Am I the only one who enjoys the slow pace on WaniKani?

WaniKani
#1

Hi there! I’m a new user of WaniKani (currently in level 2) and I have been enjoying it a lot. I started studying Japanese pretty recently due to my new found interest in anime and the band Yoasobi, and I came across WaniKani pretty randomly in a youtube video about Japanese learning. I wanted to try it out since learning vocabulary (and especially kanji) has been kicking my ass. And I gotta say I’m pretty satisfied so far, even though I just started. I will definitely get a monthly subscription when I’m done with level 3!

I was reading a few posts on the WaniKani community, and it seems like a lot of people are complaining about the slow pace of WaniKani, because you have to wait a lot in between reviews and you can’t get new lessons until you get out of the apprentice stage. But personally I have been loving it a lot! I have been quite busy lately because of my student job, and thanks to the spaced reviews and lessons, it has allowed me to learn and review small chunks bit by bit during my breaks. It might take me longer to finish lessons, but that way it doesn’t feel overwhelming. It also allows me to learn Japanese grammar when I don’t have any reviews or lessons waiting for me after work. So that way I’m not neglecting it either.

Another reason why I really love WaniKani, is that it makes me enjoy learning vocabulary. I’m someone who loves learning new languages (I’m trilingual and I’m learning another language next to Japanese) and usually I absolutely HATE learning vocabulary. I put all my energy in learning grammar, because that’s what I enjoy the most. Learning vocabulary is really tiresome and boring to me because it’s usually pure memorization, and it’s something I’m bad at thus really despise. But learning kanji on WaniKani feels like playing a game so it makes the experience of learning vocabulary really enjoyable.

Anyways, this post is long enough as it is, but I just wanted to say that I’m really glad I came across WK, and I can’t wait to continue this journey with WK and the community! :heart:

31 Likes
#2

WELCOME TO WANIKANI!!! :partying_face: :confetti_ball:

HAHA! you will now have to serve the crabigator until the end of your days :crabigator:

I’ve actually just heard complaints about slow pace on the first few levels, but never about the higher levels :woman_shrugging: I’ve enjoyed my pace pretty much, you can always do more or less lessons or add userscrips to regulate the pace (and many other things)

Also, definately don’t forget to check out My Journey of 368 days (+ The Ultimate Guide for WK 📖 ) - #2 by jprspereira ← this guide, courtesy of jprspereira!! (oh and the rest of the campfire section… of course, but I didn’t tell you this)

Hope to see you round here, がんばって and go do your reviews!!

8 Likes
#3

Well, the slow pace of WK is slow until it isn’t. Try doing ALL lessons and reviews as soon as they are available and let’s see how you hold up.

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#4

Slow…haha…right yeah…slow… :grimacing:

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#5

If you wanna join the slow-paced community, say hello to: :durtle_hello: Let's Durtle the Scenic Route 🐢

There is a couple of us out there :slight_smile:

Also, welcome!

I wonder whether those same people later complain about the Burn wave hitting them after a couple of levels :smiley: :smiley:

Glad you’re enjoying WaniKani and good luck!

10 Likes
#6

i’d guess it really depends on how much time you have. as a freelance artist i’m doing reviews anytime they pop up if i’m not super focused on something at that time. but if you are in a job where that’s impossible to shift focus for a few minutes at a time, i can imagine that gets really difficult

1 Like
#7

i was previously in the low 40s before health issues made me take a long break and reset to get back into things so i’ve experienced a wide variety of the intensity you can get on here

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#8

I’m talking with someone that has not reached level 3 yet. And yes, I don’t think the WK is overwhelming no matter at what pace I go, I have all the time in the world. But to make that call at lvl 2 is rather early.

3 Likes
#9

Crabigator: * teaches kanji *
Durtle: it says my credit card was rejected
Crabigator: * starts screaming anti japanese WW2 propaganda while basing you on the head with a foldable metal chair *

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#10

You aren’t the only one.

Slowpokes represent! :fist:

The longer you use it, the more you realize this is THE way to learn to read Japanese: an incredibly well-designed SRS to memorize radicals in order to memorize kanji in order to be able to read vocabulary. The community is icing on the cake.

My people!

Thanks for this…

5 Likes
#11

Thank you! I checked out the guide you linked and it was pretty useful! I already feel welcome in the community and it makes my heart go :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

#12

I actually already know I will never do that because I’m too busy, and knowing myself I know that even if I tried, I will burn out and eventually quit, so that’s why I’m already trying to pace myself. I only do chunks of 15-ish lessons when there are more available.

#13

Oh, I didn’t realize it gets worse over time haha

2 Likes
#14

Such a warm cozy post.
I also like wanikani’s pacing
Hi!

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#15

What slow pace? I want that back =)

3 Likes
#16

Welcome! And yeah, the first levels can really lull you into a false sense of security. I made the mistake of trying to do everything all at once the minute they became available early on and ended up burning out / not really retaining as much as I wanted to and having to reset from 14 to 8. Not a big reset, but not something I want to make a habit of. I also settled on a 20-25 lessons per day max, depending on what my apprentice & guru level counts are. Anyway, no matter where you end up with pacing, it sounds like you are thinking critically about your approach form the get go which is great. Enjoy the journey!

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#17

as soon as you pay and get to lvl 4 you will have 89 lessons right away as I remember correctly

then the jigoku of pile of reviews begin!

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#18

Oh I didn’t know that! But I already know I will never do 89 lessons at once, I’ll probably split them over a few days so I think than rather having a ton of reviews, I’ll have a ton of lessons waiting for me haha

#19

Welcome!

I don’t know how things will be as I get to higher levels (level 7 right now, but I’ll be hitting level 8 today or tomorrow), but I’ve just made it a habit to take things at my own pace. A lot of people seem to want to power through and get to level 60 as fast as possible, but that’s not my goal.

I found a relatively slow pace that works well for me. Every day I do one set of lessons. When I get radicals I do those all at once since it’s just a meaning. For kanji I started out doing 10 per day, but as the kanji forms got more complicated I reduced it to 5 per day. When I get onto vocabulary I do 10-20 per day depending on how I feel about the vocabulary in the lessons.

At times, especially when I level up, my backlog of lessons can get huge, but I’ve found the pace I’ve chosen works for me and I just don’t stress about the backlog, it always ends up really low or gone before the next level up anyways.

Good luck on your journey to learning kanji (and I 100% agree this is the funnest way of learning vocabulary I’ve ever done) and just remember to take things at whatever pace feels best to you :blush:

1 Like
#20

Hah, people talking about slow here and I see 20-25 lessons a day. :joy:

I’m actually really slow and do like 5 lessons a day. Sometimes, if the vocabulary is super easy or it’s just radicals, I do more. Sometimes, I don’t do any. I usually hover around 50 apprentice items.

I started in February and am now level 9 (almost 10). I do reviews around 2-4 times a day. However, I often find it hard to remember all of the meanings and readings. It’s especially hard if there’s a lot going on with work, travel and so on.

2 Likes