I started WaniKani in the middle of last March. It’s really an accomplishment for anyone who’s made it to level 60 and I congratulate everyone to come before and after me.
My Japanese learning speed outside of WaniKani moves at that of a rocket due wholly to the knowledge this service has given me. It’s crazy to think about how 2500 visually-similar and complex symbols, along with multiple sounds and meanings for most, could be memorized in the scope of about a year- withstanding the thousands of verbs, adjectives and nouns that are taught alongside them. I think all of us users look past just how effective what the Tofugu team has built is. Its scope is undermined by how well it does what it was meant to do.
I still don’t get why some radicals in the service aren’t given as their Japanese meanings, but his is not to question why when the gears are turning. I have my passport and paperwork, and have made my arrangement to begin living in Japan. So much of what is to come I have WaniKani to thank for. And for all the hours I would have wasted tearing the pages from a dreary textbook if not for Tofugu’s good work. I still remember being baffled when I noticed the service asks you to try it free before buying; to dissuade a wasted, impromptu purchase. And I was somehow equally baffled when my level 60 congratulation email encouraged me to wrap things up and move on. Truly, a class act in a world where hidden fees and predatory business methods are not just allowed but expected.
Aside from language, this has been an indescribable and laborious year-plus without a wink of reprieve. And thirteen months ago, I had not even consumed much if any Japanese media. The total of my Japanese knowledge was “nani” and “baka” from those at work, and I knew not a single character. 今日自分の日本語性能はかなり未熟です。私はまだ長い学習の道を歩きます。でもwanikaniお陰でここで私います。本当にありがとう。未来はとても明るくもとてもカニを込みます
And now for some tunes(*‘▽’)
