So I have learned about 120 or more kanji by myself and am now stuck with typing the same basic stuff. I’m going to Japan for language school in 10 months and currently just studying all kind of subjects for the university entrance exam (EJU). I really think wanikani is effective but i was wondering how many kanji I could learn in 10 months while using wanikani daily. Maybe you have a suggestion for another effective learning method?
I know about 1000 or more words too, finished genki 1, feels like I will be wasting time on stuff I already know
How far you get absolutely depends on you. Within a year, like Leebo, I was almost to level 50. If you’re consistent about completing your reviews, you’ll double the amount of kanji you currently know by the end of the pleasant levels in about two months or so. But again, that all depends on how committed you are to using this site.
I would like to use the site primarily for the kanji, (ofc) since I’m pretty good with remembering words I’ll find another source to speed that up. Also, I’m completey free for 10 months since I just graduated high school and will just study for that time. The question arose since I saw a post about a guy that said he learned 500 kanji in one year of daily use, which seems a little low
It meant that I didn’t have to try very hard for about 4 months. I was just going through the motions, but many people get burned out in the part of the site that I breezed through.
Yeah, that is exactly why I said it depends. Some people go slow while others go through it quickly. In my case, I went quickly because I’m living in the countryside of Japan and wanted to learn as much as I could as fast as I could.
With a base knowledge of around 120 kanji, you’d probably be learning new kanji as soon as you get to level five. It could be sooner depending on the order you learned kanji. Again like Leebo mentioned, many people get hung up with parts of this site and quit before they even get to the higher levels. So consider this period a time to get acquainted with the functioning of the site, community, and resources that people in this community bring to the table.
I joined July 6th of last year and I’ve learned about 1100 kanji so far on WK. I knew about 200 before I signed up. My average level-up time is 11 days, and the fastest possible level-up time is 8 days I think. I am not intentionally trying to level up fast, but I’m definitely taking my studies seriously and spending a good amount of time on Wanikani every day.
So if studying Japanese is your main goal for the next year, and you try hard, persevere, and remain focused, I’d say you can get pretty dang far in just one year. However, I think learning Japanese really is a tortoise and hare situation. You’ll do better in the long run by keeping a sustainable pace: forming a realistic and good plan then sticking to it. Don’t burn out because that seems to be the #1 problem that people run in to around here
I started in december last year and at that time I knew an amazing 0 Kanji. Almost exactly 6 months in and im about 600 Kanji and hoping to double that by the year’s end. Granted, im a medical student, so I am definitely not going as fast as other people due to other study commitments
@Eternalsonata1, medical school curriculum can be like drinking from a fire hose. I don’t know how you can do that and keep up that pace with WaniKani. That’s brilliant.
If you’re going at a speed of 3 or 4 levels each month that equates to >100 Kanji and >400 Vocab words based on those Kanji. Based on what you know there’ll clearly be some overlapping Kanji for a couple of weeks but after that you can definitely make really good progress - totally worth slogging through the early levels!
Snaaap, you and I started at roughly the same time and same place (I likewise knew zero kanji) but you’re going double my pace. You craaaaazy. I do most of my studying at work and when I get home, I just want a break from all the Japanese (I currently live in northern Japan). I just completely lack motivation to study at home.
I understand how you feel in that I’m new to WaniKani but not to kanji. I came in with a basic knowledge. I think we just need a little patience in the beginning. My feeling is that it picks up fairly quickly.
@Jsierzput
Motivation is a useless emotion. I used to think the same way you do, though I live in Canada and not Japan, but I find that if you depend on motivation then things will not go the way you want all the time. You have to cultivate discipline and learn to work without motivation.
Motivation is something that comes to you, you don’t have to work for it. But if you are able to use discipline to your advantage and continue to strive for what you are hoping to achieve then things will start to work out for you. It may be hard at first but if you can get into the habit of doing something, even something life WK, then it will come naturally and you can continue to push through even when your mind is telling you to slow down or stop.
I so agree with you. I spent the last 5 years trying to live on the hype train of motivation. I was motivated a lot. I felt that I could start anything and everything. Did nothing.
Lately with all this learning about Japanese culture, I started to have more of a peaceful state. I just accept what I must do. 仕方が無い. This actually made me start learning Japanese seriously. The other stuff in my life is going well too
Motivation is awesome when someone wants to start something… but we shouldn’t use it to actually do the work.
Maybe I’m nitpicking, but I feel like motivation is what gets me out of bed to do WaniKani reviews at 2:00AM to stay on track for my level time, or do 25 reviews on the train when I could just watch Youtube, or start reviewing the next level’s kanji before the level begins. I don’t see why you wouldn’t call it motivation. Sure, you can say it’s a disciplined approach to WK, but if I didn’t have a driving reason to do it, I wouldn’t bother.
I think sticking to a consistent study routine is difficult for me. Working, having to listen to Japanese for 8-9 hours each day, whilst studying when I have down time, just makes me want to rest and relax when I’m at home. It’s the feeling of getting burned out. I’m committed to learning it and it won’t be the first time I’ve learned a new language from scratch. I know it’s not easy and the rewards are all worth it. But it’s hard not to feel burned out by it. Thanks for the helpful words!
I agree with you. That’s why I said that motivation is great to start doing but only discipline keeps you at it until the end (of the session/of the actual goal, etc).
Studying Japanese actually relaxes me from my medical studies! Admittedly I do get tired sometimes, but I always complete my review list because I know it has a snowballing effect and id rather do it sooner rather than later!
