I’m level 8 and I feel like when I try to read something like a book or news article, there’s still A LOT I can’t understand. I know I’m lacking in grammar, so thats part of it as well.
However, I watch a lot of anime in Japanese too and I can pick up a couple words here and there, but by no means could I watch without subtitles. Keep in mind this is with me almost exclusively using WK, though. (I just started Genki, but I’m only on chapter 2.) So someone who is learning from multiple sources or had prior knowledge might think differently.
1 Like
Come join my Genki thread…!
1 Like
@cliff900 @KSamo A leech is an item that hangs around in your review pile for months or even years. I have some items I’ve seen literally a hundred times. For whatever reason they just don’t sink in. If you let them build up, they can really slow you down. The problem is, if they keep appearing in the middle of a pile of 100 reviews, you never focus on them. That’s why it’s good to identify them and try to deal with them.
2 Likes
I learned 召 as seduce. So 沼 became water + seduce, which kind of makes sense. Also easier to make mnemonics. For example, for 紹 I had something with a black widow (silk) inviting people to her lair (seduction).
It really is interesting how people learn differently 
It’s something that one needs to keep in mind when giving advice, since what was essential to you can be destructive to someone else!
1 Like
I’ve had a lot of success doing my own SRS with these “leeches”, I checkin on it more frequently than WK (sometimes every 5 mins even) and once I get a handle on it that way, I don’t continuously fail with it in WK. You might try that first. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t believe it makes sense to skip a word because it’s difficult for you, it just means you need to give it the focus it deserves.
EDIT (an example):
1 Like
Hi , Where do I find Lesson Reorder, review reorder, Ignore and Ultimate time line ? What is a Leech Guys?
I would love to be doing all my, Radicals and Kanji first. This would make a lot more sense to me. Is there a way to do this? I would be greatfull if anyone could answer me simply. I’m not so savvy with the terms
Thank you in advance
Start here:
Thx for the info. Never gave a serious thought about the leeches.[quote=“shuttersound, post:72, topic:18194”]
und this, too. I can blast through reviews much more quickly in 1x1 mode, since my mind naturally remembers both the meaning
[/quote]
If you use firefox, first install the extention called greasemonkey. If you use chrome, look for tampermonkey. After you install, restart your browser and dowload the following scripts:
Tampermonkey: Tampermonkey - Chrome Web Store
Greasemonkey: Greasemonkey – Instale esta extensão para o 🦊 Firefox (pt-BR)
Review order: WaniKani Review Order - (Radical/Kanji/Vocab order) Userscript Extension
Lesson order: WaniKani Lesson Ordering II (obsolete, does not work)
“Ignore Button”: Wanikani Override Userscript 1.1.2 ("Ignore Answer" Button) [No longer supported]
I feel like its best to find a place without distractions to do reviews. My dad is a literal chatterbox and started talking to me when I started my reviews and then due to being distracted I called 皮 Frog instead of Skin, and now my levelup time has been set back by 10 hours, so if you really have a lot of time on your hands and want to level up as fast as possible, don’t let people distract you!
1 Like
What do you guys think is the ideal lesson batch number? I just defaulted to 10 because the length of time it takes me to read through them all thoroughly creates a lil micro-SRS. BUT perhaps lowering this would make doing lessons less time intensive, or easier to do quick one-offs throughout the day… I’m not sure. What have you folks tried?
I’ve never changed it from its default (5). Never felt any need to. Also I like 5 because there are 5 Power Rangers.
1 Like
What is this vacation mode you speak of?
When you reach level 60 Koichi gives you a 2-week trip to Bermuda.
10 Likes
@Aemaeth I actually decreased my batch size from 5 to 4. It allows me to do lessons slightly more quickly when I don’t have much time. My kanji lessons involve finding vocabulary for that kanji, so even 4 lessons for kanji can take a long time. (Side comment: That’s also why I try to mix my kanji and vocabulary lessons)
1 Like
Thanks for all of the advice
It’s on WaniKani website, in Menu->Settings->Account->Vacation mode
When you activate Vacation Mode, it freezes your account. Which mean you can’t do lessons nor reviews, and the reviews stop piling up. When you deactivate vacation mode, you will be back to where you were when you activated it. It is very useful when you know you will be away from WK for a while (vacations, social life etc…), so that you do not get back to 1000 reviews or so which a lot of people never achieve to bring back down to zero.
2 Likes
Ah! Thanks. I’m bringing mine down to five from ten for a bit to see how that effects my progress/motivation. I’m generally well-motivated, thankfully. Rarely though, I just feel like UGH, y’know? 
Wait wait wait. You can CHOOSE what type of lessons you get? They always mix it up for me, (like vocab, kanji, and radical all in the same lesson queue). You can choose a specific type? How?