I am still very early in my Japanese journey, and I’m just trying to plan out how I want to proceed with things…I see everybody using all the scripts/add ons/etc to check their progress and stats, and while I do find it interesting and probably very useful, I am thinking about not using any of this.
I think I am possibly a lot worse at language learning than a lot of people, and if I start comparing my stats to others I’m worried I’ll get discouraged and feel like I’m never going to learn. Maybe this won’t be the case, but do you guys who are further along than me know of any unforeseen consequences to not tracking my progress like so many others do, and just doing barebones WK with no add ons?
From where I’m standing right now I feel like taking it day by day and not worrying about what kind of pace I’m on will give me the best success in the long run, just wanted to see what the community thinks about that. Thanks!
Not all add ons are for stats though, I have one that allows me to ignore an answer (that I only use for when I make typos and write, for example, おんあ instead of おんな (for the kanji 女) by mistake xD) and other that, when I’m doing my reviews, it turns the radicals/kanji/vocab into other fonts I have installed so I get used to see them that way.
I’m rather new around here, but I guess that keeping track of your stats is just for you and while I do like to look at my stats, I don’t bother comparing them to others as I know I’m not like the others and I’m taking my sweet sweet time learning Japanese.
Yeah, I do have a lot of typos, have been thinking about getting that one. I figure if I screwed it up I might has well do it again though lol maybe I’ll feel differently if I make a typo when I’m trying to burn something
I don’t use any scripts for similar reasons. I also don’t care about my speed (which should be obvious by my level… I’ve been here nearly 2 years). This is just one of many tools, resources I use for Japanese (which is a hobby, a serious one, but not something that is my whole life and my job does not depend on me ever passing the JLPT at a high level) and I don’t need to get all frustrated or obsessed with stats, which I know I will. I don’t use any correction ones either because it wouldn’t hurt me to make sure I’m focused (my input errors usually come from typing too fast or something I can easily control).
If your needs and planned usage is similar to mine I don’t think you will be harmed by not using any scripts. Really depends on your needs and what you want out of it. You can also always change your mind in a few months if you want!
Scripts do wayyyy more than display statistics. I’m currently using 10 and only 2 of them work with stats in any way. Personally I think the font randomizer is crucial to the point that it should really be a built-in feature.
I disagree about the correction script. I’m spending time and money to learn Kanji, not to learn that I accidentally hit the “o” key onstead if “i”. But I like to really speed through review sessions as quickly as I can remember the answers in order to push my memory. Also if I remember an answer but fail it for other reasons, that’s not exactly adjusting the SRS to best retain it long-term.
Nice, I will probably get that font randomizer, thanks. Definitely something I have worried about seeing certain stuff out in the wild and it looking almost unrecognizable due to the font.
I completely agree with not using stats. I check wkstats from time to time, but just to compare myself with myself, or because I’m wondering how long that huge gap in my learning was again (561 days). If you’re halfway prone to comparing yourself to others… Probably best to avoid checking stats. Being competitive in language learning is probably going to do more harm than good.
As for corrections, I find WK near unusable without them. I don’t want to be punished for forgetting that WK wants this particular synonym or wants verbs to be prefixed with “to” when I really do know the meaning of a word.
That’s a good one, I’m gonna add that. Can’t hurt, at the very least.
i’m not going to add any scripts which allow me to “fix” mistakes. i know myself well enough that that’d be a slippery slope which i don’t want to go down. of course that is up to you, and you have to know yourself whether you’d use it only for honest typos, or would expand its use
statistics are again a personal thing, i like them, they help me keep track of where i’ve been, which i find useful
I’ve found that learning to write Kanji makes them far more recognizable in even the most unique fonts. If you’re interested, there’s a script for that too.
You know I was the worst in my language learning classes but I still managed to learn english. It just took me longer than the average person. Now I can watch science channels on youtube in english and I understand everything they say. Never give up you can do it!
Joke’s aside, that’s really great to hear. I always see people on these forums talk about Novels, Manga and Anime, but I don’t really enjoy fictional narrative. I’ve been worried about the extra difficulty of (interesting and not made for children) science and history content. This is really encouraging. Thank you!
I decided to give the font randomizer a try and it is indeed awesome. Need to get more varied fonts to make it more fun.
About the correction script, that is a very good point you bring up and one I didn’t consider since I have lifetime. I may well revise my opinion on using that one as well (even though it’s not a money issue for me at this point since the cost is already sunk, it’s not like I enjoy wasting my own time for something petty).
I use a script that shows Kanji stroke order, which I find helpful for writing practice. They can really aid you in your studies, just be careful in not choosing ones which will be counter-productive for your study style.
(I also use the self-study quiz, font-randomizer, pitch info, katana madness (turns all on’yomi into katakana) and Wanikani real numbers (tells you exactly how many reviews you have rather than 42+). I don’t worry about tracking my stats either, I just try to do better each day
