Learning writing without messing up SRS

Hey all,

I’m taking a Language placement test in a Japanese University in a few months and I just found out I have to be able to write kanji by hand. How do you think I should start implementing writing practice without messing up the SRS? In the past few levels I’ve been writing down the kanji during the lessons a few times, and maybe I should also do it when reviewing the item (boy this takes time). However, I thought I should at least print the JLPT N5 and N4 sheets to practice writing them all, as I suspect the test mimics those levels, and about N4, low N3 is about the ballpark I would like to place. I’m concerned, though, that this breaks the SRS memorizing system. That said, I do see kanji in the wild all the time, so maybe it’s not that big of a deal.

Do you think this is bad or how should I go about implementing it? I’m not sure if I have time to wait for all the kanji to come up as reviews to write them…

Thanks!

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I’d suggest you set up a kanji deck in another SRS program, such as Anki, so that you can practice writing independently.

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Here is an easy way.
Get an account at kaniwani. (free) (the reverse of wanikani)
Use your touch screen or mouse or tablet input to draw characters in.

Or, there is a link around here somewhere for practice sheets to print out.

Also – extra study does not “break” SRS. SRS theory tells us that it is the best way to memorize the most stuff in the least amount of time. You will find that many of the people who succeed here do put in extra practice ( although many do not). The only thing that would really break the system is to review things just before they are due.

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As Rose said, studying another subject or using an alternative srs system can’t really break your learning. The worst it possibly can do is cause burn out which is a really serious thing to look out for when learning anything!

For me, I use this Anki deck exclusively on the Anki droid app, this allows me to use my phone’s touch screen, and it is set up to show you kanji in the level order that they are on WK! If you use a stylus, this may help you with the muscle memory of writing them too!

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I think it’s counterproductive to worry too much about messing the SRS up.

For instance, eventually you’ll hopefully be using your japanese for reading/watching/listening, and likely come across WK words that you would have otherwise forgotten.

WK will sometimes interfere with itself as well, since you may forget a kanji in a vocab word, be reminded of it and therefore answer it correctly when it appears as a kanji review.

The worst that can happen is an accidental burn, which you can undo. But also consider that the very fact that these things can interfere at all means that you’re already drilling the content in multiple ways which means you’ll learn it better, not worse!

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I’ve been using this as well, I find that compared to fancier apps that automatically convert your scribbles into pretty characters and judge you that way, it’s a lot better at actually forcing me to write at least legible characters! (Even if I have to be my own judge, but I’m a pretty harsh one, so I don’t think that’s a bad thing)

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Thanks, this looks exactly like something I need! I think I’ll use pen and paper for now.

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Thank you for the confirmations that I’m worrying a bit too much about “breaking” SRS. Just been seeing people worrying about it and I guess their paranoia stuck :slight_smile:

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Don’t you worry about that at all. The SRS it’s the bare minimum you should be encountering those words. Any extra it’s welcomed (no heresy in the eyes of the Crabigator) :hugs::hugs:. Otherwise you would by “cheating” be reading or practically doing anything besides WK.

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