After reaching level 60 I had the goal of getting to 100% burn but quickly realized that this was going to be nearly impossible. Even though I completed all of the lessons, 100%, over time, new items get added to the lesson queue as new items are added to Wanikani. This means that I will never be able to get to 100% burned and the more items I burn the less lessons I get, the more kanji I forget.
Since my goal with Wanikani is to learn and not forget the Kanji I have learned, I decided to reset to level 1 and start over again. This time I want to see how fast I can get back to level 60 again.
Since I reached level 60 and got through all of the lessons, two sets of new stuff have added. Apparently this happens quite frequently. Once something new gets added it take, I think 6 months to get it burned. While you are working through the new stuff, more new stuff gets added and the 6 month timer starts over again. Hence you never get to the end.
Iāve been here since 2014, and I wouldnāt really call their additions particularly frequent, although Iāll agree itās happened more in the past few years than I recall happening before, but that doesnāt bother me in my quest to burn 'em all.
Wow, much respect to your dedication! I canāt imagine how difficult it must have been to make that decision haha. Best wishes for getting back to level 60, the struggle to do it the first time is hard enough
Pretty much that. I have been in the all burned state twice already, just for them to add new stuff again. Overall, they add thing less frequently than you would have to wait to burn things (this time they are adding things little by little over a few weeks, so it takes more time to start the counter)
am planning to do the same. hope i donāt lose the courage to do so. i wanna write more the second time around as well.
thereās no way one pass is enough for me. everyone says there are better ways to spend time like immersion but tbh thatās very personal. the best thing to do is inevitably the thing you actually do!
agreed and also, since i noticed i see many things now i did not see earlier, i know for a fact i missed tons of stuff on items i already burned. a second go is a good way to see how much you improve instant recall and also a chance to dig a bit deeper in some of the kanji/semantics. for me it is because iām middle of the road with lessons. i donāt rush but i donāt spend time writing or researching either. itās become clear many kanji seem to mean the same thing but have very specific uses. iād quite like to get those details ironed out next time i do WK.
I agree with Jelte. If WaniKani is just a hobby for you, go for it. Personally Iām planning to actually put my studies to use - i.e. reading things. At that point WaniKani becomes your knowledge base, but you keep yourself sharp by using it, not by repeating the process. The spaced repetition / burning mechanic is a help with learning - not a goal in itself.
WaniKani is as fun as learning will ever get, but learning will (in my opinion) never be as fun as actually applying knowledge.
Bold strategyā¦ best of luck with it. With that said:
As I believe others have alluded to, the way to not forget these things is to (a) get exposure to them āin the wildā and (b) not miss out in production in the language, to promote things from passive to active memory.
You mentioned in another comment that you already do these things and have some language immersion, but thereās an opportunity cost here. The time spent going through WK a second time is pretty significant; thereās probably a better use of those hundreds of man-hours.
If you enjoy WK and going through it all again is just for fun then by all means! But if the objective is retaining and solidifying kanji knowledgeā¦ I just feel like this may be counterproductive, again given the opportunity cost of what else could be done with every hour of time.
I have been studying Japanese for 28 years. It is easy to forget what you already learned unless you constantly use it. The issue with methods other than WK is that you do not get exposure to all of the kanji all of the time. I do not do WK all day every day. Maybe 15 to 30 minutes a day. Again just for maintenance.
I feel like youād be better off staying at level 60, snapping photos or writing down kanji that you encounter in the wild but canāt read, and resetting just those items in WK.
If youāve reset and will spend only 15-30 minutes per day on WK, itāll take years for you to get back to where youāre reviewing items from level 40+.
You seem pretty confident with your choice and determined, so good for you!. Take my musings as more targeted to others considering this path.
Iām getting a second account so I can keep working toward the glorious all burn while also repeating it
Iāve spent 4 years getting here, Iām not letting it go!
Iāll get the Christmas discount this time around (first was full price =P )
I donāt mind getting two lifetimes, WK deserves it!
Iāll go purposefully slow second time though. So I only spend a little time a day on WK reviews, more on immersion =)
