I made it! After the first 20 or so levels, I decided to finish as soon as possible after putting Anki on hold (I was using the Core 2k/6k deck). Aside from forgetting to set an alarm a few times, I managed to stick that to goal pretty well (except a typo on level 44 set me back three whole days). Here are my stats:
I’ll still do reviews on WaniKani to slowly burn my remaining items, but it’s kind of a huge relief to know that won’t have new lessons or have to stick to some self-imposed schedule. I can confidently say that using WaniKani has been the best decision I’ve made for my Japanese studies thus far, so a big thanks to all the WaniKani staff, as well as all the people on these forums for their advice and contributions.
I’ve often wondered whether maybe I should just hit the pedal to the metal and do similarly, but I worry I’d have too many apprentice items at a time. Going at your pace, how many apprentice items do you have at level 60?
Thank you, especially for the Evangelion gif! Have you been watching the Rebuilds? The final one is coming out soon!
Most of the time I try to spend 3-5 minutes at the beginning of every hour to quickly do reviews, although the leveling up sessions take a little more time due to having more items and being more careful. I find that breaking it down into very little chunks like that made reviews more bearable, and it’s a nice mental break from other tasks. I also do a lot of reviews in the morning while I am at the gym and resting in between sets, although my accuracy takes a big hit just because lifting weight can be so physically and mentally exhausting.
I think I usually had around somewhere between 100-200 apprentice items prior to the “fast” levels. In the fast levels I probably averaged around 250 apprentice items. Right now I have 119 apprentice items, but I have 300 lessons remaining after just unlocking level 60, and I had to slow down on vocabulary lessons to keep my sanity.
I think I was able to go through it quickly because I had prior experience with kanji and vocabulary with the Anki deck, so I wasn’t learning every single item from scratch. I also convinced myself that doing in it the shortest amount of time possible would leave less time and opportunity for me to not follow through for whatever reason, although mental fatigue and burnout were always a threat. I had some feelings of burnout around level 40 and then again in the later, faster levels, but I was already so close that I just kept my pace up. Is it the best way? Probably not for most people, but having it as a goal helped keep me motivated and dedicated.
Thanks! The stats are from the wkstats site. You’ll need to create an API token (it’s in the dropdown menu when you click on your profile picture). Then you can use that token to view your stats on the site.
Seeing people get to level 60 really makes me want to push harder and learn the language even more.
Also which level(s) do you consider the hardest one(s)?
Thank you! Seeing other people reach level 60 was also nice source of motivation for me as well. You’ll get there if you just keep at it.
I don’t think I can pinpoint a specific level that was difficult due to the items it contained. However, the final 15 or so levels were the most difficult due to how fast they went by, but that can be avoided if you don’t force yourself to go quickly. Going fast meant learning almost twice as many kanji and vocabulary in the same amount of time, and there are some levels where you can’t miss a single kanji on reviews if you want to level up “on time.” It wasn’t until these levels that I put some effort into studying the kanji for the next level ahead.
And on top of that are the leeches that have accumulated over time, which slightly increases review time and are just frustrating to deal with. Vocabulary where the two kanji don’t naturally go together in my mind, as well as some transitive and intransitive verbs, still give me a lot of trouble, and they’re kind of just scattered across all levels.
Thanks! I’ve gotten to the point where my reading abilities certainly surpass my grammar skills, so I want to prioritize grammar through self-study and textbooks.
I had taken some Japanese classes for fun while I was a graduate student years ago and enjoyed them, and they were very useful for speaking and listening. I can take classes for free (I work at a university), so taking classes is another option too.
I just started Neon Genesis, actually. I just find the congratulations scene funny, even though I have no idea what the context is.
I do my reviews twice a day, do new lessons on the morning, and I may or may not study grammar at night. But I’ll try your method out and see if it suits me!
Congratulations 
