Extending this farther, I'd say everything you read or listen to in a foreign language should be in some kind of context, the richer the better. Reading characters outside of their context in words is pretty useless, but reading words outside of sentences isn't that much better, and sentences can be pretty awful by themselves.
For example, in English: "Do you have any paper towels?" What does the sentence mean?
Context #1: At a supermarket, talking to a clerk. The sentence means, "Please direct me to the cleaning supplies."
Context #2: At a friend's house, after I spill soda on the floor. The sentence means, "Please give me some cleaning supplies."
Context #3: A friend asked me to help pack for a camping trip, and we're going over the list of what's packed. The sentence means, "I suggest packing cleaning supplies."
Context #4: A friend spilled spilled soda on someone else's rug, but is unconcerned. The sentence means, "You should clean that up."
Exercise: Come up with a context where the sentence has its literal meaning, "do you have any paper towels?"
Pragmatics (as above) are a pretty extreme example, but even fairly plain descriptive sentences can be indecipherable without context. E.g., in Japanese 「本を貸してくれた。」 you know that somebody lent someone else a book and that the speaker somehow benefited from this action, or perhaps feels grateful. It probably very clear in context, but you have to practice reading it with the context.
And this is why flash cards suck (not that they're useless...)
For example, in English: "Do you have any paper towels?" What does the sentence mean?
Context #1: At a supermarket, talking to a clerk. The sentence means, "Please direct me to the cleaning supplies."
Context #2: At a friend's house, after I spill soda on the floor. The sentence means, "Please give me some cleaning supplies."
Context #3: A friend asked me to help pack for a camping trip, and we're going over the list of what's packed. The sentence means, "I suggest packing cleaning supplies."
Context #4: A friend spilled spilled soda on someone else's rug, but is unconcerned. The sentence means, "You should clean that up."
Exercise: Come up with a context where the sentence has its literal meaning, "do you have any paper towels?"
Pragmatics (as above) are a pretty extreme example, but even fairly plain descriptive sentences can be indecipherable without context. E.g., in Japanese 「本を貸してくれた。」 you know that somebody lent someone else a book and that the speaker somehow benefited from this action, or perhaps feels grateful. It probably very clear in context, but you have to practice reading it with the context.
And this is why flash cards suck (not that they're useless...)