How to Import Your Anki Deck into Talk To Your Flashcards

You don't have to rebuild your vocabulary from scratch. If you already study with Anki, you can export your deck and import the words into Talk To Your Flashcards — so Koko can hold CI+O conversations using the vocabulary you've already collected.

This guide walks through exporting from Anki and uploading into the app. It works for Spanish and Mandarin Chinese — the languages currently supported in Talk To Your Flashcards.

What gets imported (and what doesn't)

The import brings in vocabulary words from your exported file. The app extracts words in your target language, lets you review the list, and adds them to Koko's word bank for conversation and in-app review.

What is not imported:

• Anki's SRS scheduling (intervals, ease, review history)
• Card templates, images, or audio from your Anki notes (unless words appear as text)
• The .apkg file directly — you export to a text-based format first

Many learners keep reviewing in Anki and use Talk To Your Flashcards for conversation practice with the same word list. See Anki and speaking practice for how the two fit together.

Step 1: Export your deck from Anki

These steps use Anki's desktop app (Windows, Mac, or Linux).

1. Open Anki and select the deck you want to export in the deck list.
2. Go to File → Export (or right-click the deck and choose Export).
3. Set Export format to Notes in Plain Text (.txt). If you study Chinese, pick a UTF-8 plain-text option if your Anki version offers it — this keeps characters intact.
4. Export the current deck (not all decks), unless you want everything in one file.
5. Save the file somewhere easy to find — for example my-spanish-deck.txt.

Plain text works best because the app reads the file and pulls out target-language vocabulary. CSV exports from Anki can work too, as can other text-based formats the uploader accepts (TXT, CSV, PDF, Word, and similar).

Step 2: Import into Talk To Your Flashcards

You can upload your exported file in two places:

Option A: During onboarding

Best if you're setting up a new account and already have Anki vocabulary.

1. Sign up and choose Spanish or Chinese.
2. When asked how much you already know, choose A little bit (“I know some words or basics already”).
3. On the vocabulary step, you'll see an option to upload a file. Click Upload a text file and select your Anki export.
4. Click Extract Words. The app scans the file and lists vocabulary it finds in your target language.
5. Review the word list — remove any you don't want — then click Add Words.

Option B: From the Flashcards page

Use this anytime after signup, or to add more words from a new Anki export later.

1. Log in and make sure your active language profile is Spanish or Chinese.
2. Open the Flashcards page from the app navigation.
3. In the Expand Koko's Vocabulary section, click Upload a text file.
4. Select your exported Anki file.
5. Click Extract Words, review the list, then Add Words.

After import: start CI+O conversation

Once your words are in Koko's vocabulary, you can start quests or free chat. Koko will use only words from your flashcard set (plus one new element at a time) — that's the flashcard-to-conversation bridge Anki alone doesn't provide.

A simple workflow:

1. Review in Anki (or in-app flashcards) — retention
2. Practice CI+O conversation — output with your imported vocabulary
3. Add new words from conversation back to Anki if you want