Hi i had reset in feb to level 1 and have been able to get back to level four within a short time space. Do you think mastering all 1-5 before moving on to the next 5 levels would be a smart idea? I have over 244 items in master and was wondering if this would help my retention better.
I write all kanji and vocab down in my book and check for when the next review is due so i can go over it before the review is this a good way to study ?
I would recommend to keep going with levels at a steady pace unless it gets overwhelming. You can use the new daily lesson system to do a manageable amount of lessons every day while also making sure to always do your reviews. The reviews are the most important part.
For reviews I would recommend to not go over them again before the next review. The idea is that you need to recall them after a prolonged period of time, to make sure that you actually remember it. If you go over them again before the review, itâs fresh again, so you donât know if it actually stuck or you only know because you recently went over it again. If you donât remember something, thatâs good as you will get it in your reviews more frequently, until it finally sticks.
Thank you for the advice i didnt think of that. I thought it would help but you do make a good point as ive been doing that when i am due to master something so i get them right.
With my lesson ill continue as planed and see how i feel come the end of level 5.
I try to do the same kanji\ vocab together now that i can pick and do between 10-15 every 2 days.
Is using the extra study between reviews bad as well? Im just trying to figure out where i am with my learning and what is good to do and what isnt.
Personally I have no experience with extra study. I only do reviews and lessons here. When I fail items I look into them again to try and better remember them for the next time. Maybe some others will also share their experience here. If not, you can also look around the forums and see if there are other posts that help you. I find the forums to be quite interesting and there are a lot of more experienced people here as well. 
Hi there,
My thoughts:
Enjoy!
Thank you I will look around
Thank you for sharing do you have any suggestions for a grammar/listening study i can do ? I have been working on the genki book but am still struggling on how to actually write sentences.
Your mileage may vary, but I found Duolingo and Pimsleur to be helpful with both grammar and listening. Thereâs a lot of praise for Satori Reader, but I havenât personally tried that yet.
What is your current level? Do you have any foundation in japanese or complete beginner?
I think it might be better to pick a set number of items to learn a day, and do that every day, and if you can every day at the same time. Building habits is good for long term lerning.
As in physically putting pen to paper and writing them? So, I think that is a good way of being able to (initially) differentiate between similar kanji - so if youâre trying to decide whetherç is noon or cow, then writing will help.
In general, the SRS in WK is set quite intensely, and one of the things that it does is force you to remember, which is an effective part of learning. If your extra work is being reminded of kanji before being tested, then it is defeating the object of the SRS. If you extra work is recall then itâs fine, and might help a bit.
As always thereâs a balance between SRS like WK and wider learning of Japanese, so your extra effort on Kanji might be taking away time you could use for other things. Whatâs best for you will depend on where you are and what youâre learning for - with all things, you get what you work on.
Iâll echo whatâs been said a few times already. Iâm still in the first few levels, but I think the best (but certainly not the only) strategy is to do a fixed number of lessons each day to keep the workload manageable but continue having steady progress. Also, I personally choose not to study outside of reviews.
Itâs all too easy to stop making progress if you donât have momentum. I would recommend against stopping arbitrarily; if youâre finding your reviews too difficult, you can slow down with lessons, but stopping at intervals just means you have the added pressure of deciding when to begin again. Thatâs when a week-long break turns into a months-long break.
Regarding studying outside of reviews: I believe this defeats, to some degree, the point of spaced repetition. If the only way I know a character is by reviewing my notes shortly before seeing it, I probably donât know the character. I wonât really be able to anticipate the kanji I see âin the wildâ to study them in advance. I think itâs better to acknowledge when I forget something and let its SRS level drop so I see it again sooner rather than later. If your accuracy is always 100%, youâre probably just lying to yourself about how well youâve learned the material.
I go through them as a reminder on what is coming up and then check if I have them correct before I do the review. Mostly from previous levels I do a quick go through the kanji/vocab saying out loud what it is and reading then check if Iâm right if wrong I try again till I recall all of them.
Yes I physically write them down in my note book along with explanations , on and kun reading a way to remember it and what type of word it is.
I also have a separate part where I just write the word and itâs reading down that is what I look through when I know itâs due for review after 2 weeks or mastering it so I refresh myself and check if I can recall them.
Iâm a complete beginner but have been learning for about a year but only started kanji study in December last year. Iâm currently on level 4.
Thanks for the advice my accuracy isnât always the best around 80 %. I get what you mean as looking through them before hand might not indicate how well I know them if I see them outside of study. I try to keep lessons 10-15 every two days depending on my accuracy and do extra study some times between reviews if Iâm not confident enough although I guess that doesnât help either.
Duolingo has some merits (it forces some listening, and you move the words around, and also has some built in Kanji practice) so check it out as it is free.
Itâs hard for me to assess what readiness you may have for harder material - I think Genki is a great place to progress to get the basic grammar, so you can start enjoying your reads.
I would also mention that you may want to gradually include some reading practice in your routine, even though it can be very frustrating when you start. Find some material you enjoy (manga or else) with low complexity and just read through to get that practice anchored in.
For listening, my way was animes and some Japanese real-TV shows, but that may be too early for you unless you enjoy them. Passive listening is also helpful and will serve you later when you start recognising those words.
Good luck!
Thanks I watch a lot of anime and Iâm looking for reading books that are very basic. Listening I use mostly anime and genki book parts. duolingo I used before but was advised not to due to some sort of moral issue with it. I havenât watch shows outside Japanese anime if you have a link to actual shows Iâll check them out.
You could try reading Crystal Hunters a manga that teaches Japanese.
I would definitely say no to your original question. It would take you quite a while longer if you are waiting to master everything every 5 levels. The system seems to be designed to continue on through the controlled chaos of transitioning through the levels.
If it is getting too tough, you could always slow down the number of new lessons you take on in 1 day.
By the way 80% accuracy is fine - I also hover between 75-90% depending on the days.
Again (IMO), WK is about quantity, not quality. It does not matter that you struggle with 20% of the words when you actually donât struggle with 80% of them - and 80% of a lot of new words is a lot of new words.
We all have our leeches and you can target practice on those every 15 levels if you need to. Trust the process, make sure you have the right App or scripts to simplify your journey and keep consistent.