Hi! I’m new here and I have been wondering how many items people usually have at the apprentice level. I’m sure it varies widely but I’d be curious to here from people about what they prefer!
I remember seeing in the wanikani FAQ or something that they suggested getting your apprentice levels under 100 when you were gone for a while and overwhelmed so I’ve been kind of sticking to that as the “normal” and then halving it to 50 because my working memory is absolutely terrible and once I drift above the 50 mark my ratio of success in reviews plummets. Only 50 at a time seems slow to me so I’m curious as to where other people sit I can almost never get my lessons pile empty at this rate, and I’m mostly okay with that because it’s what works with me but it is slightly dissatisfying for ye olde perfectionism.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone! I currently have 38 apprentice items, and I generally think I’d like to stay at around 50-70 myself. I have fewer right now because I’m just not getting enough sleep these days so my performance has been crappy, which is why I’m taking it a bit slow.
I’d say don’t worry about it! As someone new myself, I’d rather avoid burnout and enjoy learning at a relaxed pace so that I see long term gains - and isn’t that really the essence of WaniKani??
Good to know there’s others that prefer lower numbers of apprentice items! Yeah I definitely think for me that if I keep wanikani low effort as a kind of “back burner” task I’m more likely to see long-term gains since, as you said, it won’t cause burn out that way. I feel bad for the poor Crabigator constantly looking at me like “Why are you refuting my gifts, disciple?”
Oh goodness, good luck! I’ve also got about 70 in my lessons pile and it’s probably gonna just keep going up for now as I’m finishing off the last apprentice levels of my kanji so all the vocab is pouring in… The Crabigator is gonna be sweating for a long time.
I try to keep it under 150. I have around 200 reviews per day and level up every 10 days. It works for me now but I may lower my numbers if my performance drops.
For the first 20-30 levels, I stuck very closely to 100, since I could really notice the increased review strain above that threshold. If I didn’t exceed 150-175 reviews a day, I was okay with the daily grind.
Later on, it was more like 100-150 Apprentice items, also depending on how many Apprentice IV items would hit Guru that day.
You know when the review load is too much for you, so I think you’re doing fine just listening to yourself and setting your own pace. As the months progress, you’ll know if you end up willing and able to increase the numbers.
I used to have around 150-200, even more sometimes. As a result I had easily 200 to 400 reviews every day. With the addition of studying grammar, reading and picking up things left and right, I hardly had any time left for other things. I work full time and have a family. After about 250 days of non stop studying kanji’s with wanikani, doing all the lessons when they popped up, I was slowly losing my motivation.
I spent about 6 weeks trying to reduce my reviews to 50 in apprentice. Took me longer than I thought, tough. I restarted with my lessons about a week ago. I am now at 67 and try to keep it under control by doing about 8 lessons a day at the moment. Goal is to keep it under 75 at all time. I still have some marge for picking up the speed again.
My average levelling every 2 weeks is gone now, but it doesn’t bother me at the moment.
Mine usually stay around 60-110. I have heard staying below 150 is most comfortable, but I haven’t (yet) had the issue of running up a huge number of apprentice vocab. My accuracy is generally pretty good (although lacking lately).
That sounds tough! Good that it’s more under control now I typically try to keep it 50-60 and just do 5-10 lessons every time I do a review if I’m under that number, and that seems to work well for me since it adapts to how many things are levelling up.
Hi, I’ve seen you in the studying thread!! Thank you! <3 I suspect it may actually go down because right now I’m still somewhat riding off the coat tails of what kanji I learned in duolingo but I’m okay with that! I doubt I’ll ever have large swaths of time to dedicate towards Japanese with my current goals, but it sure is an interesting and fun project to be able to invest in and I would be quite upset if I overwhelmed myself and had to stop. I’d rather go slow than not go at all!
Mine’s currently 180. It usually hovers in the 100s. I can’t remember the last time it dipped below 100, and even when it does, it’s only just briefly.
I just keep going and don’t worry about the number of items I have in each stage. If I end up with more reviews, so be it. I’ll pass them eventually either way.
At the beginning of a new level, I usually have around 150 (max.). During the level I try to get this number down to like 100. I aim to have like 80 items only before starting a new lesson though.
I can almost never get my lessons pile empty at this rate, and I’m mostly okay with that because it’s what works with me but it is slightly dissatisfying for ye olde perfectionism.
Yeah I definitely think for me that if I keep wanikani low effort as a kind of “back burner” task I’m more likely to see long-term gains since, as you said, it won’t cause burn out that way. I feel bad for the poor Crabigator constantly looking at me like “Why are you refuting my gifts, disciple?”
Good to know there’s some of us out there!
