Are the benefits of also learning the English → French translation worth it?

I studied French in school a couple of years ago and I'm looking at building upon my previous knowledge. I've downloaded the "5000 Most Common French Words" as well as the "KOFI conjugation deck".

I've started learning the 500 most common words in the French → English format and I'm considering starting the English → French cards next month as sort of a staggered learning approach. Does anyone here have any experience with this? Do you think its worth the additional 5000 card burden?

I could see some benefit for my thought process as I formulate sentences in French from English, but do you think this additional time is better spent in literature & media once my French is of a significant level?