Greetings Veterans of Wanikani, I am still a noob but I have an idea and want to hear feedback.
When it comes to vocab reviews, do you agree it would be wiser to intentionally try to answer them as fast as you can, intentionally failing them if you dont answer it correctly within 2 seconds for example? Maybe 5 seconds idk.
Upon failing the review is when you intentionally pause and restudy it properly before moving on.
This will mess up accuracy stats and will buildup review piles more than normal, but wonât it help you get the kanji and vocab down much better in your mind? Getting the kanji vocab to become automatic instead?
What are the curveballs im not seeing? What downfalls could there be that may hurt my kanji studies rather than help it by doing this?
I donât think it would be very productive. In the real world youâre encountering words in a meaningful context that usually makes it easier to converge towards the correct meaning even if youâre not 100% solid on this particular word. In comparison the flashcard review system that associates Japanese and English words is very artificial.
Learning Japanese is hard enough as it is, no point in playing in hard mode IMO.
Donât chase accuracy stats. Let the SRS work its magic â when you fail an item, you get to spend more time with it. The SRS is directing your attention to those items that need it.
I donât have a set timer in my mind when I purposefully fail an item. Itâs just a feeling that my recall was not immediate enough, the way it is for those items that have been truly burned into my mind.
While Iâm not a WK vet , I am a long time learner who managed to remember a lot even after a multi-year break. So Iâll speak from the perspective of having high retention.
If you donât get an answer within 4 seconds, chase associations. Try to think of what context you saw them in, what sentences. If I remembered the reading but not the meaning, then saying it out loud sometimes helps. Maybe Iâll remember a conjugated form of the verb and thatâll help me remember a meaning. Maybe Iâll remember a sentence I saw it in. That feeling of âoh crap, it took 20 seconds but I got itâ has always made those words stick longer than post-error review. (Of course I still do post-error review if I got it wrong)
That doesnât mean my reviews take long. Iâve done 100-card reviews in 10 minutes with high accuracy. But if something stumps me, I donât rush it, I give it an honest try.
Here I am, clicking on this post thinking itâs going to be about animals and wondering why someone wants to consult a veterinarian on WaniKani⊠Not gonna lie, a bit disappointed itâs not actually about animals, but your question is also very good.
Donât actually have anything meaninful to say, lol.
This might sound goofy, but the way I look at it is, if I come across something that I canât remember instantly, the time I spend thinking about it and trying to dig it out of my head is like me tinkering and rewiring my brainđ . So even if it took me 20 seconds or more to finally recall it, I think of the time I spent as creating a stronger pathway to that answer again in the futuređ.
imo, setting for a harder quiz help for studying. For language learning, that might be listening or handwriting. Maybe speaking too, but thatâs probably difficult to apply to SRS flashcards.
Itâs not exactly time required, but the amount of experience and logic raked, and also byproducts noticed. One can be conscious of the process. Taking notes can help (why WaniKani limit 5,000 characters and no multimedia?). Also taking notes of memory techniques like mnemonics or key phrases or imagery (if any is required).
Well, not only language learning. It can also apply to recalling a table or a diagram, drawing, from a flashcard without SRS, or just simply any kind of questions.
As a not-veteran, Iâd say itâs good to try to answer quickly, but if youâre unable, you donât have to fail the review. I still tend to sorta remember items I manage to answer in this way.
Also recommend taking a break for a while if youâre forgetting a lot of items - it tends to clear up your reviews pile since the items you really know will get burned/enlightened and you wonât have to deal with them, whereas youâll forget almost all of the ones youâre not so clear on completely (so you donât have to worry about âdo I kinda know this one tho? do I really need to go over it?â) and be able to take them through the learning/reviewing process again.