I understand you...
>
>Lojbab:
>>So to answer your question, look at your typical New Word percentages
>and
>>back figure from around 15 errors to get an ideal New Word pile size.
>
>So, upon examining the log file, I see that I average 12 errors from a
>new word lesson (note that data is from New Word Review mode).  This
>would indicate setting new word lessons to 25?

Yep.  Though the numbers you gave in the other post seem to indicate tha
t 20
is not all that bad for you, especially since you have noticed that your
Dropback percentage is not much higher than your New Word percentage.

>>Continue this until your Dropback pile generates an error lesson
>between 20
>>and 25, and then set your maximum lesson size to that number.
>
>--More--
>(That oughta take about 3 sessions :-)

Probably less, given the numbers you reported.  No problem.  If you
want to be
aggressive when you hit DRopback, you can go larger.  There is nothing wrong
with a 50 word error lesson if you complete it in one sitting - all that practic

e
on the words you don't know means that you come to know them.  LogFlash more
than anything else is a tool for focussing concentrated work on the words that
give you difficulty.  The more such work you can stand, and the more
concentrated it is, the faster you learn.

>My observation is that words seem to be chosen randomly from the
>dropback pile.

When you set a maximum, I believe it takes the words from the beginning of
the list (i.e. in preset New Word order) up to the maximum, but it randomizes
their order every time through the pile.  If you don't have a limit, it gives y
ou ALL the words in the pile.
>My observation is that words seem to be chosen randomly from the
>dropback pile.

When you set a maximum, I believe it takes the words from the beginning of
the list (i.e. in preset New Word order) up to the maximum, but it randomizes
their order every time through the pile.  If you don't have a limit, it gives y
ou ALL the words in the pile.

> This would decrease your chances of getting dropback
>words right, because it will become longer and longer between repeating
>the same word as the dropback pile grows (I tend to get a lot wrong
>there too).

True, but the ones you have practiced out of the Dropback pile tend not to
fall back nearly as often (though in Gaining Control they might fall back
when you try to Recall them, letting you hit them twice).

>As the dropback pile increases (between the new word errors
>and the errors in every other pile), it would seem like it wouldn't take
>long before the dropback pile would be HUGE.

Yep.  back before we had lesson size limit as an option, one of the three
original people using LogFlash had a 257 word Dropback pile.  As I recall
it took him something like 5 hours to complete the LARGE error lesson.
But he did not miss those words on Recognition very much ever again.
But every 3 sessions this big blob of words would hit Recall 1, and he would
miss half of them and that led to pain every 3 days in the Recall error pile.
But this was only in the last couple of weeks of New Words that it got this
bad.

>Or am I mistaken in some
>way, and this is the way it's supposed to be?
AS I said, the larger you can stand, the faster you learn.  The numbers I
gave you (15 to 25 errors) seem to be the range that permitsd the most
 learning
without triggering battle fatigue in the people I have observed.

The best language learning methods usually proivide an average
of 50 words
mastered per week in serious daily study (of the type you get in a 5 unit
college course).  LogFlash has beaten that rate for everyone who
has used it
rigorously, but it is only mediocre for people who are using it intermittently
.Tuning the system for such intermittent use is something I have to admit I
am only guessing on, but I think you will still get optimal results following
similar rules.

lojbab
----
lojbab                                                lojbab@access.digex.net
Bob LeChevalier, President, The Logical Language Group, Inc.
2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031-1303 USA                        703-385-0273
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