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
24 Likes
Y-you’re not something to be proud of! ooo:
19 Likes
22 Likes
First that 桜 thread yesterday and now this…
13 Likes
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)
3 Likes
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.
21 Likes
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. 
21 Likes
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.
18 Likes
That’s a MUCH nicer way to put it 
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.”
11 Likes
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? 
Like, if they’re not wanting to go slow and asking for advice, that’s one thing, but otherwise…??
13 Likes
5 Likes
Slow and proud here.
I always encourage new users to slow down. Especially those who are new to SRS. They can always speed up after they get to level 6 and find out how much the reviews accumulate…
Slow down, new users.
11 Likes
I’m going to ignore of all the previous posts and get right to the point, for the sake of time.
It’s not. Are you aware that some people here live in Japan with the sole purpose of learning japanese? It’s safe to assume they’d have more time than those who have jobs and a family.
Sometimes people can obsess about stuff, so saying “it’s ok to go slow” actually means: “it’s ok not to fail at your whole life just so you can ““be successful”” at WK”.
8 Likes
Its becoming hard to tell if people make problematic threads like this because they’re trolls or just because they struggle with tone and extreme language when trying to get their points across 
(Also I love your avatar)
8 Likes
But… but…
22 Likes
I don’t think for one second anybody would be ‘proud’ of going slow. But they should be proud of ANY progress because life can be very hard for some. I’m doing ok. Given the fact I’ve got two under 5’s, a husband who works away half the year, a mother with a life limiting illness to support and a dog to walk. I’m chief cook, bottle washer, laundry doer, birthday present organiser, birthday card writer, dog poop collector, house admin project manager, bin manager, utilities manager. I’m the person who fixes the boiler, puts up shelves, makes sure everyone has everything they need every single day. If I’m ill none of the latter stops, I just do it whilst vomiting, or with a fever, or whatever. It’s not unheard of to go 3 days with about 5 hours sleep in total whilst two kids take turns to vomit on me through the night. Anyone ‘going slow’ you can bet your bottom dollar has their own personal reasons for doing so. Few will be because they can’t be bothered. The rest of them will be just like me - actually doing ok given the demands on them.
23 Likes
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” – Bruce Lee
15 Likes