Hi everyone.
As u can see by the title, this ain’t really a “get done quick”. And honestly I was questioning myself if I even wanted to make a topic at all for a while. But here we are.
There really isn’t any big thing with this topic, just a way for me (and possibly someone else) to see that although there are many that go with the “I got to level 60 in record time!” some of us just need to take a step back and accept / realize that, the reason I (or we) do this is to learn, and if u are like me, that ain’t something u can do fast.
So ye, I pmuch just made this to motivate myself that when I see others saying that did things fast, to just not get taken up in that and think again that I ain’t like that and it’s best to take it in my own speed.
Main focus will be to have less than 200 things in “apprentice” level at all times (preferably less than 100, but I need to get there before I actually start trying to keep it there xD) and to finish off all my lessons before heading off to next level (and might do updates regarding this so long as it doesn’t annoy others since I’ve noticed that updated topics are sent to first page).
Ofc, if anyone wanna join in on this or give tips or ideas of what have worked for you when it comes to studying, feel free to join in.
Good luck reaching your goal, but don’t forget, that the way is more important here, than the goal.
Unless you have very specific needs (like writing by hand), I doubt that you even need to go all the way through if your goal is to get “fluent” and you actively read.
WK drops off hard for an actual need of the presented Kanji after level 30-40. If you read a lot, I doubt you even need the remaining levels. Quite some people just seem to get through as a challenge and are not really able to read even after reaching level 60, while quite a few stop after level 30 because they can already read without burning the remaining Kanji into their head.
So don’t beat yourself up and spend too much time here that can be spent in a more productive way (depending on your specific need of course).
What WK offers in my opinion is a structured way to be able to break down Kanji and process them easier. For that you don’t need to get very far, and you are definitely able to recognize and read Kanji just from normal vocabulary, once you are used to the process of being able to see the different “building blocks”.
My goal is to be able to read novels n such. Always bothered me when I see how much content light novels / visual novels and web novels have that just takes either forever to be translated or doesn’t get translated at all.
Being able to write and talk is added bonuses, but the reading part is by far the most important one for me.
Also interested in translating some novels that either haven’t been translated or the people translating em stopped (web novels, not LN as that wouldn’t be legal xD)
And I’ve also seen someone mention here that around the lvl 30 mark is where u can start going into games and stuff cause u have most of the basics stuff, even tho u might need to check up on a few words here and there, u will be able to manage mostly fine.
You don’t even need to go that far just to start to read, in my opinion WK should always be accompanied by reading or the information learned here gets stored in weird ways making recognizing the same items in texts really hard.
No matter when one starts to read, level 1 or lvl 60, it will always be brutal at first. You will have to look up a lot and bite your way through, the brain needs to adjust to a completely different language with a unique writing system. Just don’t expect that things will magically be easy because of WK or it might be a huge motivation loss in the end… speaking from experience here (though not with japanese).
On the bright side: Everyone who keeps at learning a language will eventually be able to get fluent. It’s practically impossible to not learn. Giving up is the only factor if one attains fluency or not, even if it might be a long journey.
My conflicting thoughts – (1) There are vocab (and also Kanji) outside WaniKani and vocab are more important than Kanji. (2) Learning vocab (and also Kanji) in advance is overrated. (3) Kanji, a writing system, certainly influences vocab and communication to some extent.
I think, after some point, it might be better to learn vocab in context, Or even, no need to try to learn vocab that hard, sentences are more important. There might always be new vocabularies, but this much is bearable.
There will be a time to leave SRS, if remembering then isn’t an important enough concern.
My plan is to head into genki 1 book later (I wanna finish last 2 games in franchise before I do that since I wouldn’t be able to focus on both.
And after I’ve worked through that one (while doing WK ofc) the plan is to head into reading easier stuff just to get into it.
Feel I need to have more grasp of basic grammar before I can head into reading.
I’m also at level 12 - and I fluctuate between feeling a sense of accomplishment for having gotten this far (because prior to starting WK, I had had so many false starts when attempting to learn the kanji that I had convinced myself that it was a hopeless goal), and feeling overwhelmed by how much more I need to get done.
But I’ve recently made some changes to my study routine to help me make what I’ve learned ‘stick’ and to broaden my learning experience - and I have a few other items in my plan that I need to actually follow up on - and so my outlook is generally positive.
Don’t worry, the amount you would have to consciously learn to get really good at a language seems mind boggling, but on a more positive note: Most of that you aquire unconsciously. Your brain will do most of the work itself as long as you keep working with the language, the portion you have to actively shove into your memory is manageable (or else learning a language would be a fruitless task).
This is where I came into Japanese & WK. Although I still am not good enough at Japanese to read the book that made me start I can read less challenging material.
Listening and talking is hugely important, even if all you want to do is read. They are the fundamental language skills - reading is built on them - so start listening & watching now, and then eventually start talking.
Start reading graded readers now and by the time you’re at level 30 you’ll be able to get into games. If you wait til you’re at level thirty you’ll have all the learning to read stuff to do before you start.
Have you considered using the userscript for wanikani in which you can add your own items and vocab? I havent used it but heard about it on here the other day. I thought i might start using it when i reach level 60 because i like the wanikani routine
Dw, I already watch anime daily, so I certainly get enough on the listening part
Start reading graded readers now and by the time you’re at level 30 you’ll be able to get into games. If you wait til you’re at level thirty you’ll have all the learning to read stuff to do before you start.
that’s the plan, but after I finish 2 games (one of which I’m about halfway through, and then the sequel to it)
Or well… Plan is to head into reading after I’ve completed genki 1, as I feel as I need to have some rough idea regarding grammar before I start.
I’m kind of coming around to the idea that levels don’t matter. There are 9-thousand and some items total, and I plan to do them all*. Right now I’m doing 15 a day, and I never run out of lessons in the queue. Before, I was doing 20 a day and sometimes I got stopped by running out of lessons until something got unlocked. I prefer to just think of it as 15 a day until they’re all gone.
The apprentice count takes care of itself. If I do 15 a day, then there will be about 60-75 in the 4 apprentice levels – 15 added every day, 15 promoted to guru, net zero. At 20 lessons/day, it would be 80-100.
Also I find at 15/day, my reviews are often 100% and always above 90, which makes less re-work.
Sadly can’t say the same here. 70-80% is more in the norm for me, which is why I just stopped trying to advance for now until I can cut down on it a bit more, having over 300 a day with many repeats coming too takes a while.
I don’t know I just started. I was doing 20/day and levels took me about 10 days. (I’m guessing about 12 days)
Complicating factor: I’m trusting the daily lessons thing to pick lessons for me and so far I’m a little skeptical - it hasn’t showed me all the kanji that are unlocked yet and doesn’t seem to be on track to get there soon.
On the other hand, 15 lessons is 15 more of the 9 thousand. That’s what I mean by “level doesn’t matter”. As long as the total number I haven’t seen yet keeps going down, what do I care what level I’m on?
That’s interesting. My average is about 12 days a level and thats doing all the lessons and reviews on the days they appear. I feel like i’m spending too much time on Wanikani at the expense of reading Japanese so possibly just doing 10 lessons a day would be better for me.
I can read less challenging material.
