Ah. 
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I think it is little unfair to sort of lump everyone that levels up quickly into this “they” category. Everyone learns and retains things at different speeds. Some people also spend more time on Wanikani than others. Also, there are people going around multiple times. ie, they have reached level 60 (or 8) and decided to start over. That would also lend itself to going faster if you are more familiar with the material. Some people have more Japanese knowledge when they start so they could have a head start and knowing some of the material and less incorrect answers which could be another reason people get get “slowed” down effectively. There are too many reasons to count since everyone is not on the same level with where they are in learning.
As far as the system is laid out, there are many ways people “can” level up at that speed. You are right though, some people do use scripts to move ahead faster and skip vocabulary, but that is only one possible way that they could be doing it. It seems to be viewed as them hurting themselves in the long run, but it isn’t really for everyone else to judge how people prefer to learn. It is irrelevant actually. If you don’t like to learn that way then don’t, no need to criticize others by telling them how they learn is not smart.
I do not have any scripts installed at all. So, I do everything the way Wanikani has laid it out. However, at the moment my average level up speed is 7 days, 7 hours, 39 minutes. I follow a schedule or trying to have 0 lessons and 0 reviews each level. So at the moment I level up, I try to learn first and foremost the remainder of the vocab that gets dumped in, then the radicals. I usually wait until the second day to learn the first batch of kanji. Then if there is other vocab I divide that number by how long I have until the radicals get guru’d and I get a new batch of kanji and learn them in between that time at 5 per lesson. I am an early riser so I tend to be up at 5-6am doing reviews for the day, I also have time to do more at the lunch area and then in the evening. For me it has been working out really well so far.
Anyway, just a third viewpoint to go along with @Kazzeon and @Naphthalene
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It’s true, no one who averaged 8 days learned any vocab.
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The best part is that at a pace of 20 lessons/day, doing radicals first over previous level vocab can reduce your time on a level by +/- 3 days without increasing daily amount of lessons/intensity. You can learn 20 vocab on day 1 or day 2/3. You’re just reversing the order, but saving days on a level because radicals are done first. If 20 lessons/day is too much for someone, that’s a different story.
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I think my average is 7d and 13h or so, and I never skip vocab. The only “rule” I have is to not do more lessons if I have 150 apprentice or more. Even if the lessons are radicals and kanji’s
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Thanks! xD
No, wait! It’s not from Doraemon, it’s from Osomatsu-san!
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Not even remotely true. I always do the vocab lessons, have never used the reorder script and my average level up right now is around 7.5 days (excluding levels one and two so as to not skew the number lower). That number used to be closer to 7.25 days but I took 13 and 14 about a day slower than I had for previous levels so as to try to wipe out leeches before doing more lessons.
I’m neither racing nor do I think my accuracy is anything that special.
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Some of you have crazy stats and speed…
Here is another data point>
I do want to note that I have at least 1st grader Chinese (Traditional) education as well and used to watch quite a bit of anime making it significantly easier to remember kanji based on radicals even if I’ve never learned the Chinese counterpart. Advantages like that really do make this entire process easier.
Also: 16 Levels worth of flashcards to really commit to the grind.
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These 99% accuracy examples seem very suspicious to me, especially since some of them said about doing almost 100 lessons at a time and letting the SRS do it’s thing. Maybe I just have bad memory but that looks like people are using ignore script a lot. I’m not blaming anyone but I just hope it’s not misleading to others. Can someone explain how to keep that high accuracy? I mean it is possible with self-study quiz at least.
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I would usually suspect previous kanji knowledge, especially since most of the examples were from people in the first 15-20 levels. But of course I can’t speak for the individuals.
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I don’t think those are from the same people, though?
The 99% just above your post mentioned prior knowledge plus a crazy set of self-study flash cards.
I had 99%+ accuracy as well, thanks to prior knowledge. Now that only leeches are left, the numbers are going down fast, though.
But in any case, going at full speed will take a lot of work. You’ll need large amount of self-study and/or exposure to keep your accuracy high
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No, no, no, anyone going faster or getting a higher percentage is actually a lazy cheater. We already sorted that.
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That is true, prior knowledge helps a lot. For me I don’t use that much self-study since I try to do other stuff outside of wanikani; especially lately. I just accept that my accuracy isn’t that high but I will learn it eventually and see it in context in reading, too.
I think what confused me was @Kazzeon explaining about learning 80 items and then only getting 50 right the first time, but then boasting a 99% accuracy seemed a bit weird.
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Well, I know they have been around for a while and registered back recently. So that would fit prior knowledge.
Plus, they could just be talking from the theoretical point of view rather than experience. They may also have reset back a few levels…
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My average level up is currently 6 days, 23h. It used to be 7 days exactly for a long time, but because I reached the fast levels, I’m starting to level up in 3 and a half days. How is that possible? Commitment. Persistence. Stubbornness. And using self-study a lot.
You know what I’ve noticed these past 10-11 months of using WK and the forums? Most people that go at fast speeds ended up finishing it and continue their Japanese studies. Not because they just wanted to finish quickly, but because they were enthusiastic about learning Japanese. Myself included.
Now, many people (not all, obviously) who are going slow end up giving up. Why? Maybe because they’re not taking Japanese seriously enough. Maybe because dragging something out just feels like a chore in the long run. I don’t know exactly why people give up, but it seems to me that if you’re going slow, your chances of doing it are much higher.
So, yes, I’m going at full speed, and enjoying the hell out of it. Am I retaining everything? Hell no. But you bet I’m learning. My exposure to Japanese is huge. I am using a lot of different study resources outside WK and reading a lot, and watching a lot of J-Dramas. Repetition is key to success, and by exposing yourself to different resources and media, you’ll most definitely learn quickly.
To me, doing it slow is counterproductive, but I understand everyone has their own rhythm of doing things. Just don’t doubt for a second that those who go fast are just lying to themselves and learning nothing. I’m currently reading Yotsuba Vol.11, and just using the dictionary occasionally for a few individual words. Feels freaking awesome! Did I learn anything? You tell me…
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The getting 50 right thing was a hypothetical example, I usually get around 5 things wrong at most with each review.
I was just explaining how the system would work in that case.
I don’t use any scripts, but I guess I have prior knowledge from a few years ago, although it’s over at this level. (Although, from what I remember, I had around a 90 something% accuracy back then as well. I’ve been a perfectionist since way back. ) I’d say the thing that helps me the most is reading and watching a lot of content, so even if it’s a word I don’t know the meaning of, it’s something that I hear/see constantly.
Using this level as an example:
I’ve seen most of these kanji, but I don’t know them all, or only know the meaning/reading for some of them. But I’m watching 炎炎の消防隊, so I figured that one out real quick, and 妨 shares a radical and the reading. 犯罪, for example, is said in every episode of Psycho Pass, so even if I don’t know the kanji, I know the word. And so on.
There are some I don’t know at all, but having to focus on really learning only around 10 things from scratch, and a few meanings/readings instead of 33 new kanji makes it a lot easier to manage.
That was me trying to answer your question:
Exposure.
Another thing is that I watch anime a lot, but that doesn’t exactly constitute the most complete way to study, besides listening to vocab. But I watch anime by pausing every few minutes and looking for words I hear that I don’t know the meaning of, at least once. (Not every word, of course.)
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I wonder if it might be the amount of time they are willing/able to commit to it (Japanese/WaniKani) at the time already being less (indicating perhaps a higher likelihood of losing that chunk of available time in the future). That in turn might also mean having less time for the pieces outside WaniKani, as well - which can do a lot for both retention and motivation. Though I would imagine if someone specifically sets themselves a slower pace (by limiting themselves to 5 lessons a day, for example) in order to use only the time they have, and to give themselves time for the other pieces, then they would eventually find success (especially if they’ve subscribed to lifetime and so feel no rush).
I imagine too that in some cases the slower pace is a result of lower accuracy (and thus higher frustration/less success with this particular approach), or not making use of/being aware of the available community tools to set their own desired pace in one way or another (where I include advice on how to set a pace with OR without scripts in my definition).
I haven’t been around the forums nearly as long as you, though, so I haven’t seen this trend play out personally (and in fact I find the idea of such a bit surprising, given some of the interactions I’ve seen - but they’re all in the short term).
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Yeah I feel a bit same as @Gabrielmpf. I’ve realised how such a massive undertaking learning a language is and it feels like if you can’t devote enough time to it it gets exponentially slower. This is because you need constant reinforcement and exposure and if you just do it everyday for 30 min I don’t think you are ever learning the language.
Furthermore, it is super hard to get into the mindset of it with so little time. You need to read/hear constantly and eventually speak at least. I’ve been probably averaging 4 hours of “study” everyday for the last few months and seen a massive improvement. Personally accuracy is not that important compared to repetition. There’s a lot of studies over quality<quantity. I understand it’s not feasible for everyone (and soon not for me anymore), but I really think you need some kind of “phase” of immersion and period of rigorous study.
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