Thank you! Somehow the link to the FAQ isn’t clickable for me though? The others work just fine.
This is a known issue concerning users of free accounts. Should look like this if you are subscribed or a lifetimer:
(first half of the table)
Table shows that by completing level 16 on WaniKani, you’ll have learned all the kanji necessary for passing the N5 JLPT exam.
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I see thanks a lot! That’s super interesting.
(the table not the error that is 
)
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That table confused the hell out of me too…, here I thought I was just missing something or didn’t understand some fundamental thing. Nope!
It’s just broken. They should really fix that!
Just to be clear, “they” are a regular user who made that site in their spare time. So, if they get around to adding something that explains that the chart is only showing free level content while you’re a free user, that would be cool, but it’s also not something that’s super high priority I imagine.
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Enlighten me, is “sincerity” not the same as “sincere”?
誠実 is listed as noun and na-adjective. From my understanding if the English language, sincere is the adjective and sincerity is the noun.
I’m always hesitant to add English synonyms, because I’m not as confident in English.
I have tons of these Noun/Adjective pairs where I’m unsure.
I assume the site works by querying the kanji per level from WK’s API, then seeing what kanji appears at what level. That way the table auto-updates the moment new kanji are added to the site. But since WK only allows you to go up to level 3 as a free user, information is simply not returned above level 3, hence why the table stops increasing the percentages from there. I don’t really think there’s any way to fix that, the site is made by a user and they simply can’t get the information unless you’re logged in with an account that has a subscription. And for the vast majority of the users it doesn’t really pose a real problem.
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Just a quick question so posting here. Do items that are for example “enlightened” deteriorate and drop into a lower level over time? I was just wondering because the system recently dropped a couple of level 1 kanji into my review and I could barely remember 1 and had to really think about the other, but since I technically got it correct I was worried that the system thinks I know it better than I actually do.
You’re right, and that would be a totally fine synonym to add.
No, not unless you get them wrong. So maybe the answer is really yes, when you get them wrong, since it’s totally natural for memories to fade by the time they pop up again!
I wouldn’t worry too terribly much about tricking the system by getting things right ‘unfairly’ – you still got it right, after all! And it will be back again some day…
Sometimes I unburned items where I didn’t feel good about getting specifically the burn review right, but otherwise I think it’s fine to just let the SRS do it’s thing, and study the item separately if you’re really worried.
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I’ve got a “new people” question.
Can anybody tell me what exactly this mnemonic is about? I don’t know it already, am I supposed to know what an いか is?
From 烏賊.
Unless there’s been some references to it before that someone can tell you about, I imagine you’d get a more definitive response from emailing them.
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Hi everyone! I’m very new on here, so I hope I’m posting in the right place. 
I just recently learned all the hiragana with dakuten and combinations, and now I’m wondering if I need to know katakana for the early stages of WaniKani as well, and if so, how soon/around what level will I need it? I’m currently almost finished with Level 1, but I would like to get more comfortable with hiragana first before starting to learn katakana cause I don’t wanna confuse my brain. Buut, if you guys tell me I should get on to learning it asap, then I will.
The first vocabulary items written in katakana will show up in level 3, so knowing how to read it by then will be helpful.
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I would say to learn it now. I put it off for a year after I learned hiragana and I wish I had learned both at the same time.
Another thing that will help is to find a script that lists on’yomi readings in katakana and kun’yomi readings in hiragana. That will help you practice both.
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The mnemonics that helped me learn hiragana and katakana fairly fast were from these videos:
I can read hiragana fairly fast now while I still stumble with katakana a bit— mainly because the most you see in the wild is hiragana and kanji. I keep saying that I will finally sit down and review katakana until I have mastered it but I still don’t Lol.
I guess it’s not as important to me because I can read katakana. I just make mistakes every now and then and forget certain kana but I can always reference my notes and I can quickly continue so it’s not a big deal. But you should definitely try to learn it. Even if you make mistakes at least you will have had exposure and it will be easier to look up a certain kana rather than constantly having to look up all of them.
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They don’t decay over time but come back to haunt you, periodically, even if you get them right. It’s part of the plan. You don’t get rid of them for a very long time, but see them less and less as time goes by.
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HI, I just started learning Japanese and I’m in level 5 of WaniKani. I still don’t understand the difference between kanji and vocabulary. I think I understand that each “symbol” has 2 readings, but can’t make sense of the difference. Could someone give me some help? Thanks!
A kanji is not a word in itself, it’s a symbol that carries a specific meaning. Kanji are the building stones of vocabulary. Some words are just one kanji on its own, but this still may have a different reading, or even meaning, than what you learned about the kanji itself.
You see, Wanikani first presents radicals (blue), which are the parts that make up the kanji. These are helpful in remembering the kanji. Then you are presented with the kanji (pink), and their most common reading. After you get them to Guru level, you are presented with relevant vocabulary (purple), so that you can see the kanji in action. When learning vocabulary you will see how the meaning of the kanji connects with hiragana or other kanji to make up words (or sometimes makes a word all on its own), and will discover more readings of the same kanji.
As for readings, not all kanji have 2 readings. Some have only one, others have multiple.
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Thank you for the response. To make sure I understand, the vocabulary is how we will see the kanji in the wild interacting with hiragana, katakana, or other kanji. That’s the real language. We are learning the radicals and kanji just to aid us in deciphering the real language which is the vocabulary. How’s that sound?
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Yes. Bear in mind though, that the vocabulary you’re learning in Wanikani is not exhaustive, nor are all words you’ll learn necessarily the most widely used ones. They’re there so that they reinforce the meaning and reading of the kanji in your mind (and you also get to learn vocabulary as a bonus). The real goal is to learn to recognize and decipher the kanji, because when you know their general meaning and their possible readings, you can probably guess at the meaning and reading of any word you encounter in the wild that contains them, even if you weren’t taught it specifically.
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