AI German, English and Spanish flashcards for Anki, made from one word
Tarkib is a free, open-source add-on for Anki. Type one German, English or Spanish word and it builds a full card: the meaning in your language, a casual and a formal example sentence, the grammar, a photo and audio. A card takes about 15 to 20 seconds.
What is on a card
The same card format as the Tarkib German decks, built for the word you typed.
Any of 24 languages
The meaning in any of 24 languages, with an optional second language. German and Spanish cards start in English, and English cards offer German instead. Each language has its own voice, and you can play a sample first. Arabic uses Modern Standard Arabic.
A casual and a formal sentence
A casual and a formal sentence, both translated, so you learn when to use the word. In German usually du and Sie, in Spanish tú and usted, in English everyday and formal words.
The grammar
In German, article, plural and, from B1, the genitive for nouns, and present, past and perfect for verbs, with the real past form of strong verbs: fuhr, not fahrte. In English, irregular verbs and plurals, and uncountable nouns. In Spanish, article and plural for nouns, and the yo form, preterite and participle for verbs, irregular ones included: tener, tengo, tuvo, tenido.
Prepositions and patterns
When a sentence uses a preposition, the pattern comes with it: warten auf (+Akk) with its case in German, depend on or look forward to + -ing in English, pensar en or tener que + infinitivo in Spanish. A pattern is only kept if it is really in your sentences.
A photo, emojis and audio
A photo, a couple of emojis, and audio in the language you learn, which Settings, Voice can make about 20 percent slower. The translations are read aloud only if you turn on their voices in Settings, Languages. Photos need a free Pixabay or Pexels key.
An optional typing card
A cloze card where you type the missing word. It goes into a Cloze subdeck under your deck.
German, English or Spanish
Pick the language above the deck. English cards go to their own deck, Tarkib English, Spanish cards to Tarkib Spanish, and every deck remembers its language. Each language keeps its own voice and translation languages. English cards use American spelling, or British with a British voice. Spanish cards use the Spanish of Spain, or Latin American Spanish with a Latin American voice.
A1 to C1, or Native
Pick A1 to C1 and the language stays clean and fits your level: in German, Besprechung, not Meeting. Native is for real spoken German, English or Spanish, and it is the only level where Denglisch is allowed in German cards.
It checks before it writes
It refuses input that is not in the language you picked, asks "Did you mean ...?" when you mistype, and warns you before a duplicate. One Undo removes the card and its cloze card.
Your style
In Settings, Cards, write a few wishes in any language: the topics, names, tone or length you want, like examples about cooking and travel. While Use my style is ticked, they go with every card. The level and the card's rules stay as they are.
What you need
Anki on a computer
Anki 23.10 or newer on Windows, macOS or Linux. You make the cards on a computer, and they sync to AnkiDroid and AnkiMobile like any other deck.
Your own AI key
The default is Groq, which is free and needs no credit card. The free plan is enough for a few dozen cards a day. OpenAI, Gemini, OpenRouter, Mistral, Anthropic and a local Ollama work too.
A photo key
For photos, a free Pixabay key. Pexels has paused new keys, but a Pexels key you already have works too. Without one, many cards get no photo.
Your keys stay on your computer
They are never synced, each one only goes to its own service, and nothing is sent to me. There is no server.
About the audio
By default the cards are read by free Microsoft Edge voices. They need no key, but the service is unofficial. In Settings, Voice, you can pick Azure AI Speech, ElevenLabs, OpenAI, Google Cloud or Gemini instead, with your own key. If the one you chose fails, Tarkib tries the others you set up, then Edge, and tells you which one read the card or why it has no sound.
Please check each card
The cards are written by AI, so look over each one after it is added and edit it like any other note.
Free and open source
MIT license, except one small file from edge-tts, which stays LGPL-3.0. There is no account, no subscription and no paid version. If it saves you time, you can leave a tip on Ko-fi.
Rather not make the cards yourself?
The Tarkib German decks are ready-made cards in the same format, A1 to C1, with English or Arabic meanings. Made with Claude (Anthropic's AI), reviewed and fixed by a person, card by card. The whole A1 level is free.
You could build them yourself with the add-on, but A2 to C1 is 1,814 word cards: on the free AI plan, which allows a few dozen cards a day, that takes well over a month, and every card still needs checking. The paid levels are those cards already made and reviewed.