Does Wani Kani review previous levels?

Hey guys, Im halfway through level two and was just wondering if wani kani will give me reviews for level 1 kanji and vocab. And if not, how do you guys stay refreshed on the content from previous levels? Thanks!

2 Likes

Yes, it does! Depending on your speed, you’ll see them start to come around again in a few days to a week. WaniKani uses a SRS (Spaced Repetition System), so as long as you keep getting an item right in reviews, it will take longer and longer for it to come around again, up to a max of 4 months, after which point it goes away (when you get something wrong it will come back sooner). WaniKani’s SRS Stages | WaniKani Knowledge has some more details about how long those interviews are, and I’d recommend reading through some of the pages in the Getting Started part of the knowledge guide.

All that being said, the other way you stay refreshed on kanji and vocab is by consuming native material. Doing that will make sure that you remember them even after WaniKani stops giving it to you in reviews.

1 Like

Thank you this was very helpful. Idk if you are a fellow wanikani user or native speaker, but do you have native material that you suggest reading as you complete wani kani. Ideally, this material would mirror the content taught in each level of wani kani. It is a stretch but I had to ask. Thanks!

I’m just a fellow WaniKani user, but I’d recommend checking out Resources for Starting to Read Japanese Content. I’m not aware of anything that specifically pairs with WaniKani levels, but there might be some options that let you change furigana based on your WK level. I don’t know if you’re currently doing other things to learn Japanese outside of WaniKani, but the The Ultimate Additional Japanese Resources List! can get you started there.

I know I’m already linking you to a bunch of big forum posts, but My Journey of 368 days (+ The Ultimate Guide for WK 📖 ) - #2 by jprspereira can really help you get the most out of WaniKani.

4 Likes

A lot of people recommend graded readers for transitioning to native material. These are stories / books specifically made for learners of Japanese and they increase in difficulty depending on the level. You can find a great post about it here:

Personally, I’ve only had the level 1 graded readers by Ask before transitioning to actual books written for a Japanese audience. There are several book clubs you can find here on the forum - you can either join them and participate in the discussions, or just use them to find books that might suit you. That’s how I got my first “real” Japanese book, 魔女の宅急便 (Kiki’s Delivery Service). The book clubs are split into different categories, so you can find books for absolute beginners, beginners, intermediate and advanced learners.

There’s not really anything catered towards your WaniKani level, though. No matter what kind of book you’re reading (or any other kind of media you consume), you’re always going to encounter stuff you don’t know yet. A first instinct might be to think that you still need to learn more before trying native media out again, but the truth is that you’re never going to be ready this way. And of course language is not just words, but you also need grammar to understand something. And as grammar is not a part of WaniKani, it makes it harder to really recommend something based on WK level alone

2 Likes

Your a scholar and a saint. I wish well for you and your Japanese!

1 Like

Makes sense to me, thanks!

I highly doubt that there is any reading resources out there that specifically match with wanikani levels if for no other reason than the fact that the order that wanikani teaches vocabulary isn’t really the order of most common to most rare. For example, you learn the names of the planets (6) and the words for archeology (5), diplomacy (5) before way more important things in everyday Japanese like days of the week (18), clothes (9), to write (16), bad (12), hot and cold (12). These are just a few examples I found when going through the vocabulary list. Im sure there are tons more. Not to mention that there is lots of vital vocabulary that isn’t written in kanji and so wanikani won’t teach it.

So while it would be awesome if some saint out there put together some Wanikani reading material, it would have to be extremely convoluted, at least for a good long while. And you’d still need to study with other resources for kana vocabulary and grammar.

1 Like

I see, thanks!

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.