I forget my level number - over 10 I know - but I fell behind on reviews and now I (a) have a 750 review backlog and (2). Weeks have passed and I have forgotten much of what I learned. I’m tempted to start all over but that seems crazy. Is there a tip for refreshing my recollection (either on Wanikani or elsewhere) and somehow dealing with the backlog so that I can start in earnest in a more relaxed way? Any suggestion welcome!
One possible plan:
Invoke vacation mode to temporarily prevent more and more reviews from piling up (and to stop new lessons from coming up)..
Then use an app such as Kakehashi (iOS and beta for Android) that uses your WK API key to sync the kanji that you have learned (supposedly) with the kanji presented in the app. I am not doing reviews in the app, rather I am taking kanji quizzes in the app, which I am finding to be an excellent way to refresh my memory.
I would not suggest resetting to a lower level.
Once you’ve adequately refreshed your memory, take WK out of vacation mode, and try to do 200 reviews at a sitting, and no new lessons, until you have knocked down your reviews to zero or to a manageable number.
See here, for example:
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Thank you so much. Will try!!
I’m not an Apple user so n/a for me. You mention beta for Android but their website doesn’t mention it.
However, for clarification for Apple users, I use Smouldering Durtles and it doesn’t work if my WK is in vacation mode. Are you saying that even if you’re in VM in WK, Kakehashi will still work, i.e., test you on all your current SRS items?
Don’t reset yet . 750 sounds like a ‘WaniKani wall’ but you can do it in a week if you are willing to a bit of extra extra everyday .
Do use the vacation mode but you can also just clear the backlog on wanikani if you turn it On to do reviews and off after you are done , that way you can clear little bit of reviews everyday ( however much you can do , like ,if you do 30-40 reviews in morning , lunch and evening then you can clear the backlog in a week or so ) .
Change your settings to ‘Lower levels first.’ Blasting through the Level 1–5 stuff you still remember builds momentum…confidence ? Wanikani has review priority settings or something where you can just tell it to give you lower level reviews first (or higher level one’s if you want to clear them first but i would suggest lower first ) .
Don’t add a single new item until that backlog is at zero. adding more is just like filling the plate before you finish what’s already there . 
Use the ‘Wrap-up’ button to do tiny batches. 10 items feels like nothing, but doing that a few times a day kills the pile fast (or don’t use it if you are confident ) . you can also use the ‘Extra study’ on the dashboard ( add one from customize dashboard if you dont have one right now ) to refresh your recent levels before doing the real reviews so you don’t answer incorrectly on your reviews .
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IIRC the WK discussion link that I provided has Android beta info - the developer is a WK member and he shares info directly in that post.
Yes, I am in vacation mode - and I am actively using the Kakehashi app to take kanji quizzes including listening exercises based on the kanji that I have learned on WK up through my current level 17.
I’m not sure what restrictions may come from being in vacation mode, as I have not yet completely explored all of the options within the app, but I am finding that the quizzes are extremely helpful for reviewing kanji that I may have otherwise forgotten.
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