(Probably not the first but..) Why can't we get an evaluation test?

[LeoPG]

Hey All!

Well, i understand how the SRS system works, how you gotta perceive the basics to construct the bigger meaning,

BUT ive studied japanese for 4 years already on a school(they use minna no nihongo) and ive covered the speech, reading, etc

ONE MORE BUT, the school “covers” the N4 and N5 kanji (And others, but with books, just those two) , however they dont focus on kanji.

So, this brings up my question: why cant we have an “evaluation” system, in the likes that you will have the usual lessons and reviews, but some “extra” for those who already have some knowledge of japanese, while ive just begun, the lessons are still too basic and too spaced out because aside from the designations given by WK, they are all well know by me.

Cheers

Edit: what i imagining is a secondary study system, with the WK method, not evaluation/progression, they should be independent.

[Omun]

Hello hello, welcome! I’ll assume that you know what radicals are, and that WaniKani uses them in the teaching of kanji.

WaniKani renames quite a number of radicals, and adds some unofficial radicals as well. This is all for their mnemonic system, which is WK’s main strength for most people.

The more out-there radical names and mnemonic stories help a lot of people remember kanji, the meaning, and reading. If you skip, a lot of this system of building radicals and mnemonic stories on top of each other is lost.

The WK mnemonics work quite well for many, but of course not for all. Currently there is no evaluation test that will progress people to higher levels while also keeping said system intact, unfortunately.

[forthesushi]

I was in the same spot as you; I had studied for 4 years in university, so I knew a lot of grammar. Yet I didn’t know which was the exact on’yomi or kun’yomi reading of many of the kanjis already studied and when to use it (for words first encountered). So wk taught me to differentiate from those two by getting a feel for them.

Also, wanikani doesn’t give you all of the N5 and N4 kanji from the beginning. It mixes a bit of the other levels (N3, N2, N1). Actually, a user has to reach level 16 to have 100% of N5 kanji, and by doing so she also covers 96% of N4 kanji, 50% of N3, 24% on N2, and 3% of N1.

Another positive thing that I found, in my case, was that a lot of the vocabulary I didn’t know or at least wasn’t used to reading it fast. By level 10, (the level I am right now in) I have studied a little bit over 850 vocab in wanikani.

I recommend you to try the first 3 levels and see if you want to continue after that. You can finish them in a week, I believe.

Good luck, and welcome!

[sornvru]

I’m reading this as a veiled “WK is too slow post” sooo…

@leopoldo95 If you have not read the FAQ or the guide, you could try looking in one of the following threads:

24 hour wait and 0 reviews tomorrow
a bit slow to progress?
About the first (infamously) slow levels
Already know a few kanji…
A Three Day Wait
At Level 4 but stilll seems a bit slow.
Brutally slow feeding of new items and reviews for intermediate student
Can I speed up the pace at WaniKani?
Can new users jump to their appropriate level
Can you study Japanese in a faster way?
Does it start this slowly?
Do we even learn japanese with Wanikani?
Early level unlock speed
Enough with radicals, why won’t kanji come already?!
Faster…?
Feel like there needs to be a more concise way for non-beginners to bypass content already known.
Give me more reviews
Going through the start faster.
Help new to WaniKani
Help please new subscriber
Help with lessons cant seem to get anymore
horribly slow for intermediate, any way to skip levels??
How long need wait for new lessons?
How many reviews before new lessonlevel
How to level up
I’m level N3 but I just started using this site. Do I really have to start from the beginning?
In 72 hours some reviews very sparse
Is it just me or do the reviews suck For level 2
Is it supposed to be this slow?
Isnt five days a bit too long of a wait
Is skipping from apprentice to guru/master/enlighten/burn possible?
Is skipping levels possible?
Is there any way to make this thing go faster?
Is there ANY way to speed this up?
Is there anyway to speed wanikani up? I find this too slow.
is there any way to speed wanikani up?
Just started, why is it this slow?
Kanji progression
New here
New lessons arent unlocking
New user checklist and lesson speed
New user question 0 Lessons and 0 Reviews means I should just wait
New user questions
No New Lessons
Not being able to continue/skip ahead
Not getting a new lessons
OH GOD WHY IS WK SO SLOW!?!?
One study session just one radical now must wait 8 hours
Only 1 kanji in the reviews since 3 days
Only 86 reviews within the next day I am bored
Pace is too slow for intermediate-level users.
Progression question!
Progression speed
Pshh… This is too easy and slow!
Question about wait times
Review and level up wait time for the millionth time probably
Reviews
Shorten wait periods
Silly questions i have
Simple beginner question
Skipping Ahead
Skipping Levels (or making them quicker)
Skip?
Slow Progress customise starting level
Slow progression
Slow Start?
So slow
Speeding up lessons
Speed too slow
Speed up the first 5 levels of wanikani
Suggestion: Assessing Levels of New Users
Suggestion: Skip Waiting Time
The SPEED!!! of WaniKani.
The starting-as-non-beginner / placement-test / I-already-know-this thread
The wait times are ridiciously long
Think WaniKani is slow? You’re not alone.
This newbie needs help on unlocking more lessons
This website sure starts slow…
Time between reviews for each SRS level
Too Slow
Two days until next review No lessons either
Unlocking new radicalskanji
Unnecessary waiting for new content
Wait 4hrs to review only one word
Wait times
Wanikani isn’t as slow as I expected it to be and I am disappoint.
WaniKani is so slow!
WaniKani is so slow at the start
WaniKani is so slow
WaniKani Is Too Slow!!!
Wanikani painfully slow
ways to make the learning processes faster?
WaniKani Too Slow! Can I speed this up Please!?
way to speed up the lessons?
Wayyy-to-slow
What do you need to do level up
When are my lessons coming
When do you get a new lesson
When may I start studying Kanji
When will WaniKani increase speed?
Why is this site soooo slow?!?!?!?
Why must it be so “slow”?
Wish the intervals between reviews were shortened. Any tips on getting to the next review faster?

[Saida]

On wk stats you can find a list of all kanji on WK arranged by jlpt level, jouyou level and others. You could check and see how long it will take you see kanji you don’t know yet.

Though the first 15 levels or so are heavy on the N5-4 kanji, a lot of N3 and higher kanji are in there too. And the vocab are often of higher levels as well, so wven if you can read the kanji, you’re guaranteed to learn some new words associated with them.

I’m doing Minna no Nihongo as well, and depending how far you’ve gotten in the books, WaniKani has been a great companion. (If you want to focus on reading the kanji more, I would suggest crossing out all of the furigana: that on top of wk has really sped up my reading ability). I have worked through the first two books, doing most of that in a classroom. Right now I am doing two classes: one is at about chapter 47, the other at chapter 16 of the intermediate series. I can read most of the kanji, even if I don’t know all of the vocab, yet. But I know most of that I owe to WK. But I also started WK after I had only started learning Japanese for a month.

[LeoPG]

I understand how you perceived the post, but i wouldnt call it slow. Its perfectly ok and my learning of the WK method so far has been great. And yes, i read the FAQ.

But what im saying is that there should be a few “variables”, as said on the post, something Extra(not evaluated, but using the WK method), not necessarily on the usual reviews/lessons.

Is it clearer? I like the WK method so far, it complements really well with the lack on emphasis of kanji on my regular course.

[LeoPG]

Yep, thats the mindset i have so far, im really enjoying the WK method, thats what im hoping. As i said in another post, is that i was hoping of something extra Within the WK method, but not necessarily being evaluated.

[jsantosf]

Hi there welcome!

If you go beyond level 3 and decide to sell your soul to the crabigstor be ready to not question its methods!

Joke aside, it could be there is not enough demand for people to “jump into a level” or that it creators want to sell a product that goes from 1 to 60 no exception.

Really, besides the RSR rules and no skipping levels, almost all other rules are for discussion given the many, many, many users scripts out there

[OneUp]

This issue comes up pretty often. If someone proposed a workable solution, it might be implemented. But so far, nobody’s come up with anything even close to resolving all the problems with the idea.

[Radish8]

I can see where you’re coming from, but I think you should just enjoy the free time while it lasts

If you decide to keep going with WK after the free levels your workload will rapidly increase. Right now, there’s no need for you to spend more time on WK, right? So just enjoy the fact that it hardly takes up any of your day.

[LeoPG]

I do hope it increases(i intend to continue) - Not only these four years of study, i also practice kendo and im scheduling a trip to japan in about 12-14 months, so i do want to improve on my kanji reading

[YukiPhoenix]

So, this brings up my question: why cant we have an “evaluation” system, in the likes that you will have the usual lessons and reviews, but some “extra” for those who already have some knowledge of japanese, while ive just begun, the lessons are still too basic and too spaced out because aside from the designations given by WK, they are all well know by me.

Because that’s not how the system is set up. That is obviously going to mean that certain people will feel unnecessarily constrained by the system, but WK isn’t going to be the appropriate learning tool for everyone. The system is set up to teach people with no assumption of any prior kanji knowledge. Obviously, this will mean that if you do that the beginning might seem slow and boring.

I do hope it increases(i intend to continue)

It does. This isn’t meant to be a system where you can blow through it in a month or two. It starts out slow and will be build up as you go. Less than 4 hours is probably a highly premature point to make a call on the effectiveness of the system. Besides, the downtime gives you plenty of time to practice grammar or other activities to increase your Japanese language skills.

[Radish8]

Don’t worry, it will if you go at a reasonable clip you could get extremely far through the levels by that point (technically you could finish if you go full speed).

[AnimeCanuck]

You could get the Self-Study Script once you have a subscription and pick levels you haven’t unlocked yet, giving yourself extra practice while waiting for the new content to roll in, and giving yourself a quick ego boost on the early levels for acing every review.