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Why Inku Teaches Five Cards at a Time
A smaller stack is easier to trust.
Small starts
A large deck can look impressive and still be hard to open. Five cards looks small enough to begin. That matters more than it sounds.
Most learning fails at the start of the session, not in the middle. If the app makes the first step feel heavy, you avoid it. If the first step is five cards, you can begin before your brain has time to negotiate.
Finish matters
A good study habit needs an ending. Not an infinite feed. Not one more lesson. Not a queue that grows while you are trying to clear it.
Five cards gives the session a shape. Learn a few. Review what is due. Stop. You can always do more, but the app should not make more feel required.
Memory needs space
Japanese sticks when you meet it more than once, with space in between. A small batch helps with that. You can give each card a little attention instead of rushing through a pile.
Inku still uses spaced review under the surface. Five cards at a time is the door, not the whole house. The deeper system decides what comes back later. The small stack helps you show up today.
That is the whole idea: Japanese that sticks, without your phone yelling at you. Read more in the study habit post.
Common questions
Why does Inku show only five cards at a time?+
Because small batches are easier to start and easier to finish. Five cards lower the activation cost of opening the app, give the session a clear ending, and let each card get real attention instead of being rushed in a long stack.
Is five cards enough to actually learn Japanese?+
Yes — five new cards a day compounds. Over a 60-day stretch that's 300 new items studied with full attention plus daily reviews from the FSRS scheduler. Most learners absorb more from a small set seen consistently than a large set seen once.
Can I do more than five cards in a session?+
Yes. Inku surfaces today's review and lets you continue past it if you want. The default is five so the floor is low. The ceiling is whatever your attention can sustain.
How does spaced repetition work in Inku?+
Inku uses FSRS — a modern spaced-repetition algorithm tuned for Japanese vocabulary. The scheduler decides when each card returns. You see only today's small stack; the math handling intervals stays out of your way.
Related reading
- Spaced repetition explained
- Streak trap vs study habit
- The spaced repetition mistake that wastes 90% of learners' time
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