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I used Mnemosyne to successfully memorise thousands of foreign words. You type in all the facts you need to memorise as individual "cards" which are in a question-and-answer format. You can also download "card packs" from their website for some popular topics. You then memorise cards by reading the question, guessing the answer and then awarding yourself a score out of 5. Mnemosyne uses fancy spaced repitition algorithms to detect how well you've memorised a card, and to calculate the optimal time to show you the same card again. You need to do sessions every day though otherwise it's not so effective. Over time the number of cards you do each day gets smaller and smaller.

http://mnemosyne-proj.org/ This is an excellent program flash card program. You rate flash cards by how well you know them and it does automatic scheduling. Cards you know well show up less often than cards you don't know. You can include images and sounds. It has a good tagging system so you can mark a card for multiple areas. You choose which subjects you want the cards to cover. For example, you could look at all your cards on coronary arteries regardless of subject, or you could look specifically at coronary arteries for one particular class. The key to getting the most out of this program is to include questions that cannot be answered with memorization. Include flash cards that force you to explain the why and the what.

I have had sub-par memory for as long as I can remember. I'm only 23 and things will probably only get worse in the future, so I spend a few minutes every day doing some memorization using Mnemosyne (free), which uses the SuperMemo algorithm, which seems to be similar to the concepts mention in TFA. It is quite amazing for remembering flash-card style items long-term, and a great memory exercise. Anyone interested in improving their own memory, I recommend checking this out.

The lack of a spaced repetition-algorithm in Moodle--or any other course management system, such as Blackboard or Sakai--is a such a glaring omission that I wonder why no one has done it. SuperMemo, a Windows program written in Delphi, remains the best spaced repetition system for memorization despite an idiosyncratic user interface. Piotr Wozniak, the developer of SuperMemo, used it to learn English; an article in Wired mentions that Wozniak speaks perfect English despite never having set foot in an English-speaking country. In addition to SuperMemo, there are two open source spaced-repetition systems: Anki and Mnemosyne. But the algorithms have yet to be incorporated into online learning systems.

An extensive literature attests to the efficacy of spaced repetition algorithms, especially for learning language. I've used SuperMemo to make quick work of memorizing the FCC question pools for the General and Extra class amateur radio examinations. In fact, the program was so efficient that I was left with hardly any sense of accomplishment having used it to pass the exams.

The need for memorization algorithms is so obvious (I repeat myself) that I'm tempted to write a spaced-repetition plugin for Moodle myself.

In order to learn thousands of words, I used Mnemosyne flash cards, which for that language someone put up several thousand cards (and I added my own).

While Mnemosyne might not appeal to kids because of its bare-bones appearance, its minimalism is exactly what I want. With it I've already learned most of the words, but I still use it daily so they get committed to long-term memory. Using hot keys I added (from one of the site's plugins, which I customized to use the ASDF keys instead of the mouse for scores 1234), I can review literally several hundred words in a daily 15 or 20 minute session with my first cup of morning coffee. Kind of addictive, actually - I look forward to it each morning.

If you want to learn (at your own pace) then your best bet is to get a syllabus from a school or schools (online or offline schools) and use them as a guide for your own self-education. I have had lot's of formal in-class schooling myself, and have found that the quality of the educational experience increases the more that independent study is involved. In fact, I've learned far more after I graduated (and had time to actually learn things in depth) than when I was in school.

For something like computer security (which I'm no expert at), you may want to choose an application suite and read the manual and experiment on your own (which can be a slow way of learning, but the very best way of learning); through trial and error, sweat and tedium. Also scour the Web for tutorials, RFCs, etc (don't search too hard though, sometimes there just isn't a lot of quality, detailed information out there, but that's the same with teachers).

For the tedious, boring things that are difficult to remember, use a memory program like Mnemosyne or Anki. Don't let anybody tell you that memorization is bullshit; it's just one part of the learning process. Of course you should understand what you memorize, but the point being; if you don't remember what you learned then there is no point in learning.

Unless you want to be a medical doctor then don't worry too much about a diploma; you've already got some professional experience, so just concentrate on learning. Diploma's are very over-rated in the computer field anyways (just ask anybody who graduated without getting a related job).

The open source Mnemosyne flash card system is excellent:

    http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/

It uses a spaced repetition algorithm and has some features such as not introducing more than a few new cards into the pool at a time (so that you are never overwhelmed).

Also - ChinesePod is an excellent source for spoken language lessons... some free.

Hey everybody,

thank you very much for your contributions. I really appreciate the time you spend to discuss that question.
Some clarification:

• My kids are 10 and go to the Catholic High Primary School in Singapore, Primary 4 level.
• They speak Chinese to their grand parents who don't speak English.
• What they are learning is "higher Chinese" (AFAIK a term not used outside the Singaporean educational system) that is supposed to put them on equal footing with native speakers on university level at end of Secondary 4.
• They learn Chinese since Kindergarten.

So we are beyond the stage of the first 500 chars -- and it is still a chore. Therefor I was asking.
Summing up responses so far (in no particular order):

• Flash cards (the physical thing)
• Rosetta Stone
• Anki
• Nciku
• Buzan
• Dating Chinese girls (I like that one)
• Mnemosyne
• Zon (the MMO to learn Chinese while playing) read a review
• Found some nice books: Fun with Chinese Characters
• iFlash for Mac (I wonder is there a Linux or OLPC version too)
• PinYin Info
• ByKi
• Zhong Wen (for unaware readers: that means Chinese in PinYin notation)
• WenLin Software
• SuperMemo (with a comparison to Anki and a store to buy Chinese content
• VeryPracticalChinese (found via this blog
• Skritter
• I found ChinesePod. Not sure what to make of it
• Lao Shi (Chinese for "Teacher") - OpenSource

Again, thx a lot! (and sorry for the caveman English -- don't get it? Read the comments)

You could always go with the Leitner system. The main focus of the system is to drill the flash cards you have problems as opposed to all of them.

Mnemosyne is a nice simple open sourced program capable of being used across several platform. Here's a bunch of videos a guy put together on using it.

Mnemosyne, Anki, and SuperMemo are great learning systems. Although they are frequently used for learning a language, they can be used to memorize almost anything. Mnemosyne is simple, free, and opensource. SuperMemo is complex. I have not used Anki.

James W. Heisig, a researcher at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan, has released an excellent set of books for memorizing Japanese Kanji, traditional Chinese Hanzi, and simplified Chinese Hanzi:

Remembering the Kanji:
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Kanji-Vol-Complete-Characters/dp/0824831659/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269118367&sr=8-1

Remembering the Traditional Hanzi:
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Traditional-Hanzi-Meaning-Characters/dp/0824833244/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_5

Remembering the Simplified Hanzi:
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Simplified-Hanzi-Meaning-Characters/dp/0824833236/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

While this technique focuses on memorizing the meaning of the characters (and how to write them yourself) and not so much on the readings of them, I've found it an absolutely invaluable technique for doing the former. I have an abysmal memory to the point that it's shocking, and yet using his techniques, I was able to easily memorize the meaning of about 400 characters and how to write them in a couple of weeks with only a couple of hours of dedication a day, which I was very impressed with. His technique is based on building up from simple radicals and employing visual memory to make everything stick in place, which basically means concocting an elaborate and often ridiculous story for each character to tie the correct radicals into their correct places. The story is usually so silly that it cannot be forgotten, which is, IMO, in where the trick lies. As your skill in recall develops, you can let go of the stories and move to natural recall.

Also, the use of timed memorization software is essential when we're talking about this amount of information. Here are two great free software packages for this that were largely based specifically at learning Japanese (and thus are quite suitable for other languages, especially Chinese):

Anki:
http://ichi2.net/anki

Mnemosyne:
http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/

(Personally, I prefer Mnemosyne a bit more, even though Anki has many more features, but this is because I'm making a set of cards to memorize all of Heisig's Kanji, traditional Hanzi, and simplified Hanzi, and I'm using HTML tables to store all the information. Mnemosyne preserves my HTML exactly, whereas Anki futzes with it and ruins the formatting.)

Instead of focusing on games, you could expand the card decks available for free/OSS non-linear learning tools and help promote those tools.

http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/

and

http://web.mac.com/jrc/Genius/

are ones I have used.