I’ve been keeping up with wanikani “ritually” for almost a whole year now.
I’ve done my reviews as they appeared. And learned my lessons as soon they showed up. I’ve had my ups and downs. Sometimes I fell back with 500-700 review backlog and I’ve caught up over the course of days.
The point is - the curve was manageable and I had a goal I was able to achieve and work for.
1 - 10 - roughly about 30-50 reviews per day.
10 - 20 - roughly about 50-90 reviews per day.
20 - 30 - roughly 90-150 reviews.
But now… ever since 30-36… I’ve been constantly given 180-220 reviews to do everyday.
It takes me usually about 11-12 days to progress each level. Sometimes faster, but that is my average.
After I finally got past 36, more or less exhausted, as I was approaching the “Paradise” barrier, level 37 stumped me and I’m ready to give up.
300-400 reviews per day. Sometimes 250, other times 190. Rarely 400 but it happened. 300 is rather common.
This is more than I can manage. Is this normal? If it is, I am unsure if this is sane.
I want to know what people’s opinion is of this.
I keep hearing “Paradise” gets worse. If 500 reviews becomes a daily thing, then I think lvl 37 is where I will stop.
Take a break with lessons. Catch up on the current reviews until you get to a pace you’re comfortable with. Always remember it’s language learning, not a game where if you slow down, you’ll lose.
it’s pretty normal (I’m not a fast goer but 200 reviews / day is not something quite uncommon).
but everyone isn’t the same. If you are feeling overwhelmed, just make sure to have apprentice items <100 or so before taking new lessons.
And if you are going fast, be ware that reviews pile up real quick.
This is probably the reason your reviews have been increasing a lot. Going full speed like this is possible, but incredibly hard, as your reviews will basically keep growing. I’d recommend to slow down a bit. Don’t do your lessons as they show up, only do them if you can handle a workload increase.
I’m actually wondering how you only had 30-50 reviews in a day when you were around level 1 - 10.
I’m starting level 5 and I always have roughly 100 reviews per day. (The day before yesterday it even was 149) And I’m actually trying to go sort of slow, not doing all my lessons at once when they appear. (no way I could remember that much in one go haha)
I’m sitting at 250 a day, one level above you. I remember the drastic shift into more reviews about four levels ago that brought me up to (at the time) 310 a day.
What helped me was to turn off my music, turn on the volume, read the mnemonic for almost anything over five levels old that I missed, and repeat each item vocally at least once (when I’m not doing Wanikani in a public place). Given I’m currently 150 a day less than you and a level higher, it’s definitely possible to cut your reviews down.
It may really suck at first, but if overwhelmed you’ll find taking the initial extra time to keep yourself from perpetually forgetting reviews will save you A LOT of time in the future by not having to keep redoing them. If you feel overwhelmed, put more time into doing your reviews until you’re back down to a manageable amount.
Likely the amount of mistakes you’re making. Also, since there’s a big difference between lvl 2-3 and lvl 9-10, I just picked an average value for the reviews.
I ran into the same issue starting from level 28-29, and I couldn’t manage the additional workload which created a sharp decrease in motivation.
To counter that, I reduced the workload by aiming to never go over 100 kanjis/vocab in apprentice SRS level, this way my working memory is never overloaded and I can actually progress but more slowly.
Maybe start at 150 apprentice max before starting more lessons, and if this is not enough reduce accordingly.
I take the same approach as you (reviews and lessons asap) and just got into the paradise levels. I will admit that using this same approach has made the workload increase even more, and I have staggered a bit. Normally, my apprentice level items top out around 130 at max workload, but in Paradise that number has climbed to 180. So I will echo the others posters’ advice of limiting your new lessons to hit the pace you want by monitoring your apprentice level items.
You’ve proven that you can do it since you’ve made it this far, so don’t give up!
My average number of reviews has been 190 for a long time now. Personally I don’t mind that. But, I’ve never had 300 as a common amount.
It makes me wonder about your accuracy and leeches. You should install some scripts like the Item Inspector to see if you are bogged down with items from previous levels. Also check wk stats for your accuracy.
For starters, slow down and don’t level/do new lessons for a bit until you get those Apprentice item/Guru items under control.
Because, coming from someone who is doing the Paradise levels right now, you shouldn’t have to do 500 reviews daily - it should all be controlled by the amount of lessons you do.
Because, if you’re not binging lessons, then that means you either have too low accuracy or tons of leeches bringing up the review count.
Then you’ll simply have to take your time addressing those issues. Try the Self-Study Quiz or Leech Trainer. Try to increase your retention. I’m sure you can do it! ^^
I agree with the replies here that you should focus reviews over lessons. You will learn more that way because trying to accomplish every lesson as soon as possible is information overload. I usually limit myself to 10 lessons a day to keep reviews lower, no matter how high they get. I also use the mobile app “Tsurukame” that acts as a mobile app for WaniKani. They have a useful option that prioritizes new Kanji in your lessons. This is useful to keep leveling up at a steady pace for myself, it may help in your situation as well.
@OP: stop lessons until you have an acceptable number of lessons per day and instal a leech trainer and train those leeches. If it’s really hard, roll back a couple of levels. I was like you and I did all that (along with rolling back ten levels) after a year long pause and it’s fine now (for 3 weeks at least). I have yet to level since the reset, but it’s gonna be soon, in a day or two.
Basically just a third-party iOS app for WK, but it’s quite good and comes with some common script functionality built-in. Makes it easy to do reviews anywhere and can also function without internet connectivity.
Pretty much at the same situation as you are and I’m not gonna lie,it’s pretty bad.I’ve started cutting corners where i can and actively try to reduce review count.Wanikani is ridiculously brutal after a while.So I’d say slow down for your own sake.Try to juggle like a 100 reviews a day.
I took the last 3 months off from lessons. I was doing 300 reviews per day and it was just too much from the other stuff I had to do. I cut my Guru and Master in half, and got my apprentice way down as well. Everything feels much better now and I’m slowly adding lessons back in. Now my daily reviews are around 140, which is totally manageable.
Yeah when I got to Level 28, I noticed that my Thursdays (which is my level up day) is the absolute worst. I have to go through 300 reviews despite always having below 100 Apprentice items and about 500 Guru Items. We just have to take it slower I suppose…
You should not add more items into the review queue by doing more lessons, if you feel like you are losing hope. Work with the ones you have right now and slow down your pace. Your goal may be to get to Level 60 as soon as possible but getting to Level 60 and learning Japanese is a long journey and you need to be able to make it through that journey. Learn the items in your review queue and become comfortable before moving on to the next lessons or level.
I know that reviews may overwhelm you, but don’t forget why you started to learn kanji / Japanese.
And why quit? You’re closer to the finish line then where you started off.
You should install some scripts like the Item Inspector to see if you are bogged down with items from previous levels. Also check wk stats for your accuracy.