It seems like every response here is about pacing and not so much good things to do/habits to build or details to approaches that work for them.
Or, what is holding you back that you think you might be slow? It’s one of those “why is more important than how” situations. There are a lot of common pitfalls, so any answer you get is going to be a guess. Here are some issues I see frequently from new users:
- Not doing reviews daily.
- Not doing the 4 hour and 8 hour review intervals on time (see the guide for more suggestions on methodology). This is a huge accuracy boost for some users.
- Doing all of the lessons at once when they unlock instead of in smaller daily batches (eg. 10/day)
- Poor mnemonic usage (make up your own if the WK ones aren’t good enough).
- Overexerting themselves. Find your own pace including non-WK Japanese study and immersion.
- Popular metric, “don’t go over 100 apprentice items”
- Immersion helps cement things WK teaches.
- You do not need to memorize every kun + on reading, every definition, and every pitch accent pattern for every word as a beginner.
- Using WK as 100% of Japanese study time is not advisable.
- Using 100% of your available study time on WK is prone to “life happening” and getting review backlogs
- Not putting in consistent effort. Both level ups and learning Japanese in general require putting in effort and getting rest. Cramming one day and skipping the next will hinder both.
- Not having a basic understanding of Onyomi vs. Kunyomi.
- Not having a basic understanding of Rendaku.
A lot of people see the guide or a “speedrunning” comment and flip tables, but that’s not the point. Fast is not the same as efficient. It’s hard to go fast without learning efficiency, that is learning how to get the most results for the effort you put in.