How review works
The words you tap come back in practice, a few at a time, on a schedule set by FSRS-5.
1
Saved
Every word you tap goes into Your words.
2
Learned
A few new words a day, from the decks you choose.
3
Scheduled
Each word comes back when it is due.
Dengdeng is a reading app. Practice exists so the next story is easier to read, and you never have to make a card.
This page explains, at a high level, what the app does today. The schedule estimates how long you are likely to remember a word. It cannot tell whether you can use that word in every context, so keep reading alongside practice.
Your words and decks
Tap a word in a story, a chat or a cartoon to see its pinyin and meaning. The word goes into Your words, with the sentence you found it in.
You can also learn a deck, such as an HSK 3.0 level. The decks you learn sit under Learning from, after Your words. A word in two decks has one history, so it is never practiced twice.
New words come in that order: Your words first, then each deck. Inside a deck, common words such as and come before rare ones.
A daily pace
You choose how many new words start each day. Five is the default, and it keeps reviews to about 35 answers a day. With Pro, a Focus deck can add its own daily pace on top, for example while you prepare for an exam.
When more than 100 reviews are waiting, new words pause for the day so the pile can go down. At the end of a round you can also take a few extra new words, once a day.
A practice round
Practice deals the reviews that are due first, then the day’s new words. A round has up to twenty words. Before it starts, you can pick which decks to practice this time.
Flashcards and fill in the blank move a word’s schedule. Build a sentence, extra practice and the word games are practice only, so they never change when a word comes back.
Scheduling
Dengdeng uses FSRS-5 with its default parameters and aims for 90% recall when a word comes due. A correct answer counts as Hard and a wrong answer as Again. This is conservative on purpose: picking the right word from four options is not proof that recall was easy.
Looking a word up again while you read is a sign that you forgot it, so its next review moves earlier.
Word states
- Not startedSaved or in a deck, and waiting for its first round.
- LearningIn practice, and back each time it is due.
- MasteredFive correct answers in a row, on at least three separate days.
Free and Pro
Free readers can give 40 answers a day, counted from 4am in their time zone. Pro has no daily limit and adds Focus decks. Both keep every word and its full history.
Export
In Profile, Export my words emails your words as an Anki deck, a Pleco list or a CSV file, with their example sentences. Deleting your account also deletes its saved words.
Common questions
How is this different from Anki?
Dengdeng builds your vocabulary from the words you tap while reading and supplies the exercises. Anki gives you more control over cards and scheduling. You can export your words to Anki at any time.
What happens after a break?
Your words and their history stay saved. Continue with the reviews that are due; you do not need to start again.
Where do I start?
Read a story and tap the words that stop you. Those words become your practice. You can see today's stories or read more about Dengdeng.
