I think a lot of people are like that and a lot aren’t. I learn rather abstractly, and often i see a new word in some media for the first time that i learned from WK a while ago and i immediately recognize it. So for me, SRS (reviews) really is perfect.
But it certainly helps to encounter words in memorable scenes in context. E.g. i was watching Dr. Stone recently and i think i’ll never forget そそる now (to excite, to stimulate), as the protagonist’s catch phrase is そそるぜ！ (“that’s exciting!”).
Radicals and Kanji are easy to learn in the abstract way, but vocabulary is hard.
Especially Kunyomi vocab is so hard to remember.
Something like 予め is fun. My brain goes through all possible permutations of the Kana included 
heh yeah, somehow WK’s silly mnemonic “A RAW (casual?) encounter with Nicolas CAGE” stuck with me, haha. Sometimes the silly ones are the most memorable.
For me 認める is one that stuck. Recognizing the meat, easy. Others fall that a leach? Tse 
I was in this position like six months ago in the early thirties and I also reset two-three levels. It was definitely the right decision because I just didn’t know or remember most of the kanji from those two levels. Don’t worry OP, you’ll get back to where you were in no time. Keep pushing through!
Thanks all!
Even though I’m struggling, it’s still highly motivating that I am still remembering anything at all, even if it’s just one or two things. I’ve been talking myself through a lot of the vocab if I don’t recognize it as a whole and trying to remember the individual parts. Some I know the meaning, but not the reading, or vice versa. It’s great how many readings I can remember just due to semantic/phonetic composition so I’m really glad I installed that addon and used it early on.
I’ve reset twice now. Only like 8 levels each time, but it’s been helping me just keep at it. Slow and steady. I’m finishing the race not winning.
No shame, if you want to back up four level in my opinion. Learning is more important than level.
I remember that one by visualizing Lady Gaga’s famous meat dress that everyone recognizes. 
I totally agree, at least, not resetting is what has worked for me. I’ve let my review pile get up to 600+ multiple times, and every time I’ve been able to power through in less than a week once I finally overcame the intimidation of the large number and decided to just do it.
I actually just did that again last weekend, I had 670 reviews, and got them down to zero in a 2 and a half days days (without scripts), averaging around 15% accuracy. (I posted a bunch of screenshots in the POLL thread of those percentages too! 
) But over the week since then, I’ve been getting about 75% right, and today I got 88% right.
That’s the magic of SRS! I like to say, SRS reviews are study practice, not an exam. It might even be better if it didn’t display accuracy during/after reviews… I wonder if there’s a script for that
Only 10% accuracy at first lol
Haha wow, now that IS recognizable meat 
I miss old Lady Gaga btw. Music and style.
Got my Apprentice levels from 201 down to 156 today Progress!
That’s amazing!!! So so mega! ^ - ^ ~♪
This is inspiring me to chip away at my pile but I don’t want to get overwhelmed by apprentice items. I’ve never used a script to “skip” cards before but I kind of wish I could so I could focus on the cards I DO know…
I’ve been fighting a similar battle. I went too fast and ended up with 300-400 reviews a day! So I stopped, and been bouncing back and forth between 150-200 apprentice, even though I didn’t add anything new 
I decided to just stay on the level, and stop to read the cards again on failures rather than reset.
It took me a month, where I saw little progress (cause as I pushed some items out, others bounced down!)
Until suddenly it started going down! FAST!Went from 150-100, then suddenly 75, a day or two later 35 O_o
I didn’t have a month away though, so may or may not be useful to go down a level or two (at most) as those items didn’t get their needed interval. But just reading the cards on forgotten items should do the same trick. At your number I think I would stay, just not add anything new.
ah you know guys, this thread is sooo encouraging! probably in a very odd way, sorry, me weirdo. I mean, don’t we all dread the landslide review pile sneaking up on us? it’s very sweet to see all you strange people being nice and helpful for a change
some of the comments above really do help me in my own bursts of low accuracy. thanks loads! in the end, it’s so true what Maulrus said:
I’ll tattoo that on my phone’s lock screen
also, thx to @vikitty for not posting the usual ‘I’ve done something really stupid, now I get squashed by The Pile’ 
I’m sure you’ll get this sorted out, whichever method you choose! 
and just remember, all the kanji and vocab of reviews attack you entirely out of the blue. real life will always make it easier by adding context 
edit: sorry, corrected ugly formatting.
12 burns today! It’s reminding me to keep going because I don’t have to worry about them coming up again. Apprentice count is holding steady at 150 again today after this morning’s pile of 90ish reviews.
Just wanted to update everyone – I finally cleared out all my reviews! My apprentice count is higher than I would ever like, but I’ve gotten everything else moved out of the way (prioritized burns, enlightened, and master to get them out of the way until they come up for review again) so for the next few weeks I can focus on my apprentice counts.
Thanks everyone for the advice – I’m not going to fall into this trap again. I’d rather slow down my WK than stop altogether and get stuck coming back from vacation.
