Anki patterns and antipatterns and Anki essentials

One thing I found using Anki for studying Chinese (for 1 1/2 years now) is that it's much better to limit the reviews you do each day in order to get new words in.

First, because it will help you a lot in the long run if you learn many words poorly than a few words really well, ie. if you kind of know 200 words vs knowing 50 words really well, you are much more likely to be able to read a piece of text.

Second, some words will stick in your memory easily and some won't. By “throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks” at a greater rate you will end up knowing more words.