Does anyone else just have, like, really bad memory?? I’m sure, of course, I’m not the only one struggling with this, but I see a lot of users breezing along with 95% accuracy, and it’s kind of troubling. Sometimes I feel like I’ve done really well, and then other times I’ll have a review session and its like I’ve taken 2 steps backward in my learning, both literally and figuratively. I space out my reviews, have an apprentice category usually ranging between 100-130… I guess this is just a problem many users face. Honestly, at this point I’m really only using WaniKani for my japanese learning, I just can’t seem to motivate myself with genki, or god forbid, anki. (Not sure why but I REALLY hate anki.) Anyways, anyone have any recommendations for making things stick more?
There are some under scripts that will test you on your leeches that may help you with better memorization. My review average is also kind of low being around 75-80% and sometimes a lot lower. I know it can be really discouraging when it seems like most people are going 90% averages but I try not to let it bother me. Personally I just let SRS run its course and eventually things start to click. It also help me to re read the story wanikani provides for the kanji or vocab that I keep getting wrong.
As far as Anki I am also not the biggest fan. I prefer Bunpro and Torii for my grammar and vocab retention.
Hi there! I personally don’t have too much trouble getting good accuracy, but I would definitely recommend the following:
- don’t do too many lessons at once, when the reviews come around you’re going to have more trouble remembering, since you learned so much at the same time. The mind can remember 6 - 8 things at once (you can stretch that out with the help of mnemonics). This is definitely key (along with the next one)
- if you’re really comitted, make more use of the mnemonics; write the story down, draw it out, tell it yourself out loud, go around the room acting it out, come up with one yourself, if Wanikani does a poor job, etc.
- try to build a routine - always learn the same amount at the same time, everyday
- if you know you run out of concentration after 20 reviews, then space them out (but you mentiones that already)
- as already mentioned, target your leeches specifically, if you have a lot of them. If you’re confusing several different items, sometimes it’s already enough if you just look at them consciously in the menu and make a mental note on their differences
- Be aware of the different types of items. Kanji are usually the hardest to learn, since their meaning and reading come out of nowhere. Radicals are usually very similar to their meaning and vocabulary often consists of parts you already know. You can apply this knowledge to your lessons, as well
You’re correctly assuming that f.i. a thread that says ‘post your accuracy’ will attract people who have high scores (were you tempted to post?). I also seriously doubt 95%+ is the norm. Is this your first encounter with studying Japanese? For some it’s not - making entire sections of WK a quiz of what they already knew.
I tend to remember items better if I encounter them outside WK. This doesn’t have to be studying. Passive listening (music, podcasts, let’s plays, etc), reading (graded readers, NHK easy news, etc) - it depends on what you have time for, the passive listening you can usually add on top of daily activities.
And no, a lot of the time I can’t follow what’s being said - it’s about picking up individual words and it getting better over time.
I have read a saying in this forums before which really motivate me. “Wanikani isn’t a race it is a marathon”
It doesn’t matter when you get there as long you get there. Everyone has their own pattern of learning their own goals and pace. some people are already starting wanikani with some knowledge. Don’t let that bother you please😁.
I always thought I had a very strong memory. My accuracy is usually way below 90%, however. Wanikani is making me doubt myself 
This.
It’s a representation thing; people who get 60% regularly aren’t going to post in a thread where people are saying they always get at least 90%. I’ll sometimes get 97% if it’s stuff I’ve done regularly, or I might get 55% if it’s reviews coming up for burn and I’ve had an eight month break, like a couple review sessions recently -___- hehe
My accuracy for the meanings of kanji seems to be around 100% and just a few percents lower for vocab due to similar verbs.
However, my lack of ability to remember the readings drops my overall accuracy to 85%.
I used to wonder if everyone has a lower accuracy when it comes to the readings as compared to the meanings. Now I’m starting to wonder if I’m just weird. 
(I realize these numbers could very well change as I’m still a newbie here)
edit: that wasn’t meant to be a reply sorry
Not uncommon if you’re totally new to Japanese
https://community.wanikani.com/t/meanings-good-readings-not-so-much/32482
I think what really hammers the kanji in is encountering them elsewhere and knowing the words from other areas in Japanese. Remember that Japanese people already know how to speak and know most of the words when they learn kanji. Just rote memorizing kanji without any other Japanese knowledge is quite an insurmountable task, I think. I would definitely start doing other things, too.
I remember someone posting a while back, can’t remember who, that if you’re getting 90-95% accuracy you’re not actually learning a lot and being challenged. I try to remember this when I have a bad review session!
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