Hello. First time using Wanikani

#1

Hi. I’m brand new here and currently working through level one. I’ve just started learning some vocab and have been introduced to kun’yomi.

Besides WK I’m also using the Japanese for Everyone textbook and Assimi’s Japanese course books. My wife is Japanese, from Shizuoka, and our eight year old son also speaks fluently for his age. He’s learning the Kanji too though my wife is teaching him the graded lessons they learn in Japan.

We have Japanese TV at home via satellite (I live in the UK) and plenty of Japanese magazines and children’s books so I’ll have lots of resources.

I’m just wondering if anyone else thinks keeping a written notebook while learning the Kanji and vocab is useful? I’m worried that trying to keep up with both kun and on readings, then the readings used in the vocab which can be different again could get confusing.

Book 3 in the Assimil course is for Kanji learning and lists all the radicals and about 1000 Kanji used in the first two books but they follow the lessons not the WK order. For each radical they give a meaning and for each Kanji, a meaning, the on and kun readings as well as several words that use the Kanji. Ive attached a photo as an example. I was thinking of making my own WK version. Would that be useful or do you find you can remember the correct reading when just reviewing in WK?

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#2

If you are going to stick to WK then I would suggest then you don’t use any other course for Kanji studies. But instead spend your time learning grammar and extra vocab.

WK will take care of kanji readings pretty well, and will provide vocab which uses most of reading of a kanji. And if any reading does not have respective vocab then just learn that vocab yourself. You can use Anki or memrise for creating custom courses for these.

When teaching a Kanji, WK would mostly teach you On’yomi reading and use a pink background color, while vocab version would usually cover Kun’Yomi with purple background color. This makes very easy for you to remember which reading a kanji has, which one is On’yomi and which one is Kun’yomi.

Also I would highly recommend using a notebook for practicing your kanji writing, because that would reinforce your memory.

#3

I do write down the radicals, kanji characters and vocabulary readings with the presented kun- and on’yomi. Writing stuff down has always been great for memorizing. Retrieving/finding back is however a challenge. I write it all down in the sequence presented by WaniKani, so you’ll better remember when the information was presented. For some characters (e.g. 人) I started writing the combinations teached down together in another notebook, so I can retrieve them easier.

#5

Definitely. After I’ve studied a lesson, I use book three for my reviews.

#6

As DaiKen wrote, writing things down can help with remembering, but will be more time consuming. I am a visual learner for whom writing things down has proven in the past to be very helpful and having just reached WK lvl 5, I am contemplating sitting down and writing everything from lvl 1-4 down. I’m happy for you that you have such resources easily to hand. 頑張って下さい。

#7

Interestingly, unlike @Rowena, I’m a terrible visual learner, and writing is incredibly helpful to me. I can normally connect the readings and meaning upon the first time learning them and remember (as I’m a very strong aural learner), but remember which phonetic pair goes to which pile of scribbles brings me great difficulty. Writing (while also chanting the readings like an evil sorcerer muttering a curse) ingrains the process of the kanji, meeting my kinesthetic needs. Once I see the kanji on the screen, my hand “feels” the strokes, and my brain connects the motions with the reading. I always remember the kanji primarily by reading, so ultimately I end up remembering the meaning after recalling the meaning.

If you have the time (since you obviously have the resources), I would definitely recommend practicing writing.