It took a long time, but I’m glad I did it. Turns out it really is as simple as just convincing yourself never to skip a day. I found that it’s much easier to learn from people that learned Japanese from English. Teachers that learned English from Japanese may take for granted intricacies in their language, and place too much emphasis on things that don’t help to learn the language. I still can’t form any sentences any better than a 2 year old, but I can read most of my games pretty quickly, and that’s just fantastic for such a notoriously difficult language. It’s given me a lot of confidence in my ability to do so many other things as well, as I constantly use this program as a reference for the things I can get done with the discipline I put myself under.
The only grumbles I had are complaints that you’ve probably heard before. Not nearly enough synonyms. I don’t think a difference between something like “to copy” and “to be copied” should have even mattered throughout the entire program since this is really a Japanese specific grammar point for just about every verb, and is really confusing for English speakers. Spent way too long getting these wrong for no good reason, since this negative reinforcement doesn’t help me learn the MEANING of the word any better. I think in general, the meanings of the words were just too strictly enforced. The connections and context specific meanings of words can and should be derived from reading Japanese when reading naturally.
Thanks for the great program. Completely worth the time and money.
I agree with you. WaniKani is way too restrictive. You can’t even remove a single vocab from the list. All the things you mentioned make the whole experience really frustrating.
I mean think about the new guy who doesn’t even know that there is a script to ignore wrong answers and take 14 days to level up because he keeps writing things like “imitation” instead of “imitate”.
Anyways, I will be 60 in a couple days so I will have the chance to share my opinion as well.
Congratulations! I’m not on my laptop to send you a 60 cake, so please accept this delicious slice of cheesecake my coworker got me from CostCo in Fukuoka. (I may have already had a bite, but it’s still good!)
How long did it take you to complete? I think the trans and intrans verbs are frustrating to say the least, but I think they are still important in order to be able to form sentences correctly. Congrats on your achievement!
Congratulations i still struggle with cough getsu vs gatsu reading. And i messed up my burn review on
to lower vs to be lowered and i don’t use any scripts. I am literally worst combination lol. I hope you have wonderful journey.
I got this exact kanji wrong so many times that it was in critical condition for well over a month just because I always forgot to write imitation. A national tragedy
I recommend you start using the “synonym” feature from now on. Add some synonyms to every element to make sure you don’t mess up. You can also check jisho.org for better definitions. Sometimes WaniKani really picks weird meanings
the weird meanings make it stand out that much more when you see them in the wild, it starts off as like ummmm… for some reason i remember it as this word I rarely use - xxx, because wanikani.
I see how it can work with some words(it probably happened to me as well) but when it happens a lot it’s not as convenient anymore, at least in my opinion.
As a non-native English speaker, I noticed that I had trouble memorizing the Kanji when I didn’t know the English word that is used for the reading. It’s like my brain is failing to establish the connection between the reading(that is a word that I’ve never seen before) and the Kanji. This doesn’t happen all the time but it did sometimes and it was quite annoying. Here is an example that I got recently: 菅(like what the heck is “sedge” lmao).
You need to wait 3 days so that you can say it on my final post
I made my account in 2013, but I was really only active for about 3 years of that. This was really a journey of building habits as much as it was learning Japanese. I don’t doubt the importance of trans and intrans verbs, but the English translation of ‘to XXXX’ versus ‘to be XXXX’ is not really accurate. The way this phrasing is used in English is often used to differentiate between the actor and the acted upon. This is not at all what is happening in Japanese. That’s why it’s confusing.
haha sorry I meant that for the original person who opened this topic, but the reply was just to you.
Ah I get what you mean, actually as a native English speaker I honestly have no idea what sedge means… well I looked it up, at least I was in the ballpark that it was a plant of some sort, but I imagined it was some sort of bush rather than weedlike.
Anyway I think it’s best not to focus on being a completionist for languages since they are constantly evolving with time and the internet. I’m currently working towards finishing my enlightened items, but I don’t really care about 100% burned. Basically don’t let those weird words burn you out? just do it and move on. If you suddenly develop an interest in plants, then perhaps it’ll come back to you.
Gatsu = number attached to it (shigatsu, jyuugatsu, etc, and nangatsu is standing in for a number. Sorry I can’t use characters with this keyboard)
Getsu = in general usage of month/moon (getsuyou, getsumatsu)
Hope this helps
Or a more fun way in my opinion to remember things in the long run is to watch/listen to enough material. Such that when it comes time, simply by saying it out loud you’ll get the feeling that if it’s right or wrong.
Haha, what a fail. You replied to me while I mentioned “level 60” so I thought it was for me.
There is a higher chance that I become a polyglot than me being interested in plants. Please don’t remind me how many Kanji exist for “tree”. I am just waiting for level 60 to end my suffering.
+1. This language has so many exceptions it’s humanly impossible to remember them without seeing them all the time.
i still struggle with cough getsu vs gatsu reading. And i messed up my burn review on
