How should I use Wanikani?

[kevin_asserts]

What should it be the proper approach before doing your reviews?
What I do is just go over the lessons once, and then just do the review without any previous study.
Is this the way to go?
Would studying before doing reviews would be considered cheating?
One example would be when I know that I forgot a specific kanji, checking it before the review could affect my learning?
Thanks!

[Kumirei]

It’s not really cheating but SRS is designed to be efficient with your time, so it’s not necessary to study beforehand

[Omun]

@kevin_asserts

Is this the way to go?

In my opinion it is. ^^

@kevin_asserts

One example would be when I know that I forgot a specific kanji, checking it before the review could affect my learning?

SRS spacing tries to sift out which items you know well, and which items need more practice. If you check before a review, the whole review process becomes less effective. You’re supposed to fail the words you don’t know, so that they can get enough go’s around to stick.

If you check kanji before reviews, you don’t know if you would have remembered them the x hours that the system is trying to get you to remember them.

Red screens may feel bad, but they’re not. You’re not sitting a school test. Low percentages don’t indicate that you’re failing. They just indicate some stuff needs more time. ^^

The SRS system is supposed to help you get items from short-term memory into long-term memory by reviewing at increasing intervals. Checking items in-between may make you feel better from the test-taker mentality of “high accuracy percentage is good,” but it rather defeats the point of the whole system.