I’ve been doing WaniKani for a little over a year now. I am Lvl. 11 (I know that is low and I should be higher). I study roughly an hour to an hour and a half everyday and clear out all of my reviews. I try to do 15 lessons a day, but sometimes that isn’t feasible with my daily life, regardless I always do my reviews. Here lately I keep forgetting things and failing to even have an inkling of what I need to remember to get the answer right. I’m not sure what I am doing wrong or what more I can do. I’m starting to get frustrated and wanted to ask for help before this becomes more of a problem.
For the record I also do Japanese from Zero, Duolingo (I know you all hate it), and Drops everyday.
Depending on how much you do of Duolingo, Drops, and JFZ every day, you might want to take it down a notch.
It’s obviously doable to study grammar and vocab and kanji at the same time, but as you say, sometimes daily life gets in the way.
You could be higher than 11 in a year, but you could also be level 0, so… Something is always better than nothing.
Forgetting things is part of the Spaced Repetition System, but do you really have no idea what the answer is sometimes? That would mean you’re not remembering either the meaning of the kanji, the radicals, the mnemonics (if you use them), the words, etc. Is it just some kanji, or do you have trouble remembering specific types of words? Maybe synonyms, etc., or do you just blank out when you see a kanji?
That would indeed be burnout, and the easiest thing would be taking a step back. Either taking more time to make sure the kanji stick, or doing less every day, or focusing on one aspect at a time until you know a bit more and can better tackle the kanji, like knowing more vocab, for example.
WaniKani is a “keep going” kinda study plan.
You just keep doing your reviews and eventually you’ll come across the same kanji/word enough times that you’ll be like, “yes, I’ve seen it 20 times, I know it”.
Is it frustrating? It can be.
Maybe it’s not the right system for you.
Maybe it’s just a matter of putting a bit more effort in, instead. Like writing down the kanji, making lists of common readings, stuff like that. So that the process becomes easier.
You’re already doing all your reviews every day, and that’s great. You’re already spacing out your lessons. Maybe just focus on these tougher questions until you get them right, then keep going.
Bit all over the place, but it would be good to hear what your issue is a bit more in detail.
Would you care to share what is your goal learning Japanese? Do you have a short time goal?
The learning material/apps you use (I have used all of them at some point except for japanese from zero) and including wanikani you kinda put a lot of effort with apps that give you little return overall. Using a learning resource like irodori (it’s free) will give you much more structure to be able to speak japanese in everyday life.
At level 10 on wanikani if you haven’t started yet, you can start reading graded reader or even books for beginners and see where you’re at. Grinding srs apps and depending on their feedback alone leave you stuck in a loop disconnected from the actual reason you learn the language which is being able to use it to either speak, read, listen or watch. Wanikani is a supplementary app, not your end goal, the more you’ll use what you learn the less stressed you’d be about the apps you use. They’re just an aid. Part of the reason people reach burnout is when they do things that get them nowhere, repeatedly. It might be better to use less apps and choose something that you can combine with actual use of Japanese.
But it all really depends on your long term and short term goals, it’s important to have those, since relying on outer sources goals like go up a level is sometimes too abstract.
If your main cause of burnout is too many reviews, and low accuracy, my #1 main advice to avoid burnout is to sloooow right down with Lessons.
Instead of 15 per day, maybe slow down to 5 per day. Heck, if you’re really struggling, I’d even suggest put a hold on doing any new lessons for a while until that sense of overwhelm and dread starts to ease up again. Then, start re-introducing new Lessons once you’re feeling good again.
I also like the (informal) thread-group Let’s Durtle the Scenic Route , which is focused on finding a comfortable and sustainable pace for doing lessons and reviews, without worrying about going ‘fast’ or ‘efficiently’. In other words, to get back to a state of enjoying studying Japanese again, and avoiding burn-out.
You are at Level 11. That is the spot where I slowed down, too. It’s one of the trickiest levels. I suggest you slow it down some and take it easier for a while. This is a difficult level. Then when you’re ready, you can go faster. Don’t panic, it will get easier . Hang in there and relax a bit.
You and I are going pretty much at the same pace. At your point in time I was at Level 12. For years I was just doing Duolingo, but not really getting anywhere, so in December of 2022, I started WK and in January of 2024 I started Bunpro.
For a while I considered dropping Duolingo but for now, essentially, I just do one lesson a day. The reason I decided to continue with it is to practice my reading and trying to apply what little grammar points I picked up thus far.
Unlike the speedsters, I’m deliberately going SLOW to avoid burnout. What REALLY stands out for me is
I think, maybe, I did 10 lessons in one day less than a handful of times in the past year. Most of the time I don’t even do 5 lessons in a day! So, yes, I skip lessons many times in a week, every week!
It seems that even when you don’t do 15 lessons in a day, you’re STILL doing lessons everyday! So, I’m guessing your accuracy is what is keeping your Leveling up rate similar to mine even though you do way more lessons than me.
I would suggest try dropping your lesson rate WAY down to see if that will increase your accuracy! If it does, that will renew your spirits and you can try increasing your lessons SLOWLY
If your accuracy is GOOD, then forget what I said…it was good typing practice for me Good luck to you!
I agree with this suggestion. I previously went somewhat quickly, having gotten to level 20 in my first year. After a quick start, I slowed down taking on new lessons to keep my apprentice pile under 100. But then I was making mistakes on high level SRS reviews, dropping too many items down to lower SRS levels.
At some point, I decided not to do any lessons until I could reduce my apprentice and guru numbers by advancing more items. This reduced the review pile and made my accuracy better.
Then life got in the way and I spent 23 months in vacation mode, resetting to level 4 in February this year.
Now I try to keep apprentice under 50 during busy times of life and work, letting it get up to 75 when I am willing to set up bigger later review piles.
I do this by ignoring today’s lessons entirely some days. Or I hand pick “easy” looking vocab or radicals to put into my lesson pile with the lesson picker.
I know I will still have some days with a lot of reviews, but managing the acquisition of new material is key to reducing burnout.
One measure I look at beyond just my number of items in each category is the difference between the number of items in Apprentice and the number of items in Recent Lessons. I believe that the difference is the number of items moving up through apprentice and the number of items dropped into apprentice from higher up. Those are „leeches” in WK forum parlance. I would rather add 10 or 15 lessons when I only have two items dropped into apprentice than when there are lots of things I’m having trouble remembering.
@inferno60x: I say embrace slowing down. Maybe take some time and “rebalance” your studies if needed-- it sounds like you have a fair bit going on! The people who are going faster either are doing less studying elsewhere and/or have more free time in general. Everyone is different, and has different stuff going on too. Nothing wrong with that.
As long as you’re working toward your goals, it’s just a matter of time until you reach them; even though it may often not feel that way, it’s simple fact, and worth remembering. Cheers!
I wanted to take time to reply to everyone at once since I receive so many great comments and suggestions. Thank you all!
My goal in learning Japanese is to go to Japan and be able to converse with people there at a competent level. I hope to also be able to pass the JPLT N5 and N4. I would love to read manga and watch anime without the need for aid as well, but that is not necessarily my end goal in learning the language.
One of my biggest problems is the % calculator when doing my reviews. I hate to see it go down, and I believe it is my biggest hurdle when doing reviews. I’m a perfectionist at heart and getting a 75% on reviews just bugs me.
I’ve thought I need to put more effort into WaniKani, but that takes away time I could be learning new vocabulary or grammar in my other study apps/books. So I basically do my reviews a few lessons and move on. Maybe that is my problem?
I’ve looked into graded readers before, I just hate looking at something and realizing I don’t know the word or vocabulary and having to go look it up. I know that is a part of learning and a personal problem I have to get over though if I really want to advance my learning. Do we have a good resource for truly beginner friendly graded readers that I can look into, or would it be best to purchase some material on my own?
My main issue is not missing things items I recently learned or reviews, but instead missing items that I am near Burned status or Master status. It is missing those items that frustrates me the most, because I should remember them if the SRS is working properly. I’m not sure how to solve that problems specifically though.
My advice to you would be to 1. make one or more Japanese friends and 2. visit Japan sooner rather than later. That will help you progress more than anything else, simply being in situations where you have to use it (or lose it), and also more opportunities to learn things organically.
I can totally relate. But as hard as it is, for the purposes of learning, we really need to push those feeling aside. Our brains do not care about right or wrong, percentages, etc. It’s all about repetition, trying, and – just as important – failing. The 25% “loss” you took in your example is still 100% learning experience. We have to try to remember that!
I would argue that it’s not a problem. If you want to study kanji more, you can and should! Personally, I’d argue that kanji is the most important tool for learning Japanese. Others may disagree based on specific, more narrow goals (“I only want to be able to speak, so I don’t care about reading or writing!”), but Japanese learning tools in English are very limited, geared mainly toward beginners, because most people give up, and that’s where the market is. So it wasn’t long before I found myself just kind of learning the same stuff over and over again in slightly different ways from different sources. Learning kanji allows you to access literally every Japanese text ever, not only learning materials (geared toward Japanese students) but also novels, news, TV (there is a LOT of onscreen text), the Japanese internet, and, of course, manga, games, and other pop culture – all of which can become learning materials for us.
But of course, you gotta go with your gut and do what works for you. Not everyone learns the same or is motivated by the same things. So just give it a thought, try something, and if it isn’t working for you, try something else; and remember that even when you’re “failing” you’re learning something.
To seek knowledge is as a trial. In errors, wisdom is birthed.
If you never get anything wrong, whatever you’re doing is probably too easy. Also, it’s normal to forget things. I forget English words all the time and I’ve been speaking this language daily my whole life.
I think it’s essential, too. I think beginners see how many characters they need to learn and shy away, but there’s not really a way to avoid kanji in the long run unless you’re comfortable being illiterate.
I think a lot of folks here would recommend Satori Reader because it includes definitions and explanations of grammar in the text. That would largely resolve the issue of encountering words or structures you don’t know.
I have also seen people recommend browser extensions like Yomitan, which is a dictionary you can use without leaving the page.
I have no words of advice, just solidarity because I’m in the same boat. I studied hours every day for my first year, leveling up slowly, and now I barely do any wanikani and just do Genki. I have spent the entire winter on level 15, lol. About 2x/wk I take myself off vacation mode, do 5 reviews, get frustrated and put myself back on vacation mode, lol. I recommend not stopping completely but find a fun activity to do if you’re sick of Wanikani. I practice sentences with a friend a couple times a week, and it’s a lot more satisfying these days!
For me, it helps to remember that learning a language isn’t just one thing or another. I can study grammar all day, but I still need vocabulary, and vice versa. And with Japanese in particular kanji unlocks so much, from general literacy to being able to remember and even learn new words by making connections with the parts I already know (kanji, radical, pronunciation, etc.)
So it’s important to mix it up, and when burnt out in one area it can help to focus on something else for a bit. It’s all progress, and eventually we’ll always find ourselves needing to change gears again in order to level up in any areas we’ve been neglecting anyway.
Specifically, what helped me, coming back to wanikani and reseting after reaching level 23 or 24 years ago was writing down the radicals, kanji and vocabs when doing new lessons and making sure to slowly read everything. It really payed off. I also stopped caring about percentages and accuracy and speed. Kanji is important and super helpful just like others said here before me, but I stopped taking all the statistics and gamification cues so seriously, and made wanikani work for me and not the other way around.
The I can read Japanese series has a vocab list at the end of each story.
At your level you should be able to read those stories easily. They used to have a bandle but I don’t see it anymore…
Wanting to understand/remember everything, this kind of perfectionism is counterproductive when it comes to learning a language. The only way to learn is by doing and making mistakes, how would you know what you need to practice if you don’t make mistakes?
This is your end goal, what you’re missing is your short time goal - speaking Japanese poorly with lots of mistakes in order to be able to reach that competent level. I did just that last week in Japan. Focus on doing not on knowing. Communication is about humanity and good will not about perfection, it’s really important to remember that, otherwise you get stuck in your own head and that is definitely not part of your goal.
You can also use apps like iTalki and such to start having conversations in Japanese either with a tutor or a teacher. Just find a way to start doing instead of just preparing to do, it’s a huge motivation booster. Something fun you can enjoy.
Again, I think the key thing here is probably to reduce how many Lessons you do, especially if you are currently feeling perfectionistic about your accuracy.
Try an experiment: try taking a break from Lessons (i.e. no new lessons) for an entire week. Only do reviews. See if, after a week, your accuracy improves. See if your feeling of dread/overwhelm/burn-out is alleviated.
If, after a week, you find things getting better, then it’s likely that ‘too many lessons’ was indeed the issue. Hold off on new lessons until you start to feel back ‘under control’, and then start introducing new lessons again, but slower this time.
Someone recently recommended the site Tadoku (which means ‘Extensive Reading’, which reflects their very interesting philosophy, which might help you overcome your perfectionism (which I also suffer from!)), and I was able to start with their free beginner readers right away. It’s a very beginner-friendly site! Here are some introductory links in English:
The English ‘homepage’, which is actually their ‘vision’ page in English: Our Vision | NPO多言語多読
I recommend reading their vision and ‘how to’ pages to really get a sense of their philosophy. It might help you out a lot.
Once you’re ready to jump in, here’s their list of “Free Tadoku Books” in English: Free Tadoku Books – にほんごたどく
First of all, everyone, including yourself, is going to forget items at the Master / Enlightened stage. That’s just natural.
But the cool thing is that you’ll also remembersome of the items at those stages. Those ones will advance and eventually you’ll Burn them. That’s progress! And the ones you forgot once at, say Enlightened, well that sucks (not really, tho!), but a lot of those you’ll also end up Burning without any further problems. More progress!
And, eventually, you’ll end up Burning them all. But there will be some that you constantly forget. We call these ‘leeches’. There are various ways to handle leeches, but that’s not the main point of my comment, so I won’t go into that further.
The first point is that – as long as you keep doing your reviews every day – you will continually make progress. You just have to let your brain naturally do its thing, which is learning. It’s just not always perfect, and forgets some things. But that’s natural, that’s normal. Learn to let go of that aspect of perfectionism.
The second point is that part of the reason you’re forgetting these Master / Enlightened items is that you’re probably over-loading your brain with too many new Lessons. If you slow down on the new stuff, your current slew of items will have enough time to ‘stew’ in your brain and become familiar to you.
Imagine if you had a job where you constantly had to meet new people and remember their names (maybe some kind of sales job or something).
At a certain moderate rate, you might be able to remember pretty much everyone’s names, even over the course of 6 months or a year.
But at a faster-than-moderate rate, your brain is just going to have trouble storing all those names in long-term memory.
Person after person you meet, and you’re desperately trying to memorize all their names. You may be able to remember most people’s names in the short term, but imagine meeting hundreds of people over the course of a few weeks, and then having to remember all their names 6 months or a year later! It’s just not gonna happen! That’s just the natural limitations of our imperfect (but pretty darn good anyway!) brains!
Slow down on Lessons. See how it goes. What harm can it do to do a little experiment of a week or two with no new lessons? At the end of it, you’ll probably learn something about yourself, one way or the other.
Maybe slowing down won’t help. Well, then at least you learned that that wasn’t the problem, and you can try something else.
But maybe slowing down will help. In which case, you’ll have learned what you can do to help with your feeling overwhelmed / burning out.
75% in reviews sounds perfectly fine.
If you get 100% all the time then you are not learning, you are repeating.
The same goes for reading, if you can read without looking anything up then there is no progress, it`s just using what you already know.
I am the same level as you so I don’t know if my advice holds any importance but I feel that studying too many different things at once hinders progress. Currently I am concentrating on WK to learn enough Kanji to start reading.
To me, it sounds like you are “over-systematizing” the process of learning.
What I do to “spice” things up a little is not doing Wani Kani/Duolingo/etc every day. Or at least not with the same intensity every day. It will get boring and you will associate learning japanese with the act of staring at a screen reading prompts and answering accordingly. Remember, your WaniKani level is NOT an indicator of how much japanese you know, so don’t feel pressured to level it up quickly. And don’t let the “X reviews/lessons pending” get to you. Don’t do all of them if you don’t feel like it or you don’t have the time. That’s why the options to do only some lessons and halt your reviews exist.
You can do shadowing with a video/series you like one day. Read manga or short stories another day. Maybe write something in japanese, etc. It depends on what you like and what you feel works for you. The important thing is to have variety and make it fun, not just to avoid boredoom but to practice reading/writing/listening in other contexts as well.
The days that I feel too tired or simply don’t have the time I just listen to a podcast in japanese, not worrying about trying to understand it, just chilling and listening. At some point I may say “Hey! I know that phrase!” and that’s it. I miss like 90% of the meaning but at least I get some exposure to the language (And it helps to avoid that feeling of guilt for not studying a day, if you are that sort of person :v).
I am currently level 5 but I feel like I have learned more than half of the kanji through other means. Still, I really like the app so I will stick to it, but I use it more as a companion instead of the focus of my studies.
But most importantly, remember why you are doing this. Even if it is as simple as “I like the language/Japan”. Don’t get discouraged! You can do it! I BELIEVE IN YOU!
And Relax. Putting too much pressure on yourself won’t help. I do not know you, so I don’t know your specific situation, but learning a language takes time, it is important that you enjoy it or make it enjoyable.
Let’s Durtle the Scenic Route 
That’s just the natural limitations of our imperfect (but pretty darn good anyway!) brains!