I’m super slow

Slow but steady. I care more about acquiring some knowledge rather than focusing on the time it is taking me to reach the next level. At least I am able to watch Japanese tv shows and understand what they are saying and reading what they show.

2 Likes

I’m pretty slow I only got to level 1 and stopped for a year… I have sped up at the moment because I am furloughed but I dread to think about this blob coming through the pipeline for review when I am back at work.
I also don’t like wanikani on the phone, I use it a lot more on the desktop. I think that is why I stopped the first time.

2 Likes

I’m also very slow. Made the mistake of using the holiday setting too much until it got to the point that I was scared to go back. And of course the longer you leave it the harder the reviews are. I’m at level 21 (after about 3 years !) and now have 832 reviews and counting. I decided rather than reset I would just carry on very slowly on the basis that eventually I will burn more and then the reviews will max out so long as I don’t do any new lessons. When I’m doing reviews I also use the “wrap up” button a lot so its kind of like re-learning them…

2 Likes

779 days and counting, and only on level 21 :wink:
Slow and steady wins the race my friend :snail: :turtle:

2 Likes

i’m still level 3 :sweat_smile:
tell me about it
i have like 60 lessons and i’m dying inside

2 Likes

Welcome to WaniKani.

2 Likes

I just made LV14 at 10 months in. And I didn’t take a major break. I can be your slow-bro.

3 Likes

Same, I’m reaching nearly a year and a half in and I’m not as high as I would like to be but I try and do reviews everyday, it’s more the lessons I procrastinate on.

5 Likes

Hey that is a cool avatar!

2 Likes

I’m level 10, 6 month in, stop bragging how fast you are!!!

2 Likes

A few years ago I’ve read a study about learning vocabulary.

3 groups all given the same list of vocabularies. I think it was done with British students taking French.

I don’t have the exact numbers handy right now but it went like this:

One group tried to memorize from English to French, one from French to English and one did both directions.

The results were that from (made up number) 30 words to memorize, the group that tried English → French scored 13, the group that tried French → English scored 23 and the group that tried both scored on average 24.

As I said, I don’t know the exact numbers anymore but I do remember that the group trying native language → target language scored significantly lower on their test than the other 2 groups and that the other 2 groups were only 1 apart with the group doing it both ways being ahead.

So, if we believe that study for a moment (and there’s no reason not to. Having been forced to grind English vocabulary in school for 10 years I would say that the results match my experience) doing both directions has very little benefit. But the time investment is of course much higher.

Personally, I feel like this is a very common thing with people that learnt a language to fluency, I don’t really see the point in SRS systems or just grinding vocab in general. I don’t speak English because of the hundreds of tests I had to take in school but because the second season of Doctor Who wasn’t available in my native language and my teacher in school spoke like a good chunk of the actors in that show. So I got my favorite dictionary site up and watched that show.

Using the language and exposing yourself to it gets you much further than that.

Japanese is special because you need to be able to read the kanji. You just have to know them. That’s why I use wanikani because it is pretty hard reading anything if you want to avoid grinding kanji.

So here’s what I’d suggest:

Give yourself a few weeks. Just do reviews. Don’t do lessons.

Stop doing kaniwani

Learn some grammar, get a fun manga. With level 36 you’ll have a good basis and don’t need to look up every single kanji.

If you find a manga (or whatever. Light novel, novel, anime, live action movie, games. Doesn’t matter) that you enjoy you’ll easily put in more time than you’d put into kaniwani and it won’t even feel like studying. Not just that but you’ll also learn words relevant to what you enjoy doing in your spare time. People always say “If you learn Japanese by watching anime or playing games you won’t learn the important words but a bunch of useless stuff” but if you need that “useless stuff” for things you enjoy is it really useless? I played a lot of RPGs when I was younger all in English. I knew a lot of words related to medieval warfare but couldn’t write a shopping list reliably. I still got fluent in English and work in English every day and wrote my thesis in uni in English.

Do you want to know why the French, Germans, Spaniards speak such a shitty English and the Mexicans, Dutch and Swedes don’t? Because the French, Germans and Spaniards dub everything to their native language and the Mexicans, Dutch and Swedes don’t and use subtitles. Half of Europe learnt English by watching CSI Miami, How I met your Mother or Scrubs with subtitles.

So yeah. Do something fun and don’t put more unnecessary burden on your with kaniwani.

This got really long but I feel like there’s this big problem language learners have where there is “studying” and then there’s “fun” and if something is not meant for studying, it’s not actually doing anything for you. That’s not true. Everything that makes you use Japanese will get you forward. So if you feel burnt out by your study tools, reevaluate if you actually need them and do something fun instead or tone it down and add some fun.

7 Likes

This is what my progress looks like. :)))

It is amazingly slow, but I’m happy with it. I keep falling out, and I cannot get myself to continue with WaniKani for some reason. After a loong while, I pick it up again, and really wanna go for it. I hope this time I can keep up!

However, I did not give up on studying japanese all this time. For the last 1,5 years, I’m studying with Genki, watching Japanese shows, I try to read children’s books, I read the news every day; and this june, I’m going for the N3 test!

I guess what I’m trying to say is; try to study, but study in a way that you feel comfortable with. There is a lot of people that do not fit the “I got to level 60 in 1 year!!!” box. Everybody is doing this in their own way. Maybe if I studied harder, I would be reading Murakami in Japanese now, but I don’t! I keep my own pace, and I know that I will get there someday, because I really like learning Japanese!

5 Likes

slow gang :wave:

3 Likes

I’m watching Terrace house and it’s really cool to see how natives talk that isn’t my usual anime binge

5 Likes

Dude, relax. I’m not even progressing and I’m at Lv10. Sometimes life has other priorities. And I’m sure it will take 5yrs for me to be through to lv60 and I may in fact never reach it.
I don’t care, neither should you. It’s about learning a language and practicing it, not reach a level. That’s what I think anyhow. I care very little about levels, but more if I can speak and read/write.
Take care and hold your head up high. Lv36 is incredible!

3 Likes

Thank you. I’m a Swede so I know how to learn English and why Swedes know it better than French and Germans. I’m not sure I’m ready to ditch kaniwani yet but maybe I’ll put it on vacation mode and try for a month or so.

2 Likes

i feel super slow at this too so i totally get where you’re coming from. i’ve been studying japanese w/ wanikani and duolingo for about a year and a half as well. i’m also a student and a musician so i get super busy and some days (before this quarantine at least) i’ve had no time to even get in ten reviews. we’re sticking with it, though, and i’m super happy for you that you got to level 36!! every level is a big accomplishment imo.

1 Like

I definitely didn’t just pass my 7th year anniversary using the site. Definitely not.

7 Likes

I’m also a member of team slow! I was burning through pretty quickly and then ran into piles and piles of reviews. That said, if you can fight them off you can progress. That’s what I’ve found anyway. Good luck!

3 Likes

This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.