Best way to handle multiple SRS

Japanese Language Questions
#1

Hello everyone :slight_smile:

I was wondering if it’s worth to handle multiple SRS systems or if it’s better to just pause one and then switch to another.
I checked out some SRS options (Torii, Anki, Kanji Koohi, Floflo, Kitsun) but I found it quite hard to learn so many things in one day. So in the end I just stuck with WK for now.

So I’d be interested in how you handle things with lessons and multiple SRS. Do you do 10 lessons on WK then add 10 new words in another SRS and somehow retain all of the information you learned? Or do you apply some other technique?

My current idea:
I’d actually like to start reading books as soon as possible. So I was thinking I might just stop adding new WK lessons at some level (10 seems to be recommended for reading? Or maybe 16 when I have all JLPT5?) and then switch over to Kanjii Koohi since they have the Kanji for specific books.
Right now it feels like I’m learning many kanji but I never see them anywhere and I don’t know if I will ever see them outside of WK. So I’m really doubting that I will retain the kanji for a long time. (Which is a really sad thing.)

I like WK so I still want to continue reviews but maybe pausing lessons for some time and concentrating on another SRS once in a while is the way to go?
I think the optimal thing would be to finish WK first and then switch to another SRS, but I guess that would be a very long term plan. :smiley:

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#2

I use multiple SRS, I am just very strict about managing the review count. So:

  • Wanikani - No lessons unless apprentice count is below 100
  • Bunpro - No lessons unless fewer than 10 reviews forecast for the next 24 hours
  • Kitsune - No lessons unless fewer than 15 reviews forecast for the next 24 hours
  • Kamesame - Only review Wanikani “burned” items

So I think it’s fine, but you need to manage the workload so that it stays within whatever you’re comfortable with. The only one that gets out of hand from time to time for me is Kamesame, and that mostly the fast pace I set at the beginning in WaniKani coming back to haunt me, it’s starting to settle down now.

This is enough for me to handle in the 1-2 hrs per day I have for studying Japanese, with usually some time to spare for reading, Genki and listening practice too. You’ll just have to find the level that works for you.

I’d also say that I’ve found it very useful attacking it from different angles. When I come across Kanji in Wanikani that I’ve already encountered as vocab in Genki/Kitsun, I find them much easier to remember (even if I previously only knew the hiragana spelling). Kamesame has also been particularly useful in making sure I retain Kanji knowledge.

I’d caution against using multiple SRS for vocab though, that’s just going to split your focus, choose one that you like and stick with it. For me, that’s Kitsune, I’m working through the Genki deck slowly and I’ll add words from the 10k Core vocab deck if I encounter them while reading and want to learn them (I just hibernated the whole deck and activate them as I choose to, I find it more convenient that making my own cards).

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#3

If reading is your main goal, I would just keep going with WK at a steady lace you can handle, and work on grammar mainly. And reading of course.

I personally tried to add some other srs’s to my wanikani routine (KameSame/KaniWani/Torii), for vocab, but I wasn’t successful in making any of those into a routine. But for a couple months now I have been successful in adding a specific Anki deck to my routine. One for practicing to write kanji from their readings, and that is going well! Probably because it’s another aspect I’ve long wanted to be working on. I like writing Japanese and get frustrated when I can’t write the kanji to the words I know. I also keep workload there low. I started with the default of 20 new cards per day, but dialled it down to only 10 new cards a day. That way I usually have to study less than 50 individual cards in total. I only do Anki in the evening.

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#4

Thank you for your detailed reply! :slight_smile:

I’m always keeping WK apprentice below 100, but it still feels like a big workload for me. Maybe it’s just because I started like a month ago and I’m still not really used to it. I guess I’ll keep observing and try to adjust my workload as I go.

For Bunpro: Do you keep the ghosts on? I feel like when I have ghosts I get tons of reviews which are a bit hard to handle.

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#5

I do keep the ghosts on, but I have them set to “minimal”.

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#6

I started using Houhou SRS a while back; there are a ton of words (and sometimes kanji) that WK doesn’t teach, so I use it just for those. It uses the same SRS timings as WK.

I use Bunpro as well, but I only add new grammar when my lessons are low that day.

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#7

For me, I tried to keep my WK as clean as possible, neglecting it seem to be the most punishing and my kanji gaps were more pressing. In the mid levels maybe ~150 apprentice limit and then later levels after L45 I kept it ~100 apprentice. So I did WK > BP > Kitsun

Now I am able to reverse it with Kitsun > BP > WK since I have only 60-100 WK reviews a day. I do use minimum ghost for BP but never clean my review pile, my ghost count is pretty high right now but it eventually clears. Some days I will focus on one more than another just to keep me engaged more. Within Kitsun, I float around several decks as well; some as a primary focus and others I may not review daily. I think I’d like to find ways to cutback on some SRS and focus on different areas I want to address this year but it’s hard to do since I’m still getting alot of benefits from SRS and keeps me on a schedule.

You may want to check out some of the study logs, some users have very detailed study plans and it may inspire how to organize your own schedule. @Rowena has a nice detailed study layout I enjoy reading:

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#8

The study logs are a good hint. I think it’s always great to learn from the stuff others did. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

And ~150 seems a bit much for me. Actually I think if my number of apprentices would be 150, I would be fine, but honestly I struggle to get it that high. I usually end up learning only 5-10 new items per day and my apprentice number never exceeds 90 I guess. (usually its more around 50)

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