Going slow is not something to be proud of

WaniKani
#95

I’ve had to back off of 10 lessons a day because I can’t actually remember more than 4 (and a 5th with difficulty) new kanji or vocab a day. I do reviews several times a day to keep the sessions as small as possible. Even then, I get plenty of items wrong, and don’t progress at a perfect rate for my number of lessons. I consider 15-30 days for a level a success. This is a sustainable pace for me. It might be too slow, or too fast for others.

It isn’t about laziness or not devoting the time. It is about not getting overwhelmed with reviews you can’t answer correctly. I don’t see a problem with telling new users to slow down if they run into trouble.

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#96

Wiping your buttocks after an extended period of time in the lavatory

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#99

That may be a bit off-topic, but I have a question regarding what was said in the opening post.

[quote=“SpookySpooks, post:1, topic:36924, full:true”]

  • You don’t have a schedule.
  • You do lessons on a whim. Meaning that most of the time “you don’t feel like it”, since you need to be motivated first.
  • Learning kanji is not really a priority in your life. [/quote]
    I’ve started only recently and I actually do lessons/reviews on a whim. To be more precise, I’m doing them as soon as they appear. Is it bad? Should I make a schedule instead?
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#100

I’m kinda sick of the thread now, no new information has been posted by people not agreeing with me. I mean almost 100 replies are more than enough. But I leave it for users that might find my observation useful.

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#102

I would recommend, if you can, trying to do lessons at a set time or two every day along with reviews. That could be at 7/8am every morning, or when you get home from work etc. Having a routine makes it much easier to do the work without feeling “I have no motivation” because it’ll seem a little more like habit and be less novel.

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#103

No, it’s not bad. Having a schedule to follow is for the sake of making your life a bit easier and your learning better.

Read my guide to Wanikani, you might gain quite some useful knowledge there :slight_smile: (I mentioned making a schedule on chapter 4).

What OP failed to address in this case is that not everyone has their life under control in every single aspect. And that’s okay. Read my guide and see how much you’re willing to give. Your answer is your correct answer.

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#104

Yes! if you are starting out, just be sure to do your reviews by the time you wake up and sleep, and do some in between. About lessons stick to a number of lessons a day you want to take. If you want to do them all it’s fine.

1 Like
#106

I don’t think I’ve seen a thread derailed as suddenly and spectacularly as this one.

Then again, derailing slowly is not something to be proud of

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#107

Y-you’re not something to be proud of! ooo:

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#108

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#109

@Glias CAT. But slowly

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#110

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#111

First that 桜 thread yesterday and now this…

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#112

I do somewhat agree with him that it may be bad if you are doing them on a whim because you don’t really feel like doing them most of the time, because if that is the case then you will really struggle later on when there are significantly more lessons/reviews.

Assuming you just started and didn’t reset, you may just be doing them on a whim because there aren’t really a whole lot of reviews to do in the early levels though. I think (at least from personal experience) once there is a steady flow of reviews that you’ll find yourself gravitating towards doing them in a “schedule”. For example, I have never set a hard WK schedule but I’m constantly thinking about when I need to do reviews next in the back of my mind because I fear the crabigator and what he will do if I let them pile up too much, so I end up always checking immediately when I get to work, immediately when I get off work, and occasionally throughout the night as well. (PS: A mobile app like Allicrab is great for this and makes doing reviews on your phone so much more pleasant)

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#113

People like to play around, don’t mind it.

I think the point you were trying to make is with those people that think learning Japanese is easy. It is not. No, 30 mins a week of study won’t make anyone fluent. I also agree that you get results from the time and dedication you put into something. A person learning 15 words/day is doing better than one learning 5 words/day. Does that make the latter “a bad student/someone to point fingers at”? Nope, never. It does influence on the learning results of both, though.

I guess what I mean by this is that people should expect results depending how much hardwork/time they put into something. If you’re spending 2h a week studying but aiming for fluency in 2 years, you better get your goals straight. However, if you’re willing to take your time because Japanese is purely something you do for leisure, then that’s perfectly fine. Do whatever speed you wish to.

:v::heart:

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#114

Should I ignore my job? Should I ignore my wife and daughter? You’re right, learning kanji isn’t my priority, being a father is. I must be a terrible person who should just give up. :+1:

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#115

Just throwing in my experiences here.

I went as fast as I could for my first 37 levels. That was fine, WK was a routine thing that I prioritized along with some basic grammar (I was a total noob), because I was preparing myself for a trip to Japan so that I wouldn’t be completely useless there. So yeah I was in Japan and learning a little helped a little. It was nice.

Coming back home from Japan, there was no reason to really continue studying unless I wanted to go to Japan again some day. Well, I do want to go to Japan some day, but it’s also not at all a priority. I also really enjoyed studying kanji on WaniKani just as something productive I can do between projects at work. I often have a lot of down time.

So now, since I have lifetime membership, WK to me is something I’m just doing for fun. There’s no reason to go fast or experience burnout, which I have twice before when I tried to maintain a 7 day leveling. Of course I’ll keep it fun by doing my lessons on a whim and at a stress-free pace, because otherwise it wouldn’t be fun anymore. Basically, peoples’ motives factor in to this, as well, and that’s something else to consider.

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#116

That’s a MUCH nicer way to put it :clap::clap::clap:

This entire backlash could have been avoided with the “However, if you’re willing to take your time because Japanese is purely something you do for leisure, then that’s perfectly fine. Do whatever speed you wish to.”

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#117

I know I’m just repeating what others have already said, but to beat this dead horse–going slow is the biggest reason why I’m still going. I started to burn out hard on level 17. My motivation was shot and I was getting really discouraged. I made the decision to take twice as long on levels, just to breathe, and since then, I’ve gotten enough energy to balance with other studies, like reading, writing, speaking, listening–all that jazz. So while I’m taking 20-30 days per level, I’m learning (and remembering) more than I would have had I pushed through, burned out, and gave up.

Am I proud of going slow? Well, not really, but I’m not not proud of it either, because it allows me to do so much more.

I just honestly don’t see the big deal about this. If you wanna go fast, go fast. What does it matter if other people are going slow, as long as they’re learning? :confused: Like, if they’re not wanting to go slow and asking for advice, that’s one thing, but otherwise…??

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#118

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