Oh, Hi everyone! How are you doing? This is probably the first time you’ve heard of me, since I have only read through the forums, but never actually engaged in any discussions. So that’s why I feel like now is the best time to show my appreciation to you guys.
With a Lvl.60 celebration post!
It all started around 4 Years ago at the end of 9th grade when I decided to teach myself Hiragana and Katakana through a YouTube video. I got interested in Japanese because Anime in its native Language just sounded way more awesome than the English or German (My mother tongue) synchronization. So why not learn it!
So the first thing I tried was Memrise for a year and Duolingo for a little more but I never clicked with them. Sure, I learned some Japanese sentences, but that was it.
I memorized the sentences but never learned to understand the sentences.
It only gave me the Illusion of learning.
I also found Kanji Study afterwards, which looked promising but was better to be used in combination with some other resource like a Textbook or your Japanese Classes.
It was in January of 2020 when I stumbled upon this Guide by Tofugu (Learn Japanese: A Ridiculously Detailed Guide) which basically opened the doors for many new possibilities to me and also the place, that I first heard of WaniKani.
WaniKani just clicked with me from the moment I first tried it. The SRS System was so carefree and easy to learn Kanji with that it just hooked me in and so I never stopped. I never skipped a day of reviewing, through this entire 2 Year journey. So now, after 757 days I have finally reached at lvl. 60.
To be honest, I’m a bit relieved that it’s finally over. I’m now in 13’th Grade and my final exams are coming up in about 2/3 Months. So, I need as much Time and Energy as I can get.
Sure, I still do my daily reviews, but there won’t be any lessons to do anymore.
That is why I’m relieved.
Over my journey, I have learned a few things, that I’d like to give you on your journey, that will not only make your journey better but also warn you of major roadblocks that you might encounter.
The Scipts That I use
- Wanikani Heatmap
- Dashboard Progress Plus
- SRS and Leech Breakdown
- GanbarOmeter
- Woah Burns (Important)
- Ultimate Timeline
- Real Score
- Keisei Phonetic-Sematic Composition
- Niai Similar Kanji
- Item Inspector
- Anime Context Sentences
- Pitch Info
- Confusion Guesser
- Stroke Order
- Double-Check
- Hide Context Sentence
- Rendaku Information
- Self-Study Quiz
- R/K/V Tiny Bars
No particular order, they all are useful.
Other resources I use
Grammar:
Manga:
-
ふらいんぐうぃっち
(Flying Witch) -
よつばと！
(Yotsuba&!) -
ゆるキャン△
(Laid-Back Camp) -
シメジ シミュレーション
(Shimeji Simulation)
Anime:
-
古見さんは、コミュ症です。
(Komi Can’t Communicate) -
放課後ていぼう日誌
(Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater)
Some Heartfelt Advice
Don’t try to rush through the Levels!
You shouldn’t expect, that you are going to finish with Wanikani within a year of starting.
Something like that takes a huge amount of time out of your day and should only be considered if you have absolutely nothing else to do in that year. Because that is exactly what I tried to do at
lvl. 14, where I tried to rush through Levels as fast as possible and used Double Check to cheat not only the system but also myself.
All those items came crashing down over the span of lvl. 23 to 30 when in the end, I had 500 Items in my Apprentice and it started to become unbearable, so I had to make a 4 Month lesson break until I finally felt comfortable again. Even after that, my reviews still weren’t completely fixed and it wasn’t until lvl. 40, when I got back a normal review amount.
I now made the rule, that if my apprentice Items got above 120, then I’m not doing any more lessons and I should focus on doing my reviews first.
Don’t be me and instead try to go at a pace, that you feel comfortable with.
Oh, and one more thing!
don’t you dare skip out on the vocabulary!
I’ve seen some of yall doing that, to rush through the levels. But why?
You are basically missing out on half the meaning of almost every Kanji, as well as the many different uses of that Kanji. It boggles my mind, how people see this as an acceptable strategy of using Wanikani.
What to do now...
First of all, I’m going to burn all the remaining Items and probably add the new items that are going to be added in future updates. But Wanikani will probably be put in the background, while I focus on other elements. Wanikani was my main focus until now. So now that I’m done with that, I’ll have more time to focus on grammar and general listening and reading comprehension instead. I’ll also hopefully try myself in actual Japanese conversations. I heard VRChat is a great place for that. I’d be happy for recommendations.
Big thank you to the people who created Wanikani and to all of you guys who make this community an awesome place to be a part of.
You’re now among the choosen ones! 
