After about 20 months of intensive work, I finally made it to level 60! And I am so glad to be here!
So, here is my story.
I started learning Japanese by myself around 2007, using a French learning method called Assimil. Though the method was quite good as a first introduction to the language, it was very difficult for me to find what I could do next to improve my Japanese, which was very frustrating, and I stayed many years without making any progress.
I am very lucky to have Japanese evening classes organized near my hometown in Grenoble, France. I could not attend them for several years, because of my job and my young children, but I finally was able to start classes in 2018. Having a Japanese teacher and following live lessons was very motivating, and gave some regularity and method, which I needed.
The good point, is that we started studying the 512 kanji from the “Kanji Look and Learn” method. We studied them like Japanese students, by copying lines of kanji by hand. We also used printed flash cards that we used to memorize kanji and vocabulary. I really enjoyed this part of the class, and I was pretty good at memorizing kanji. In 2019, a class mate told me about Wanikani. I started working on the first free lessons (up to level 4), and I was really impressed by the method. But at that time, I did not want to interfere with the lessons I was taking and for which I was already paying.
However, when we were nearly done with learning the 512 kanji, we suddenly stopped studying them, without even going to the end (there were like 30 kanji left). It was probably because all students in the class but me were bothered with kanji and wanted to do something else. I was very frustrated, because I had seen the 512 number as a target to reach, and we never finished the marathon. Then, we went on learning new vocabulary words, but without their kanji being introduced, which made me pretty upset. This added more frustration and I started thinking how I would go on learning kanji on my own.
I had already passed Kanken exams level 10 and 9, and I was working on level 8. At this time, I realized that I had no efficient method for learning new kanji, learning the vocabulary that goes with them, and revising them efficiently. I started playing with websites like Kanji Damage and apps like Anki. But there was still something missing.
Then, I realized that it was the right time to go back to Wanikani, and I think it is the best decision I have ever taken in my Japanese language learner’s life.
When I went back to Wanikani at level 4, we were around December 2022. I reached level 60 in July 2024, so it took me about 20 months to get there. I was amazed by all the benefits I could get from Wanikani. I travel to Japan on every summer for my work. In summer 2022, I was still the guy who could read some stuff, speak a few words. That would make my Japanese customers or colleagues smile and appreciate the efforts I made to learn their language, but in a quite polite way, I suppose. In summer 2023, I realized I could read most signs everywhere in town without much efforts, and my vocabulary was greatly improved. In June 2024, my Japanese colleagues and friends were amazed about the progress I had made. As a game, they would give me any piece of document they had around, and were amazed that I could actually read anything.
My Japanese teacher is impressed about the progress I made in 2 years. This year, another student, who is also using Wanikani, joined our class. The funny thing is that, at the beginning, we did not know that we were both using Wanikani, but we quickly suspected each other, because we were both using very specific vocabulary, which we believe nobody else is supposed to know. For some reasons, our Japanese teacher sometimes laugh when we use certain words from Wanikani. Maybe we use them in the wrong context, or she is suprised that we know such words. Anyway, she is impressed (I think ^^).
So, in this 60 lessons journey, there have been ups and downs of course. I think my weak point is that I am too enthusiast and impatient, and want to learn as much as I can, as fast as possible. What I realized with my first self learning experience is that doing so can lead to being saturated quickly and keeping stuck at some point. I tended to do all my lessons in a row, and I was then overflown by huge reviews. But one of my strong point is that I am tenacious, so I kept doing my reviews as much as I could. By the way, the way Wanikani handles new lessons is very good in my opinion (15 lessons per day). I realized that it does not really lower the time between 2 level ups, but it regulates the amount of reviews and makes the learning process more comfortable.
My study schedule was simple: I took any spare time of the day to do my reviews or lessons: breakfast, work break, evening, holiday. I prefer to handle small batches regularly than to process a massive pile of reviews.
There was several times when I got overflowed with hundreds of reviews (I think up to 700) and I had to turn on vacation mode to limit the flood. Funnily, this happened when I was in Japan, because I had lost almost a day of review during the trip, and I had less time to do my reviews there, because I had very busy days.
My worst time in Wanikani was in the lessons 40s , if I remember well. I guess we go into more complex vocabulary, and we have >30 lessons behing us and still a big amount to go on with, which is where the motivation can be weakened.
Few weeks ago, I was thinking about what I would do after I reach Wanikani’s last level, appart from burning the remaining items. So, I started reading more newspapers and mangas, and I realized that Wanikani is just one step in the progression, and there are so many things to learn after it. I like to have goals that keep me motivated, so I think I will prepare JLPT3, and of course, I will sit for Kanken every year (I wish I could reach level 2 in 10 years or so ^^).
My advices:
Wanikani is not a race, it is better to take your time without being saturated, and make sure you will reach the goal at a given pace. As I said, Wanikani is just a step in a larger Japanese learning process. So, it is better to still have some energy when you reach level 60, because you will need it for what you will do after it.
I recommend taking only 15 lessons per days, as the defaults settings suggest. I wish I could have had this seeting when I started Wanikani. This would have kept me away from massive review batches.
To end this veeeery long post, I want to thank all Wanikani team members who have contributed to make this amazing learning tool available to Japanese language enthusiasts. I am really impressed by the quality of the mnemonics, the SRS algorithm, the user interface, all the example sentences. To me, Wanikani is the best method you can get to learn >2000 kanji and >6000 vocabulary words in such a short time. This is really worth the money.
Love.
Félicitations !
I’ve reach level 60 but still not sure I’m ready to do the post yet. I have about 450 vocab to learn and 15 kanji from level 60.
Congratulations Sounds like you did it much faster than me!
Congratulations! Great to hear you could read so much around you when you were in Japan. Something for me to look forward to!
Merci beaucoup 
Well, I still have some vocab from level 59 and nearly the whole lesson 60 to learn, but I am not sure if anything happens once it is done, so I thought it was the time to celebrate. And I could not wait longer 
Looking forward to reading your post !
Thanks.
You will be amazed to see how much you can already read with level 15.
Here are the figures from wkstats:
Very inspiring to read! I love that you had such tangible benefits and that Wanikani turned out to be so useful to you.
What kanken level are you at right now? What would you say is the most difficult part about the test?
Thanks! I passed Kanken level 8 in June 2023. I am super lucky, because there are only 2 or 3 places where you can take the exam in France, and my school is one of them. I was planning on taking level 7 in June 2024, but I was in Japan, and I had no time for doing the tests there.
For me, the most difficult parts of the test are the ones where you have to fill empty gaps in a sentence by writing the kanji from scratch. Because we are not used to learn kanji this way, especially with Wanikani. What we learn is to go from the symbol to the meaning or to the sound, so doing this in the reverse way requires some sort of post-processing in the brain, and that can be done with training. Fortunately, there are good apps that can help you practice this part. I am using this one.
In my opinion, one essential point about Kanken is to know how much vocabulary as you can. Because kanji have different ways of being pronounced, and some of them are exceptions. I believe the most efficient way to know them is to read, read and read anything you can: newspapers, magazines, manga, books. This will give you solid basis. The idea is to make you efforts useful for your daily Japanese speaker / reader life, and reduce the amount of work that is specific to the exam.
Good luck in your Wanikani progression!
Congratulations! It’s very motivational to hear how useful it was to you in Japan 
Hey, congratulations! And I loved reading about your learning progression. I agree with you that 15 lessons a day is the way to go. Sometimes we get too anxious about levelling up quickly, but then it has consequences!
I think it might be because some of the jukugo words that Wanikani teaches are used in very formal contexts. I think they are great for memorising the kanji though, as they allow you to reinforce them.
In any case, congratulations and I hope you continue successfully on your journey! It would be good to hear how you’re doing in the future.
Congratulations. I really enjoyed reading your story. This motivates me to continue studying. Thanks.
Thanks for your message.
You are right, I remember my Japanese teacher often mentioned that the words we use are quite formal.
For sure, I will keep you guys updated on what happens next. I did not use the forum so far, because I put priority on doing the lessons and reviews, but this is now behind me
Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your journey. I just finished Level 15 in 367 days. I’m on the slow route but that’s ok as I am committed to learning this wonderful language and culture.
As someone who is only on level 8 after starting longer ago than I’d like to admit, hearing your story has inspired me to be more patient and trusting in the process. I’ll keep it up and some day, I’ll make it there too! Just you wait level 60…
Congratulations. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Hey Matlegore! Thank you for sharing your experience with us on the forum! It’s a pretty big achievement making it all the way to level 60. You’ve reached the top of the kanji mountain, and there is no way to go but up from here.
This is part of the reason we study, to make these connections! So very cool!
-Nick at WK
おめでとう！
20 months is very fast. Props to you.
I also had my first large review flood (>500) when I was in Japan. I was so busy experiencing actual Japan that I did not keep up with my reviews. I use vacation mode more often since then.
Enjoy your continuing language journey.
おめでとうございます 
I am “the other student from your class” 
I found your post by a pure coincidence, but immediately recognized you!
Thanks for keeping me motivated to do my reviews, one day I’ll be the one making a “reaching 60 level” post!!
Have fun in the forum 
Hey anna_harumaki!
Glad to know your WK user name ^^
immediately recognized you!
Was my post that detailed? 
Looking forward to your level 60 celebration. I suggest we celebrate it with at school with 藤先生!
See you in October.