another reason for me is this:
have you ever been afraid that some words/kanji somehow fell through the gutter? this gives me peace of mind. all the stuff will pop up, guaranteed.
very useful during those unstable times, when you’re already too deep in to stop, but the road ahead is long and the obstacles unknown.
My lack of vocab definitely holds me back. Whenever I’m reading I have to use a dictionary extensively to be able to follow the story. It’s really stop and go, which is frustrating.
The listening comprehension part of iKnow was really nice, but also inconvenient for reviewing when not at home. And right now, reading is more important than listening, so it’s not worth focusing on.
use japanese.io and import whatever you want to read. could be a complete novel. the site makes every word clickable for dictionary popups. check it out 
I’ve only been using iKnow.jp for several days but here’s a comparison with WK:
WK:
iKnow:
100% agree.
However, the audio is great. The voice actors did a stellar job, and having fully voiced context sentences is a huge plus compared to WaniKani. But iKnow isn’t a kanji resource, like WK is.
The main problem I have with iKnow is it now showing you when your next reviews become available. You can see that info for individual items after each session, but it’s not on the main page like it is on WaniKani. It’s a bit of a problem cause it’s hard to plan your review sessions efficiently.
Also, on iKnow.jp you can change the site language to Japanese. I find this quite useful to get used to Japanese websites.
I created this iKnow-WK list over a year ago, so I’ll update about my progress and what I’ve learned.
I originally created this list because I was frustrated learning vocab that I hadn’t learned the kanji for yet, to the point that I wasn’t studying anymore.
Life and a new job ended up killing my WK reviews. Around the same time I started doing iKnow, I quit doing WK (hence my level, I’ve just picked it up again recently and getting back into the flow).
I decided to just focus on vocab for the kanji I knew, and after I caught up to my WK level, I would return and start kanji again. I spent months grinding away at iKnow-WK levels 1-16, and I tried to continue past my WK level to 17 and 18. I tried learning the kanji without WK to see if I really needed it. Although I’m confident I can learn kanji without WK, I really lack the focus and energy after work and hobbies to learn kanji by myself, so that’s why I’m back at WK (very good decision).
On iKnow, my total vocab count for levels 1-16 is 1,765. Obviously I know more words outside of iKnow that aren’t reflected in that total.
But as I’ve hinted, I quit doing iKnow, I took about a 3-4 month break from studying any kanji or vocab at all, and now I’m back at WK.
Why? I started taking very informal 1-on-1 lessons once a week, along with a textbook to discuss in the lesson. I’d studied a lot of basic grammar already, but damn is it hard to actually use any of it on the fly in a conversation. So I started focusing on grammar almost exclusively.
I really don’t read much outside of the textbook. I think the most important step for me now is to use Satori Reader more.
Things I’ve learned from this experience:
I don’t need to know as many words as I thought to have meaningful conversations. Also, I use the same simple words in simple sentences… as complex sentences. What I mean is, I can level up my grammar independently of my vocab. Better grammar is more important than better vocab, IMHO.
So where am I getting my vocab from now?
First, from my 1-on-1 lessons. I can’t stress how important it is to speak with a teacher.
I speak to a lot of Japanese people with the same interests as me, and I’ve discovered in those conversations that I learn words that are really important to me (conversations about the arts). So when I’m fumbling for a word, and someone saves me, I really learn that word because I’m using it all the time with my friends, and now I can (somewhat) smoothly talk about things I care about. My point is: focus on vocab in your “interest sphere”.
My next steps: more reading, and casually doing WK.
Do I recommend iKnow? Yes, but it depends where you’re at in learning. For me, it was great to focus on just iKnow while the rest of my life was happening (and I was getting tired of WK), and the audio sentences slowly leveled up my listening and grammar. My advice is to shift your focus every month or two, otherwise any pattern of studying can burn you out and become inefficient.
Also, forgot to add: iKnow is absolutely great for teaching you the meaning of the word in a sentence. All words have at least one sentence, many common words have 2 sentences.
WK is not good for learning meaning unless you put in extra effort. (which I don’t… but I’m not here to learn meaning, just kanji)
I would say that I’m glad I started WK before iKnow.jp. I didn’t use the iKnow.jp placement test and just jumped into Japanese Core 3000. There are many words that I haven’t encountered on (or have forgotten from) WK, but they are not that many.
Yup, and I also do some shadowing exercises with the iKnow.jp sentence audio. Very useful!
I want to thank you for your iKnow lessons. They are great and in combination with WK extremely valuable to me. Using them every day! Good luck with your studies.
Iknow. But I clicked the wrong reply button. So, @nasatitan: official thank you for you valuable work!
@nasatitan just letting you know that I am still using your WK by level lessons on iKnow every single day. They‘re great. So thanks again!
I am now working on level 27. fantastic resource and the best way to solidify the vocab from WK. I am at level 31 on WK.
This is amazing. I use the iKnow app rather than Anki, since I just find it more enjoyable. The custom study sets are life altering. THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for bumping this. Great resource.
My pleasure. You‘re a Frank Zappa fan? Roxy&Elsewhere - a timeless classic.
Thank you for providing this list, still using this list every day.
I am currently using four levels above my WK level as I have cleared my current level—faster vocab acquisition from iKnow than WK.
OMG. This is exactly what I need!!! I purchased an iKnow.jp subscription right before finding WK. I was struggling to work out how to use iKnow.jp to compliment my WK studies. Your lists which split the iKnow.jp sessions by WK level are the answer. Awesome.