My Journey of 368 days (+ The Ultimate Guide for WK šŸ“– )

Thank you!! I use the app on ios so I must be using some scripts already. They donā€™t reorder anything but there is the typo script I believe, as in it allows one letter to be out of place.

I probably wonā€™t try doing anything other than what is already in place for now. Thank you for all you help. The link was very useful as Iā€™d not found that and might need it in the future.

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I just wanted to say a big thank you for this post!

I read it when I was still on the free levels, and without it I probably wouldnā€™t have even noticed the systematic review intervals, or the way lessons are unlocked, and how accuracy impacts levelling-up (and therefore unlocking new stuff).

I came to WK with some kanji/vocab knowledge already, so this is really helping me to move (relatively) quickly through the lower levels to get to the meaty stuff sooner (and probably slow down at that point). For now Iā€™m avoiding reordering/filtering scripts for now (trying to respect the original WK plan), but maybe at later levels Iā€™ll need to start using oneā€¦

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Hey, Iā€™m glad to hear that things are going smoother thanks to this guide :stuck_out_tongue:

Are you enjoying Wanikani? I started it in 2017 with no knowledge whatsoever, so itā€™s always interesting to me to see the perspective of those that start knowing some content already :slight_smile:

The reorder script that I was recommending before (and it was the only one available) allowed for some unhealthy habits to be created from the behalf of the user. However, I finally removed it from the suggestionsā€™ list yesterday and Iā€™m now recommending Lesson Filter. With this one, the WKā€™s order is maintained much better, the difference being that you can specify the number of lessons of each type you want to do in a given lesson session. Maybe take this one into consideration (even if only for the future) :v:

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Iā€™m loving WaniKani, even if there are quite a lot of kanji and words I already know going through the lower levels, Iā€™m still learning stuff (more kanji, more readings, more vocab).

Itā€™s pretty amazing to see people like you speeding through from 0 to most Joyo in such a short time, And we all get to benefit from it! :blush: I havenā€™t seen how you approached grammar, did you do that in a condensed time too?

Thank you for the recommendation of the lesson filter script, Iā€™ll take a look at it ā€“ it might be a good way of pacing when I start getting lessons for stuff I havenā€™t seen before. :slight_smile:

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I reached N3 level in the first year of Japanese and then my grammar knowledge pretty much stagnated :sweat_smile:

I think I got involved in too many things (for grammar I was literally writing a textbook as Iā€™d go with learning it). Then I got involved into improving both Core 10k and a katakana vocab deck on Kitsunā€¦ and life happenedā€¦ and Iā€™m not the perfect person when it comes to discipline soā€¦ :rofl:

But oh well, things are going back to place bit by bit :slight_smile: I also have Russian to deal with, so my attention needs to be divided.


For grammar, I followed Bunproā€™s JLPT list, checked a bunch of resources online and took notes as Iā€™d go. Thatā€™s why the textbook idea came up. I realized thereā€™s a need for a better balance between depth of grammar explanations and ease of learning.

I didnā€™t follow any specific textbook. However, once Iā€™m back to grammar, Iā€™ll use the shinkanzen series. I like how they order their grammar books by similar grammar. I think that not enough grammar sources are willing to help differentiate different grammar structures, which only leads to you knowing 5 different ways of saying ā€œthe same thingā€ and no idea which one is best, even if the nuance is small.

Thank you for the kind words :slight_smile:

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Updated the guide! :tada::tada:

  • Added info about how SRS intervals for levels 1 and 2 are halved and explained how they can lead to things starting to heat up on WK to beginners (so that they understand that ā€œomg is so slowwwwā€ is temporary).

  • Removed the overwrite and the reorder scripts from my recommendations. Those 2 scripts were the ones that could hurt the usersā€™ learning. Now Iā€™m recommending Lesson Filter, Double-Check and Prioritize Overdue Reviews (reorder script) instead.

  • Updated ā€œThreads on the forums that you should know aboutā€ with the 2 new Japanese only sections, with the lovely android app Flaming Durtles - Android app with offline support, and with the Master List of Book Clubs .

  • I improved ā€œThe famous fast levelsā€ chapter by giving a broader perspective on how to take them: slower, maintain the same speed, or speed up. I explained the pros and cons of each, hoping that will help users make a decision.

  • Updated level 30/60 graphics with more updated ones (thanks Kumi and cpitman!)

  • I improved chapter 11 ā€œI came back to WK and now I have an insane amount of reviewsā€ by making it better organized and started recommending the use of Prioritize Overdue Reviews (reorder script) instead of the reorder by SRS levelsā€™ script that I had there.

  • Updated list of fast levels.

  • General improvements of the text for clarification/simplicity.

  • Cringed about something I wrote 1 year+ ago, as if it was a Facebook post from my crazy teen years.

2 months and half, not bad.

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Nice work!
Also, I am in Kyoto right now and it is awesome. :slight_smile:

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still no mention of me :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

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Damn it, now I have to read through the entire guide again just to see what you removed. :rofl:

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You sure? :wink:

Just check the script section if anything :stuck_out_tongue:

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ä½•ć‚‚ę°—ä»˜ć‹ćŖć‹ć£ćŸć€‚

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Superb and inspiring post, thanks so much for writing!

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Glad it made you feel this way :slight_smile: Welcome to Wanikani and good luck on your journey!

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So, I didnā€™t know about the scripts before reading your post. Iā€™m trying to be more careful about level timings (to avoid reviews at 2 AM for example) and enhance my performance. Iā€™m also being more active on the Wanikani community, so I can find new resources and practice my japonese. Besides that, is really incredible to found other people that speakes portuguese here! So yeah, obrigada (portuguese word for thank you) for this amazing guide!

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Hey, obrigado eu :grin: Glad you enjoyed it and to see that you already took some of what youā€™ve learned into practice! :slight_smile: I hope to continue seeing you around the forums and let me know if thereā€™s anything I can help you with :slight_smile:

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When youā€™re trying to finish a level ASAP, I know youā€™re supposed to finish the first batch of kanji within three days. Does this same schedule also apply to the second set of kanji?

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majority of levels have three ā€œwavesā€ (assuming that nothing is delayed - that is, kanji >90% is at guru-I stage without errors on time [at 6d20]):

  1. [0d0] radicals, kanji, vocab
  2. [3d10] kanji (constructed with radicals from p1), vocab (using kanji from p1)
  3. [6d20] vocab (using previous kanji)

the last one comes together with the first wave of the next level, right after levelup.

that is, the important points for level up: radicals from wave 1 and then kanji from wave2.
all others can be spread as you like.


edit:

fast levels are different, and they will require kanji from wave1 to be at guru-I asap [at 3d10], but that does seem to be a different storyā€¦

ehh. it will happen quite soon, andā€¦ are they tasty, those fast levels?

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Short answer: Yes, it does :slight_smile:

Long answer:

Iā€™d say that the timing of the lessons for the 2nd batch of kanji is even more important. You could even not do any kanji lessons for the first ~3d12h of the level and then do all kanji lessons once youā€™d guru the radicals. If you donā€™t mess up on reviews, youā€™d still level up in around 7 days.

Of course, this is not idealā€¦ but just to add some perspective.

The reason why you need both batches of kanji lessons to level up is because you need 90% of kanji guruā€™d once in order to level up. Normal levels are called that precisely because the moment you level up, you unlock less than those 90%. Thatā€™s why you need the kanji that unlock from the radicals in order to reach that percentage :slight_smile:

Let me know if I can make it clearer for you.

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not that it matters much, butā€¦

pedantic correction: it should be 3d10h, ā€œfor the fastest speed possibleā€.

levels? ā†’ days.

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Thanks, made it clearer now xD

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