Hi,
I have just started WK already being at an N2-ish level and having completed RTK years ago.
The point of using WK for me is to master 音読み readings which I am not solid enough at.
I am at level 3 and it is naturally extremely obvious stuff. I set the max daily lessons to 100 a few days ago, and it is very manageable as there is not any new knowledge at this point so I can rush very fast through the many reviews.
Now will this backfire and create a burden for later even if I reduce the amount progressively?
I’d like to avoid losing a couple months on doing reviews for nothing but would rather not shoot myself in the foot for later on when it will match my actual level.
thanks in advance
2 Likes
The way this SRS system works means that the content you learn in lessons is going to be repeated a lot before you can attain a burned status and have it exit your review flow. I don’t know how long you can even maintain a 100-lesson-per-day pace before you dry up on content, but you could try if you wanted to and are prepared
Just keep in mind that 100 lessons at once (and proceeding to do the following reviews at optimal times and with correct answers) is going to end up as ~500 reviews throughout the week- and plenty, plenty more beyond that. If you were doing that consistently, your review backlog is going to be unprecedentedly massive and quite tedious to cut through (especially with extremely easy content). When it gets into later SRS stages, that’ll mean there will be giant spikes of hundreds of reviews on top of everything else you have more recently taken on as well. Its your call if you want to deal with that
If you want to keep making fast progress as you’re already comfortable with a lot of the material to the point of not needing reinforcement- it’s worth noting that vocabulary does not impact your level-up speed as it is not required (whereas radicals and Kanji are). If you click the advanced tab on the dashboard, you could skim through and be selective with what vocab you add to your reviews and just ignore the rest- maintaining pace and not having to deal with a bunch of stuff you already know. And/or conversely, I think it would be worth checking out some of the userscript options- as something like the Anki mode toggle could make giant review mountains way more manageable since you wouldn’t have to waste time and potential typos manually typing in each answer
It ultimately comes down to how much time you’re willing to sink in on a daily basis, but if you’re trying to be optimal and brisk to get to a more compelling level of content- I’d definitely weigh options to ensure you have a more focused path
5 Likes
Congrats on returning to the language. I set max daily lessons to 100 around level 4 and am now level 8. I do reviews in the morning before work, during lunch break and then before bed. The only times I’ve had more than 100 reviews due was caused by travel/tending to other obligations. Each time the reviews have ballooned it has created an unpleasant experience. You can probably handle it and the unpleasantness will be less given your experience.
Having the max daily lessons set to 100 doesn’t mean I regularly see 100 lessons available. In my experience the highest number of lessons are only available at level up. For example, I had 100+ lessons available upon reaching level 8.
I notice that I am happiest when “Recent Lessons” figure is around 60 so I try to maintain this number. I have never done 100 lessons in a day, at most 40. I have no prior Japanese experience.
I hope this helps.
1 Like
WaniKani may not be the most efficient method for you if you’re already at an N2 reading level and only interested in onyomi readings. Sometimes the primary WK reading for a kanji is kunyomi because it’s more common. The vocab is also a mixed bag. But if you have time to do 100 lessons a day and the subsequent pile of reviews from that then by all means どうぞ.
1 Like
it is a bit hard to judge indeed as the first levels are beginner level, but I like the approach a lot so I felt it would make sense at one point.. If it doesn’t get me months to get there which I can’t tell really.
well 100 reviews each day is totally ok for me as long as they are easy, I am sure having more than a hundred will get tedious at some point though.
I am worried I cannot control the review amount later once I get more challenging material coming as it could be too late in the process.
Is there even a risk to get way more reviews than 100ish though as the amount of studied items pile up?
good tip for the vocab selection I’ll look into that !
1 Like
I actually never left Japanese just reading wasn’t a priority 
interesting, so you can manage to keep control on the number, that is my main concern. I’d imagine statistically the bigger amount of entry you have to review the less control you get. But that may not me that significant in practice
I worded it a little strange, my apologies, but to be clear I am saying that every 100 lessons you do would be 100 items put in the larger review pool (not just 100 reviews total at the end of the day)- and that stacks more and more as you keep doing lessons. Anecdotally I have only been doing ~15-20 lessons daily lately (with a handful of off-days sprinkled in) and my daily review pile ultimately hovers around 200 at minimum
It’s not 1-1 given things like review accuracy shift the numbers around quite a bit, but generally speaking if you’re wanting to put in a pace ~5x what I am right now- those numbers are going to catch up to you probably around ~5x how they end up working for me, so be aware of what you’re getting into
Again, I’m not sure it’s even possible to go at a 100-lesson-per-day pace given how the WK level system works, but if you are cautious about large waves of tedious review piles getting out of hand- that’ll certainly do it. The SRS system also spans a long period of time, so you’ll be having to fight those large waves (assuming you’re not making mistakes) atleast ~5 or 6 months later down the road, and plenty of steps in-between. Personally speaking I wouldn’t attempt that kind of task without some very specific planning and tools as mentioned before
I just want to say the opposite of what @drackyslime is saying as far as advice.
@stephane1234 you sound like you think it will be fine but are nervous about long term. the answer is that it will be fine. the only alteration that doing 100 lessons in one day versus over 5 days is that it bunches up the reviews slightly. right? the SRS system is not dependent on other material in your queue, each item has an individual timer. if you start 100 timers on the same day, they’ll tick at the same rate. if you start 100 timers on 5 consecutive days, you’ll see them come due on 5 consecutive days.
i’ve been going as fast as possible, doing 100 lessons in one day as often as i’m allowed. here’s my “just started level 10” schedule for the rest of the week. as you can see I have fewer total reviews than @drackyslime at the moment, and they’re less evenly distributed (although because the bulk of the ones coming up soonest are early apprentice reviews, they’ll go back through the queue pretty quickly.)
I agree with you on a lot of what you’ve said- my point was definitely somewhat inflated going on the predication that every day you’ll be doing that kind of workload- which is ultimately impossible, but just trying to illustrate the content relationship. My advice was ultimately just to be mindful, plan, and ensure you have the right tools for the very specific conditions of this job- which is ultimately what you were saying as well
That being said, I (respectfully) think that this statement deserves more weight because it changes the workflow a lot more than just what the forecast or a parenthetical addition states
Assume that it’s first thing in the morning, you just did 100 lessons (and these are the only things in your workflow), no mistakes are/will be made, and you want to work as optimally as possible- so you do your reviews immediately when they are available;
Your review forecast will say +100 items in the next 24 hours, for a weekly total of 100- not a large ask. 3 hours later, you go do your 100 reviews- but because the SRS system puts them back in so fast, by the end of the same day you’ll have to do that same batch of 100 once more. And then a day later, and then 2 days later.
By the end of the week- that initial 100 reviews on the forecast ended up being 4x as much as displayed in practice. In a practical setting where things are also pretty consistently being added in, and especially down the road when more things begin to re-enter the cycle it ultimately will end up being a lot to juggle on a day-to-day basis, even if there are more prominent gaps
You mention that doing lessons is like setting a timer- which is true. Even if there is consistency/predictability, the reality is that the more timers you set at once, the more are going to ring at once- and if the primary concern is managability of those timers, that’s the throughline that I want them to be aware of in their approach so they can plan more appropriately
2 Likes
