Am I just stupid?

WaniKani
#13

Hello my friend! It sounds like you might be a little hard on yourself.

I’ve wondered about this myself. And I do get the impression sometimes the WK cards are a little too strict. Unfortunately, that’s just how WK is set up.

At the end of the day, isn’t this the ultimate goal? If you’re able to understand the word when its given in context then you’ve already learned the word no? At the end of the day, WK is a tool to help with understanding the word when its given. Its a means with an end.

Overall, it sounds like re-evaluating priorities might be in order. I don’t know what your goal is but at the end of the day, the point of learning new words is to understand them and use them at the right time, right? If WK says you don’t understand but you are able to easily pickup the words up in conversation and/or reading, then you clearly understand the word. I mean, what’s more important at the end of the day? Having a 60 by your username our actually consuming and conversing in Japanese?

This is an unpopular opinion but it sounds like you might fit an exception instead of a rule. For typing out the word, that is important but what if you were typing up a document in Japanese on a word processor? Wouldn’t it give you suggestions based on the context you have? If you’re close enough for a word processor to fix it, doesn’t that mean you know the language well enough to function? Functioning with Japanese is the goal, isn’t it?

7 Likes
#14

I have auto play on, I wish you could auto play both male and female though : (

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#15

I am worried because I feel like I am treading water and forgetting burned items. I only have so much time on earth and I feel like I’ll never get there

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#16

The reason is that I got through many units quickly until I hit that tipping point, and for the last almost half a year my weekly reviews are always over 1,000 while doing zero lessons. I am nearly at the point where I can start doing lessons again, but again, it feels like a snail’s pace and I am forgetting burned items. I also spent more time on grammar and immersion during that WK cooldown(detox?), I caught up with NativShark and am halfway through N4 in Bunpro. I also started Akiko’s Foreign Exchange which I am more than halfway through now, and started and finished Shirokuma Cafe with no subs for listening practice. I just feel like reading Akiko’s Foreign Exchange is more fun and helps reinforce and grow my Kanji more than WK did during my monotonous unit 16 to 23 bonanza you can see in the chart. It’s also just hard for me to do more than 150 reviews a day

2 Likes
#17

I clear it all in the morning, and I see which hours I have a bunch of stuff coming up later on in the day and try to log on then. Though I never log on in the evening

#18

I plateaued a few months ago at almost exactly the level you’re at now. I’d wake up in the morning, do 100+ reviews to start the day, but felt completely unmotivated to progress any further than that because the grind I’d just gone through made me literally sick to my stomach.

A trick that finally got me out of the rut was to make sure to not only clear all reviews every day, but also to make sure to make some progress on new lessons every day. I set myself a low target: 10 new lessons per day, and use a streak tracker to make sure that I do them every single day. I usually do about 10 to 20, with 10 the required minimum, which is doable even if I’m busy that day. You could take it even slower and make it 5 — just have some kind of steady number.

As others have mentioned here, you’ll need to make sure to do new lessons to make forward progress. Get yourself into a routine and you’ll notice that you’ll also start advancing levels on a regular cadence, and that’ll greatly improve your confidence in fulfilling the project. Speaking for myself — I’m finally back on track leveling again, and even though I never had a chance in hell at the 60-week speed run, I know I’m going to finish.

Another major thing I’d suggest if you’re not using it already is WaniKani double-check. It does two things: (1) lightning mode to make reviews WAY faster so you waste far less time doing them, and (2) ability to fix answers. If you make some stupid mistake on a reading that you actually knew, you can correct it, and save time as it doesn’t come back later on. IMO it is absolutely crazy that these functions aren’t built into WaniKani — once you start using them, barebones WK is completely unusable.

8 Likes
#19

I feel like I needed to read this myself lol. One year now and All I have to show for it is that I am on level 16… But I like that people say it isn’t a race. And of course lots of exposure outside WK is key. I really need to get back into reading manga again… 3 whole issues of a series I am deeply invested in yet bringing myself to read it still feels like a chore :sweat_smile:
I also like the statement from the person above of setting the goal every day. I make it a goal to at least do all my reviews, 98% of the time I do 5 new lessons and if my review outlook isn’t so daunting I do 10, sometimes even 15 lessons in a day, every day.
It’s been really good for me to follow the 5 lessons a day thing as strictly as possible, because when I am chatting with friends on Facebook or reading posts, the 5 new lessons a day get me a bit close to understanding more without needing to look up words :smiley:

BTW how are you seeing your stats? I can’t find this feature…

1 Like
#20

Please be nicer to yourself. People have different skill sets and different situations. You can’t compare yourself without knowing any of the variables needed to compare. Stop looking at what other people are doing and only compare yourself to who you were yesterday. You’re already at level 23 so you are certainly no “dumb dumb”. Keep going!

5 Likes
#21

When I do lessons, I have a notebook where I’ll hand write the following:

<English definition #1>/<English definition #2>/etc : <Radical/Kanji/Vocab written in the right stroke order> : <Kanji/Vocab in hiragana with correct stroke order> : <Kanji/Vocab in Katakana with correct stroke order>

I know it sounds weird but it makes me slow down and think about the radical/kanji/vocab and makes me analyze it instead of going:

Clicks next
Yep, lesson done in 2 seconds
Clicks next
Yep, lesson done in 2 seconds
Clicks next
Yep, lesson done in 2 seconds
etc.

Maybe this will help you? Keep in mind, my 10 lessons will take me a good 30 minutes if they’re all vocab because I also tend to google the difference between synonyms or research words that sound familiar or it could take 5-10 minutes if they’re radicals.

Also, after doing this, recalling hiragana and katakana both in stroke order and visualizing the kana in my mind becomes almost like the english alphabet after several levels of doing this.

4 Likes
#22

I feel pretty dumb sometimes too learning Japanese. But I really like doing it. I feel like I am accomplishing something everyday.

No matter how “dumb” you are, if you do a little Japanese every day, you will be a little better than the day before.

My hope is that I will be decent after about 10 years.

3 Likes
#23

I’ll try to do 5 a day and see if I can avoid new lesson burnout. I’m about to finally click that big button again y’all!

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#24

88% overall accuracy is fine. You’re fine.

Remember, level 60 in 1 year is the fastest possible time. Most don’t do it within that time. I don’t have data to back this up but I think most don’t do it within two years either. I know a few who didn’t even do it in one stretch, they ended up forgetting so much they dropped back down a few levels (or even all the way to level 1) just to get those lower levels back into their memories.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Persistence is more important than speed.

As for the SRS being too strict, as long as you know the meaning of a word (and be honest with yourself - did you really know or did you actually picture a man with a gavel and a silly wig for “judgment” and only realise your mistake when you saw it was wrong?) you know the word. That’s all there is to it. I use a script that lets me retry when I get an answer wrong because it just happens that either I make a typo or I mean the right thing but use the wrong word, and I add synonyms accordingly. It’s about understanding the meaning, not about knowing the right English word.

#25

You’re definitely not stupid.

You don’t have to be intelligent to learn kanji. It’s more a question of your ability to relentlessly plough through the reviews. It’s basic rote learning by SRS.

People on the spectrum, like myself, may find the task easier and become more absorbed in it (although I’m obsessed with grammar rather than kanji).

Besides, it doesn’t matter what other people are doing. The only thing that matters is you. 頑張ってくださいね。諦めない。

3 Likes
#26

Not stupid. WaniKani is too strict. No leeches and no allowance for typos or second guesses. There is nothing wrong in using a double check script freely. Sometimes stuff does not stick. Why spend so much time on such a small amount of vocab when you can go after easier vocab?

There is nothing magical in the WaniKani Kanji order, it does not align to most commonly used and it is not particularly helpful in differentiating similar looking Kanji. Maybe supplement with Kodansha which is a much more efficient way of leaning differences in similar looking Kanji.

What are you trying to achieve? Level 60 in WaniKani or the ability to read? Who cares if you forget WaniKani burns, especially “radicals” and kanji on yomi readings. If you can understand vocab in a reading context then who cares?

At your level you should be reading. A lot. It sounds like you probably are. Only you can answer the question on how is the best use of your study time. But it sounds like spending an hour a day on one WaniKani level for months is probably not a very efficient use of time.

3 Likes
#27

Stats can be found at www.wkstats.com - you just enter your API key.

#28

I am at a similar plateau and I had the same problem of losing motivation. After taking a break from new lessons, I am aiming to do at least 10 new lessons a day and starting to make forward progress again.

When I started WaniKani I had no understanding of any of the statistics or mechanics - Apprentice count, etc. - I just did all the lessons and reviews everyday. I honestly think that is still the best approach, and to let the SRS do it’s work if you get things wrong.

As you get to higher levels using this approach, the risk of the number of reviews becoming overwhelming is a danger, but my feeling now is that it’s better to take on the additional work until you break through.
That being said, I still think I am too sloppy and get too many answers wrong - donut223’s approach described on this board, of hand-writing new lesson vocabulary words, sounds like a great one.

1 Like
#29

if u prioritize wanikani over everything else, do 300 reviews, have good accuracy, then u can do it within a year. In the end it all depends on your time u can spend, ur dedication, and a good gaming chair.

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#30

there’s a script for that: Wanikani: Random voice actor

other than that, of course you’re not dumb. hope you get good ideas from all the replies here! you can do it.

#31

There is really no way to avoid forgetting at least some stuff. Good news is that when you encounter it in the wild (reading/conversation) and “relearn” it your overall memory of it will improve. Also, when encountering things through actual use you’ll get a much better sense of what things are worth spending a lot of time remembering and which aren’t. Think about it in terms of your native language. You probably learned some uncommon words for a test at some point in your life that you didn’t use and so forgot. If you came across it again you might find it familiar and after looking it up remember that you learned that word for a spelling test when you were 10 (random example). The same is 100% true in WK. SRS is going to help you remember, particularly if you can then start using it in some way, but it’s not magic and every single person here is going to forget some stuff. That’s just part of being human.

So… long story short, don’t worry about the fact that you’ve probably (definitely, and there’s no shame in that), already forgotten some stuff you’ve burned. What you need will come back as you use Japanese more and expand to consuming media of some kind (if you couldn’t guess I strongly believe in reading) if you haven’t done so already.

Edit: And one more thing for the record, forgetting is an important part of the learning process. It’s often seen as being negative and it’s not. By forgetting and remembering or re-learning you are adding to a memory and further strengthening your knowledge of that thing. Think of it as a thread getting thicker each time you pull it in or a new thread being added with new context that links it to something else and you form these webs of inter connected knowledge in your long term memory. This is what you want to happen because that is how you create those easy pathways to information that is logged into your memory.

4 Likes
#32

Making progress is about two things, basically:

  1. Doing more lessons, and
  2. Logging on and clearing reviews multiple times a day in order to push new items past the very early SRS stages that are counted in hours and not days)

Since your accuracy is good, it wouldn’t seem that you’re dumb, it would seem you just aren’t inputting enough new material.

Don’t do so many lessons that you overwhelm yourself, though! むりしないでね

1 Like