Getting Past A Slump

Hi,

I’m currently at level 21, and have been for about 2 weeks, and I feel like I’m in a bit of a slump/plateau. I’m doing reviews 2-3 times a day, and usually am content to do more lessons when I get a consistent 80%+ on my reviews a few times in a row, but currently, I’m just hitting low mid-60% with the occasional mid-70s/low-80s every other day.

I feel like I’m just in this slump and the readings/vocab etc aren’t getting through.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

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Joeni is just about to welcome you. prepare yourself.

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I think the best thing I can suggest is simply taking a little time to digest things, not worrying too much about progress, and just enjoying the process of learning. It can be easy to get stressed about stuff not going in, but re-reading the mnemonics and thinking over the meanings and readings can help. I also find setting notes with some custom mnemonics can help if you can think of a way to remember the reading that fits best in your head :slight_smile:

Also, as @amagi warned you, since it’s your first post…

\textcolor{pink}{\huge \textsf{WELCOME! ^-^}}

Even if you’ve been a member for a while, so aren’t really new hehe
welcome gif - crabigator

Take the time to check out the FAQ and GUIDE if you haven’t already…
…but you probably have, because you seem like you’re diligent and awesome like that ^-^

There’s also a lot of good stuff on the forum to help you…
…that you’ve likewise probably already seen, but it still worth mentiioning!

The Ultimate Guide for WK
The Ultimate Additional Japanese Resources List!
The New And Improved List Of API and Third Party Apps

I hope that you continue to enjoy WaniKani that your worship of the Crabigator is eternal!

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Followed by my like :stuck_out_tongue:

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Honestly though, I know that it is easy to get caught up in “get to level 60”, everything revolves around getting there as quickly as possible.

At level 21 you already know about 80% of kanji that Japanese people see everyday.

This is a pause. It’s telling you to slow down. It doesn’t need to be a “slump”.

Go read something exciting in Japanese, go learn some more grammar. Consider having fun learning Japanese!

I still recommend completing your reviews… But maybe give yours a break from lessons for an extended period. Get a little extra sleep. Your brain might just be asking for a chance to expand to hold more knowledge.

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I’m still looking for a memory miracle method =D

Screenshot_20200923_153459

Seems like this past week, every time I turn I have 80 reviews to go through. (Although it looks like my next two review sessions will be fairly small.)

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That’s the worst part… you have to prepare yourself for the torture you cause to this poor Level 60 user (not even a regular)

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Welcome to the community ascraig101 san :grin:

It is normal to go through slumps. It is normal to feel the frustration. Take a few deep breaths and remember this is a journey of endurance and not one of speed. Take as much time as you need, and once you cross this roadblock you will be stronger :metal:

Read the example sentence(s) for those vocab items you struggle with. I find retention to be much higher when you can see how the word is being used and also imagine using the word yourself. For individual kanji however I think there’s no choice but memorisation, although mnemonics do help.

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welcome aboard
All aboard the WK train journey. Welcome welcome to WK ascraig101!

Personally, I think what you are experiencing is normal. Like what others have said, I would not call it a slump. Some items just do not stick as well as others. Maybe you can look at the stuff you keep getting wrong and try to differentiate them from each other? I have several of these that at first glance to me looks really alike. I then determine what I am confusing it with and oftentimes you can quickly see the WK radical that differentiates the two.

I also second those that have advocated consuming other forms of Japanese, not just WK. Find a Japanese comic or a children’s book, try reading through a webpage in Japanese and see what you recognize, maybe you can start a Japanese language textbook? What about watching a Japanese show or anime with Japanese subtitles on?

Just some thoughts. Part of me sincerely thinks this is just a minor setback and that your brain will reengage itself again to a higher accuracy.

All the best on your language journey!
:nerd_face::steam_locomotive:
keep chugging along and things will be alright!

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I do come to the forums everyday, I just don’t read much :stuck_out_tongue:

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Just like the half dozen welcome messages I’ll have posted, hehe.

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I second @xplo’s advice. It might be time to take a little break. This might sound rich coming from a level 8 but I’m taking a break for the rest of the month, I’m doing my reviews once or twice a day and that’s it. I’m focusing on getting in a couple of hours of one-on-one tutoring each day and doing a bit of grammar instead. If you force the issue with one method, I feel like a burn-out is quite likely and the chance of you dropping the language entirely is a lot greater. Just plod along with some other aspect, whether this is listening to podcast, reading a manga or light novel, watching some anime or a japanese series, finding someone to talk to in japanese, … It’s the beauty of language learning, there are SO many facets to a language and exploring another one when you feel like you’re in a slump doing what you usually do is A-okay!

Yeah, just try and chill out on it.

I’m having a slump right now too, there’s just too many reviews for me to do in a day and they just begin piling up, if I leave it for 2 days I come back to an epic queue of 500 or more… which is just a bit demotivating to be honest. I think I’ve been on level 38 for almost a month now as well and it’s just not sticking, lol.

I’m not going to take too much of a break, I think I’m just going to hold off on learning anything at the next level for a while until I stop having so many reviews on a daily basis. 200+ a day is too much for me to keep up with, lol.

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