iKnow placement test

[Okanekure]

Does anyone else here besides me randomly take the iKnow placement test just to check?

https://iknow.jp/diagnostics/2

[adamstan]

Thanks for the link. I remember doing it once long time ago, but then I lost the link, and if you enter iknow homepage, for some reason there’s no link to courses directory or this test (or I can’t find it).

[Leebo]

I got the first six questions they asked right and that was it, even though it looked at first like they were gonna ask more.

[Okanekure]

@adamstan

for some reason there’s no link to courses directory or this test (or I can’t find it).

Yea you have to search specifically for “iknow placement test” for it to pop up in google results.

It’s an interesting reminder quiz. I’ve definitely seen my result increase over time.

[Okanekure]

I’d imagine they’d place you at the advanced level. lol

[adamstan]

I think it goes a bit similarly to J-Cat, in trying to adapt to your level. At first attempt, it asked me 11 or 13 questions total - but I had three wrong answers mixed in there, so possibly it then tried to adjust the level. Then at the second time it was the same as your case - six correct answers in a row, and that was it.

Then in both cases it recommended me the “6000 core” (=the advanced one) course - I find it a bit too optimistic

[Okanekure]

I did their 3 month trial a long time ago and started on the recommended level but it was too hard. A friend of mine did the same. If you take their courses, I’d recommend going a level or two below their recommendation.

[twktg]

Meh… No thanks. I never did Core deck and feel like it makes no sense to start it now.

[Kuropanda_meow]

Seems interesting but not sure how long I’d use it

[IanD]

The placement test told me to start at the core 5,000 last year when 3,000 (which I settled on), was still filled with words I didn’t know, so I wouldn’t put too much stock in it.

iKnow is a great program though.

[Okanekure]

Yea many have a similar experience. It’s still just an interesting little gauge that I periodically use.

[Swyn]

I don’t get how people can do decks

I prefer doing my own flashcards from my workbooks… but that was before I discovered Wanikani of course <3

[IanD]

I started my (current) N1 study making physical flashcards from the Kanzen Master vocab book, which I really liked as it helped cement them faster and allowed me to practice writing.

However, time-wise, it wasn’t worth it. At least not with the amount of unknown vocabulary I was hitting. I wound up switching to Quizlet as a digital flashcard option on the advice of someone else here.

In the meantime, iKnow is a great, passive tool for vocab acquisition. I just try to clear it out once a day as with Wanikani, and add five new words unless I feel like I really need a day just for review. (It helps that at some point I outpaced what iKnow’s decks offer, so now that I’ve actually gotten to the core 5,000, most sets of “new” words aren’t entirely new.)

I think in general though, anyone who’s making a serious go at Japanese will want some dedicated vocab resource outside of Wanikani, whether it’s a textbook, test book, raw core word list, or an SRS service like iKnow. WK’s vocab is helpful too, but it jumps all the hell over the place in terms of usage, since it’s based around kanji complexity.

[Swyn]

Haha I use Quizlet as well I think it’s perfect. It detect the language and the design is just… nice and userfriendly.

I’m sure Anki is super powerful and decks are awesome… but I can’t get that interface and low tech features.

How is going you N1 ? How long did it take you to pass N2 ?

[Cryptomilk]

I did the placement test and Iknow recommend me the 3000 core words. It was (and still is) a bit difficult but okay. I’ve learned a lot.
In the same time, I’m slowly doing the lower intermediate 1000 core words in sentence training and only keep the words I don’t know or am still uncomfortable with to review normally afterwards. This method’s working quite well for me.

[IanD]

How is going you N1 ? How long did it take you to pass N2 ?

N1 is going … fine. Definitely on a slower pace than I was with previous levels, but I hope to have a non-zero shot in December, after taking the July test just for experience. My N2 score wasn’t low, but vocab was my weakest section, so I think I’m still making up some gaps there. I took N2 six months after N3, so I just didn’t have time to cram everything in. My grammar, kanji-reading, reading comprehension, and listening were thankfully enough to get by.

I guess that also answers your second question, but to be more detailed, it’s a difficult question to answer. I took Japanese for three years in high school and two in college, then didn’t use it for about six years. I came to Japan a little over a year and a half ago via JET, spent maybe the first year or so relearning N3-level material I’d technically already “learned” my sophomore year of college, then especially between N3 and N2, made Japanese like my sole hobby on top of living in the country. Paid dividends, and I love it, but I do kind of miss, you know, doing other things. Study routine’s only been growing though.