I like this idea! I think it would be fun if there were optional bonus levels like that, that unlocked after you reached a certain existing WK level. If there were interspersed throughout the course, it could add motivation for people to continue to reach an intermediate goal. And if they were optional, the people who wanted to reach 60 as fast as possible could just skip them, and come back and do them later if they wanted to.
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Oh, I know that WK won’t help me anymore… and I did already get to level 60 once.
I feel pretty good about passing this time (and I did feel good last time prep-wise last time too, if I hadn’t been dead tired and fighting coughing fits the whole time).
I just like studying kanji the most.
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I’d happily shell out for another ten levels.
Is it as productive for a learner as writing and drilling them on your own? No. And that is a skill you need to have.
But is it effective in that it’s an extremely efficient way to learn to read kanji that frees up time for other study? Hell yeah, and I’d pay to continue it on those grounds.
Edit – I’m also very behind the idea of topic-specific “booster packs.” (Names, animals, dishes, etc.) Really any way I can get more out of the site, since I love how hands-off it makes learning kanji readings.
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I agree with the idea of sort of booster pack levels. I think they would be really nice, especially if you could get booster packs for different areas. For example, things like medical kanji/vocabulary (would be so useful for people who need to go to the doctor often here), kanji that often comes up in workplaces, etc. BUT, I also agree that focusing on improving the lower levels is probably the best plan business-wise. And I’m only on level 11 lol, so I have a long way to go to hit 60.
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Nothing I can really say to you like kanji studies, I mean Tofugu presents their material in a fun way, maybe when the “spiritual successor” to Textfugu (etoeto) comes you’ll be able to enjoy your grammer studies more, good luck with that test then
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So you’re asking where an individual using WaniKani would get a kanji to recommend WaniKani add? I’d say if you encounter a kanji when reading that is used in several (not ridiculously specialized) words or one or two really common words that could be enough. You’d then present the specific kanji and related vocab, and explain why you think it would be useful. I don’t think any arbitrary source is much of an argument for adding a kanji at this point, but specific example words could be.
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I still can’t help but feel like we don’t need it, but I guess that is mostly opinion, though jinmeiyo seems like a good idea
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Oh, I guess I should add that I’m also really into the idea of “custom” levels. Maybe they’d be locked until you complete level 60, but I like its interface and SRS system enough that I’d be happy to pay some amount (maybe a reduction from the usual monthly fee?) just to continue to have the ability to run my own extra kanji study through it. It’d be great to encounter something in reading, look it up, and the pop it into WK to be queued up for regular review.
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Jinmeiyou has almost 900 characters (though we already have like 100 on WK for seemingly not great reasons already).
Definitely seems like overkill to me.
I’m going to study them on my own after I finish off Kanken level 2, but it would be a huge endeavor to add them here.
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More is better for sure. Maybe make a separate commonly used non-kanji vocabulary path.
I think it is good to practice/reviews stuff that you learn with some grammar textbook but not for learning from scratch.
Well everyone here is suggesting it be optional and the great thing about WaniKani is it’s mnemonics, I’d think if both those were implemented well it would be a fine experience.
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Don’t need what?
To teach some rare yet still jouyou kanji that the WaniKani devs have already decided not to add (not to mention Tae Kim actively speaks against jouyou), we or they found something good then sure but though I have not researched the Jouyou WaniKani lacks I feel like WaniKani’s refusal to add them to this point and Tae Kim’s opinion are enough assuming there is no evidence of the contrary.
WK already teaches a lot of the “useless” jouyou kanji, like the ones for place names. Useless in the sense that you will never be required to answer questions about place names on something like the JLPT.
Is there really any reason to learn that the 栃 in 栃木県 means “horse chestnut?” The actual nut / tree is usually written in katakana anyway.
Jinmeiyou kanji are mostly going to be even more rare and even less useful than the remaining jouyou kanji. That’s why they’re not jouyou kanji, typically.
There are some minor exceptions, like 繋, for instance. But yeah.
Without even digging that deep, here are some jouyou words that aren’t on WK but are useful to know.
挨拶 - greeting
処方箋 - prescription
匂い - smell
嗅ぐ - to smell
眉 - eyebrow
膝 - knee
肘 - elbow
顎 - chin
頬 - cheek
繭 - cocoon
繕う - to mend
瓦 - tile (roof tile)
骸骨 - skeleton
遡る - to go back (in time, to an origin)
唾 - spit, saliva
危惧 - anxiety
痕 - scar
腫 - tumor
腫れる - to swell, to be inflamed
捻挫 - sprain, twist (ankle)
溺れる - to drown
裾 - hem, edges of clothes
袖 - sleeves
麺 - noodles (honestly shocked at this one not being on here)
痩せる - to lose weight
腎臓 - kidney
餌 - animal feed
塞ぐ - to block, to plug
柵 - rail, fence
初詣 - first shrine visit of the year
僅か - small amount
蹴る - to kick
比喩 - simile, metaphor
消耗 - consumption, using up
氾濫 - flooding
羨ましい - jealous
語彙 - vocabulary
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From experience (restarted), when you finish Wanikani, you should be able to more or less fly on your own. You should have your own flash card desk or equivalent and be adding words, grammar and kanji you find in the wild that you study everyday. Learning Japanese is not a destination, especially if you do not live there, it is a never ending journey.
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I didn’t have a good way to put into words why I wouldn’t be interested in more levels until you mentioned this.
For me, a huge motivation was setting myself a clear and simple goal (not easy to do, but simple to define and keep in mind): finish WK.
In levels 1-50, there is a huge amount of useful kanji. It is a great basis. Could more useful stuff be added? Sure. Could some of the less useful stuff be trimmed? Sure.
But I need WK to have an end to reach that isn’t a stupid amount of time away. I would never want it to go on in perpetuity. I want my many consecutive months of doing this 7 days a week to lead me to that moment of throwing my hands up and feeling that accomplishment that I will have chased for over a year.
At level 47, with some fast levels behind me, 60 seems a very fine ending point. You have an amazing foundation, a full understanding of how kanji work, and the ability to teach yourself whatever other kanji you need to learn through other means.
I’ll understand if WK ever obliges the request, but I’d prefer they look at tweaking existing content rather than raising the number beyond 60. With enough folks expressing feeling daunted about getting to 60 when they are a bunch of levels in, I’m also not sure it’s motivating to make the mountain even taller. Drop-off is already an issue, and seeing 70 or 80 levels as the total wouldn’t help that either, I feel.
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Straya mate, no issues here! 
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If it’s for books… FloFlo.moe?
Not every book in the world is on there yet, but it has a number of them.
YESSSS!!! I could get more done in transit that way (most of my trip is in the subway, with intermittent internet only at the stations, not when I’m between them).
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IMO all of these should be on here, for the amount they show up in native written material.
I’ll note that I’m 99 percent sure the 喩 in 比喩 isn’t jouyou, though, which is why a lot of natives end up writing it “比ゆ.”
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