so i am currently level 3 and in my reviews i am doing much worse than level 2, and now the reviews also have words and kanji from level 1 and 2. problem is i dont remember all the words from level 1 and 2 so i just keep failing my reviews. is there any tips or is it just hard at the start and gets better later or am i doing something wrong?
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Iâm not sure of how you go about doing your lessons/reviews, but the thing that I find most helpful is to really focus on the kanji lessons. Usually I try and visualize the mnemonic in my head and write it out once. After that, I put in less effort during my reviews (i.e., I donât write them out, just try and use the mnemonic until it isnât necessary anymore).
As for your reviews, thatâs where the SRS has your back. A lot of people think rather negatively about doing poorly in their reviews, and thereâs merit to this, but I always see getting something wrong as a good thing. Maybe it was a typo, maybe I mis-remembered it, either way, Iâm gonna get another opportunity to review it and then learn it better the next time around.
I wouldnât worry about it too much right now. Just keep churning out those reviews. And good luck!
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I honestly think that the first levels are pretty hard at first because they flood you with some counters (numbers, months, days, things) which are pretty irregular and all over the place.
If you can at least remember the kanji then youâll do fine. Youâll get used to it !
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Review more often. The more frequently you see the words, the more likely you will be to remember them. The SRS intervals are designed to give you the words right about when you might forget them, so the closer you stick to those intervals, the better your chances are.
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Itâs perfectly okay to forget things. Especially in the beginning, I remember everything just made no sense to me, and I regularly confused even the simplest radicals and kanjis. The problem for me was that I didnt do my reviews regularly, which really hurts retention, especially if you just learned a word.
What I like to do is during a review session, I have a piece of paper at the ready to write down any vocab I just cant seem to remember. And then after the session I review all the words I have written down and really take the time trying to memorize them. Often by making up my own mnemonic in my mother tongue.
Really, try different approaches and check what works for you. Take your time to memorize your vocab and do your reviews as regularly as you can.
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Everyone learns differently but this is what I personally do whenever I come across a problem word/radical/kanji, after Iâve finished my reviews I look up what Iâve gotten wrong and I write it down in a spiral. I do this because I remember things better if Iâve physically written it down with pen and paper. Also, as the others have said itâs best to do the reviews as they come out so you can fully take advantage of the SRS system, I read somewhere that some people do their reviews after they wake up so they donât have extra time to forget things.
Good luck with your studies!
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Donât sweat it too much, just let the SRS do itâs thing. When you fail just take a few seconds to reinforce the reading and meaning and then move on. Next time it comes up, go with the first thing that comes to mind. Rinse and repeat.
Youâre not just learning Kanji, youâre learning âhow to learnâ Kanji. As the levels go up, youâll get better at fixing the mnemonics in your mind and your success rate will go up. At that point, though, youâll have to start dealing with leeches. But donât worry about that until you get there. 
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Write them down a few times. it will take you longer, but you will remember them better.
write then words containing the kanji (the vocab).
I usually run my reviews writing down every kanji or vocab coming up. just skipping the radicals.
When writing down, be very careful first on the strike order, which is primordial. Then it will be instinctive.
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