How should I approach adding reversed cards to my 2600 card deck?

[stoic hull]

Hello. I need some advice from you guys. I have a 2600-card deck that uses the “Basic (type in the answer)” note type for language learning. I’ve decided that it would be beneficial to have both the standard cards I have now and their reversed versions.

I created a custom note type for that purpose and set it up, but obviously, I now have 2,600 new cards with their own scheduling. I’m not sure if that’s the best idea, but my goal was to have the same cards, just shown in either direction randomly, without creating entirely new ones.

The script for that, generated by chatgpt, didn’t work because Anki doesn’t allow two typing boxes in one template. So here are my questions:

— Should I try to reverse the cards using a script or some other method that allows me to keep the same number of cards and preserve their scheduling? (I'm pretty sure I won’t struggle with most of the reversed cards too much anyway—I just wanted to mix things up a bit)

— Do you think it’s a better idea to create those 2,600 new cards, maybe set a new card limit to 50 or 100, and simply press "easy" on the ones I don’t have any trouble with, even when reversed?

— What do you think about doing the option above, but creating a separate deck for actual new cards/words? That way, I wouldn’t stress about completing all the new/reversed cards, and I wouldn’t have a bunch of very young reversed cards muddling things up. So basically, the current deck would just help me refresh words I already know, while the new deck would be for genuinely new cards, which would include the reversed pair from the start.

I tend to ramble a bit, so sorry for that.

[tired shadow]

||The script for that, generated by chatgpt, didn’t work||
||ChatGPT is not good at understanding Anki things.||

my goal was to have the same cards, just shown in either direction randomly, without creating entirely new ones.
...
Should I try to reverse the cards using a script ...
No. That's not a good idea. Your review history and scheduling for the card in one direction has no relevance to your review history and scheduling for the card in the other direction. You don't want to muddle them together in a single card.

Do you think it’s a better idea to create those 2,600 new cards, maybe set a new card limit to 50 or 100, and simply press "easy" on the ones I don’t have any trouble with, even when reversed?
Yes, it's better to create those cards separately. It sounds like you figured out how to do that by adding a 2nd card type to your note type. If you're mid-way through that deck, you've now got 2 categories of notes --

1. Half-studied -- You've studied card1, but not yet introduced card2. There are ways to make sure you get those card2's started, for instance, before you introduce anything else from the next category.
2. All-New -- You haven't studied either card. Because the card2 type was created later, the card2's might not be assigned to the same New-queue numbers as the card1's. You should check that by looking at the "Due" column. Make sure your sibling cards are on the same number.

When they come up, you should grade them honestly and accurately. If you get through them faster, that's great, but don't just push them through automatically. Don't overestimate your ability to get those cards right, because Production and Recognition are 2 different skills.

What do you think about doing the option above, but creating a separate deck for actual new cards/words? ...
I don't think I fully understand this idea. It's fine to have your cards in separate decks, but I don't understand the line you're drawing here.

[stoic hull]

Basically, having the current deck be for the "Half-studied" and "Studied" cards, and the new one be only for entirely new cards. Maybe you are right in that I might overestimate my ability with the reversed variant of the cards I have already studied, but I kinda feel weird about having 2600 "Half-studied" cards, just normal due cards, and entirely new cards all in the same deck. Since I created the reversed cards mid 2600 card deck, now it kinda feels weird. It will take me a while to get to the actual new cards. Keep in mind that I don't have entirely new cards in this current deck yet. All the cards are either learnt to a various degree or are the reversed variant of those cards.