Early levels are painfully slow

thanks for the replies,
image
ok so my kanji reading isn’t so good. I’m just a little frustrated because I’m making typos going too fast or sometimes the words aren’t matching exactly (typing “a couple of days ago” instead of “a few days ago”) and there’s no undo. I find some of the radicals don’t click with me either. “leader” for example, I would just say “person” :person_shrugging: “loiter” → “go” etc I found you can change that though but still causing me to slow down :frowning:

Yeah this is a little rant thread that doesn’t contribute anything so feel free to ignore lol

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I said that a year ago but now わにかにさん。。。やだ。。。やめてくださいよ!!

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You can add synonyms to items which will also be accepted as answers to work around radicals/kanjis for which you don’t agree with the ones provided by wanikani. Be advised though that the mnemonics are built with the Wanikani meanings in mind.

For small typos/meanings that are nearly identical there is a userscript you can search for in the forum wihch provides you with an undo function. Be VERY careful though to not abuse this functionality because you can easily fool yourself into thinking you know an item even if you don’t. It can defintely help though in the rare cases where it is obviously just wrong by accident. ([Userscript]: Double-Check (Version 2.x) for example there are others too)

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There is an undo script for typos, but vocab don’t = levels… Kanji are the ones that make you level up, and radicals are part of it too for a moment but its the kanji

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Stick with it, it gets…interesting.

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If you’re feeling iffy about WaniKani, then “read this few-thousand-word guide!” probably isn’t what you want to hear, but at least flicking through this might give you some insight that will be useful:

For what it’s worth, I third the recommendation to use the double-check script. It’s an absolute lifesaver for typos. Also, I consider myself a fast WKer (but definitely not a speedrunner) and I level up around every 10-11 days. That’s just how long it takes.

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Don’t be too hung up on the number of your level.

Feel comfortable about you’re slowly learning more Japanese and it is slowly creeping into the darkest parts of your brain. The numbers can be satisfying, but they can also be counterproductive to learning.

And congrats! We are the same level but you have a higher correct percentage than me :slight_smile:

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WK is generally “slow”, i.e. compared to another resource like RTK, it takes you very long to progress through Kanji. This is because you’re also learning readings and associated vocab.

That said, the review load will pick up considerably after a couple of levels (and especially after a couple of months, when you start getting higher level reviews), so in terms of workload, it’s good not to have too much on your plate initially.

If you keep getting delayed by silly mistakes such as typos (even when you clearly remembered the item), I recommend the double check script that others have mentioned in this thread. I believe that if you’re a responsible adult, you’ll be able to use it without “cheating” (because you only cheat yourself, so what’s the point).

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dont worry, soon you will be like this

:sweat_smile:

and 120 apprentice items! I failed so much last night! I always keep below 90

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You think that’s bad. I’ve just leveled up after 126 days and I just bought the lifetime.
Good luck to you. Don’t hurry too much. Or one day you may find yourself overwhelmed :slight_smile: Though you might not, of course.

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Wait until you get into level 40+. Things get… interesting

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Many years ago, every manager at Mitsubishi Semiconductor America was forced to take an absolutely ridiculous 3-day class titled (believe it or not): “Adventures in attitude.”

I remember precisely two things from the first day of class:

  • The instructor’s truly awesome toupee. Not Willard Scott, “wow that looks real” awesome, wounded animal awesome.

  • His offhand comment that, “There are very few things that are completely under your control with any undertaking, but attitude is one of them.”

That last isn’t just a platitude. Attitude is important for any difficult, worthwhile, time-consuming task, and learning another language certainly qualifies.

At the risk of sounding preachy, thoughts like “painfully slow,” “not good”, “frustrated”, and “going too fast” are an easy trap to fall into, but they aren’t at all helpful (or even consistent!). It really does help to focus on the positive:

In just 30 days you’ve “learned” (but have yet to master) 212 items of Japanese vocabulary. You can read, pronounce, and understand several Japanese words that you probably didn’t know before. Thats over 40 new words per day (no mean feat).

You’ve also been at it long enough for it to become a habit. Every day you continue, you demonstrate a level of persistence and determination that few possess. You’ve also identified two things you need to work on (slowing down to avoid typos and creating/solidifying mnemonics for the radicals). That’s fantastic. Keep it up!

I can assure you that in the real world, Wanikani levels are nearly meaningless. How long it takes you to progress a level is even more meaningless. But every new word you are able to read and understand in another language is priceless.

As others have indicated, you’ll almost certainly find it much more fast-paced and difficult in just a few months. Patience and persistence are virtues.

One of the simplest attitude enhancers is simple streak tracking: every day you do at least one review, mark a big red X through that day on a prominently displayed calenar, and play don’t break the chain (or install something like the wonderful heatmap userscript and have it track your streaks for you). The first review every day is always the hardest: celebrate whenever you do it!

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Sure, but you need it to get used to how it works. Once you are 20+ and do it at full speed you’ll most likely cry and quit. Not to mention the fast levels at 42+.

You’ve got this ping-pong paddle, and a bucket of ping-pong balls. Each ball, you have to bounce on the paddle nine times, then it goes away. You can have as many balls in the air at once as you want, you can toss some onto the paddle any time you want, but you can’t let any fall on the floor. Do you want to throw whole handfulls of balls on all at once, or slowly add them a little at a time?

You’re doing fine, just try to keep a steady pace. It all comes back, multiplied, later.

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not used to forums being this active. In the meantime, I reached level 5 and got a tonne of new stuff so I’m happy! I’ll take the advice from people here. Definitely going to check out that retry script

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That’s really good. I’m gonna steal this.

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Not sure if you did it on purpose but the fact you used no kanji was funny to me :joy:

Well, to be fair, you don’t learn 鰐蟹 until level 52. :stuck_out_tongue:

I just got to level 43 and it seems painfully slow. Where are these fast levels everyone keeps talking about. There are only 3 radicals in this level but for some reason the level withholds 3 lousy kanji. So for the sake of 3 kanji it will take seven days instead of 3? What’s the point of withholding the 3 kanji. They aren’t based on any radicals to learn like previous levels…are the fast levels no more?

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actually never mind. is this a fast level? I guess I can still guru all the kanji as i guru the radicals…but seriously why hold back three? Just give all of them…