First Post and Subscription Question😅

[Illiya]

Hello everyone,

I’m relatively new here on Wanikani. I started using this tool around the second half of July this year. And it has been pretty useful so far​:grin:.

But, to be honest, I feel like a bit of a black sheep here because mnemonics aren’t really something that I go out of my way to develop😅. I prefer the rote approach and generally just learn things from a boatload of repetition and practical application. Altough I guess I do still develop some of my own associations between kanji and vocabulary based on repeated pattern recognition.

So, my approach to WaniKani is pretty bizarre. I don’t read any of the mnemonics and simply use this tool as like a flashcard system, where I just look at the Kanji, vocabulary, and its definitions, and then basically routinely quiz myself when reviews come up. On one hand it seems to go against the whole point of this website😅, but on the other hand I do like the structured introductions and reviews of the kanji and vocabulary that keep me constantly learning, practicing, and reviewing😁.

Does anyone else do things a bit differently, or am I a weirdo?

I’ve been lurking around the forums here and there just to get a feel for the community and how others are experiencing it here. And everyone seems really nice, helpful, and supportive😄. I was a bit nervous about actually writing posts here myself, but seeing as how a sale is coming up around the corner and I’ve been thinking about what I would like out of this website, I was considering what to do with my subscription🤔.

I’m currently on a monthly subscription, and the pace that I’m going at should have me get to level 60 around the 1 year mark. I would like to stick around after to finish burning all the items, but this would take an additional couple of months or so for burning the level 60 items.

This is where my main question about the subscription comes up. What exactly happens when you become unsubscribed? Do you get to continue reviewing and burning everything you’ve seen up to that point? Or does everything just stop? Could I theoretically stop my subscription after hitting level 60 and finishing all the lessons, but keep burning every single item while unsubscribed?

I’m basically just trying to decide whether to remain subscribed for a year or look into the lifetime option😁.

Well… I may have rambled a bit with this post, but I truly appreciate any information that some might share with me😄.

I hope everyone is doing well and I’m proud of everyone for the progress that they are making! You’re all amazing!

Thank you,
Illiya

[RebBlue]

Iirc, when your subscription stops, you can’t review anything above level 3. Your other reviews are still piling up, you just can’t do them.

[ctmf]

The no-mnemonic strategy isn’t that crazy. The whole point of SRS is to maximize efficiency and only study the things you need to study. How do you know? When you fail a review. So I think it’s just a more extreme version to just not even read the lessons and see if you’re going to remember without the mnemonics. If so, great! And maybe if a few don’t seem to be sticking in your memory, then read (only) those.

I would say that I typically don’t need to think of the mnemonics to do reviews, but I sure the hell DO need them to go in reverse - produce the kanji from the meaning.

[Vanilla]

There are certain tricks to memory to get you a lot more milage and it’s more or less consistent across people. It’s why everyone who becomes memory athletes more or less uses the same methods.

With that being said, you’re not necessarily trying to be a memory athlete here. What you’re trying to do might take longer, but I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t work. If you don’t wanna use mnemonics, you don’t have to. There are users every now and then that claim to not use any of the mnemonics, so you’re not alone. I also stopped using mnemonics for the most part after maybe 10000 or so words. I would definitely use them if I learned another language though and rely on memory techniques for stuff like blind rubiks cube solves and destroying small helpless children in 神経衰弱

[NothingTea]

Interesting post! You must have a good memory to not need the mnemonics at all. It’s not that crazy though as after a while I find I forget the mnemonics but remember the kanji, which is the whole point really. I agree that the best thing about Wanikani is the structure, I’d be lost without that.

[mgrice]

@NothingTea

I forget the mnemonics but remember the kanji, which is the whole point really.

Yes, they are training wheels.

[Squintina]

I don’t use mnemonics for the most part either! I only look at them IF I fail something multiple times. It’s not even because they don’t work for me (they actually do), but simply because I don’t want to get in a habit of thinking of mnemonics when I’m reading real content. That’s why I only look at them for trouble words that I failed multiple times.

The first few failures I spend more time looking at the extra content instead. So the “Used in vocabulary” sections for kanji, and I might even draw them physically. For vocab I might spend more time reading the context sentences and actually read them out loud.

It’s also the same reason as for why when I see a vocab card for a compound word, I quiz myself on both the reading (first) and meaning (second) as a whole. I only do a kanji breakdown if I didn’t immediately get it, as training wheels. Then mnemonics next if I still didn’t get it yet and I happen to actually know one.

Because in a real book or live subtitles the goal is to instantly know the reading and hopefully the meaning and reading will automatically be in my brain without any extra thought or pausing.

[Illiya]

Oh ok, interesting! Thank you so much for the replies and insight!

It’s always cool to see how others approach language learning and what works for them😁. And I’m also a bit relieved that there are others who don’t necessarily stick to the mnemonics and make it work too!

I’m kind of blessed with a photographic memory which is really helping me plow through kanji and vocab quick😅. But, I’ve definitely employed some of my own mnemonics here and there too.

Like for 借りる and 貸す I picked up their readings quick, but since they both are “ka”, I initially would mix up which one is “borrow” and which one is “lend”. Until I began seeing the top right part of 借like a basket where I put things in that I borrow and the top right part of 貸 like an arm extending to lend something😄 (if that makes any sense whatsoever).

So I guess although I probably 90% of the time just rely on sheer memory, I do kind of naturally develop small imagery to help further distinguish some of the kanji and vocab apart.

[Illiya]

Oh ok! In that case I might need to look into the lifetime subscription😁

Thank you very much for the information!

[enbyboiwonder]

I’m the same. Partly because I had some knowledge going into WK so there are quite a few items I already at least partially knew, and partly because whenever I try to use WK’s mnemonics, it’s not unusual for me to remember the wrong part/it with the wrong emphasis and get it wrong. Whenever I struggle with something, I prefer to make my own associations and/or mnemonics, or just wait until I actually need to learn it (a.k.a. when I come across it reading and thus actually have context to attach to it and ain’t trying to learn it in a vacuum).

(Also, I have a terrible memory, which is exactly why I mostly don’t use mnemonics: that’s just one more thing I have to try to remember. I’d rather use context for vocab, or words they’re used in for kanji. Not to mention the mnemonics can sometimes be misleading about definition/sense…)

[polv]

The way WaniKani worked for me was

• Short intervals, and perhaps doing in morning then evening, or just after wake up, helps. Self-study script can make shorter repeat or immediate repeat, regardless of SRS (which is minimum 4 hour).
• Either I have heard the word before somewhat, or I will look up the vocab a little further. There was a script that links to WaniKani, like ALC and Goo. Not sure if there is still a working script for this. (Weblio/Kanjipedia script was made later, and probably still works.)
• I used mnemonics as a last resort, and can revise mnemonics anyway. This is also pretty much what I need to remember E=>J or E=>handwriting. I don’t have photographic memory and WaniKani mnemonics sometimes don’t help enough.

And when my immersion and experience don’t catch up. So, might not be required if grammar and immersion do.

• Later on, I prepared for a new level with WaniKani vocabularies E=>J, though I don’t carry on after the level starts.

Currently, I am study Chinese, but I don’t use mnemonics at all. However, I look up each Hanzi (i.e. Kanji), and then searching for known or interesting vocabularies having that Hanzi.

It’s not about mnemonics, or just repetition, but also a network for memories. Related context matters.

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About 1 year mark, imo, if you get to a high level, it doesn’t matter anymore if you get to level 60 or not. There would always be more vocabularies and Kanji to learn either ways. Not only some Kanji not covered, but also some readings not taught.

[GrumpyPanda]

@Illiya

Does anyone else do things a bit differently, or am I a weirdo?

I gave mnemonics a try when I first started WaniKani, but I also stopped using them after a few levels. A lot of the WaniKani mnemonics just didn’t work for me, and coming up with my own always seems like it would take up more time than rote memorization

[Illiya]

That’s really interesting! Thanks a lot for sharing everyone!

I came into this thinking that I was a bit of an oddball here, but it has been really cool to see and hear from people that share a similar approach to wanikani.

I think it’s amazing how people can adapt a tool designed to target a specific method for learning and find their own way to make it work for their own strengths/weakness, learning methods, and goals😄.

It also kind of highlights the flexibility and the design of Wanikani itself. Where you have the freedom to do certain things your own way and still find good use for the program.