Should I consider resetting?

Japanese Language
#1

So, I’ve been at Japanese for a year, and not only have I been learning this language, I’ve also been learning how to study and become a better student. In that first year, I felt like I cheated a lot, I’ve used the ignore script very often, and now that I’m catching on to my bad habits, my scores are finally reflecting my actual knowledge. The results aren’t very good.

I feel like I should reset, however I just wanted to know how it works, and if it would be right for me. Also, how far back do I go? What’s the best way to figure that?

#2

I haven’t done a reset before, but I would check your WaniKani stats. Try to check what your lowest level is that has a large amount of apprentice/guru items (it’s color coded, so if all/most of your kanji are pink or purple at a certain level, then they’re all at apprentice/guru level). You may even elect to reset a few levels before the worst-looking level if you want to take some time to regain your bearings.

2 Likes
#3

Im not personally a fan of resets, i think its better to just hold back on new lessons and naturally catch up.
In the end you lose a lot more time resetting than you do by taking it slow untill youre up to speed.
And as long as items arent burned, theyll be reinforced just fine without a reset eventually.

If you make an effort to correct items you get wrong (reinforcing the mnemonics)
It wont actually take you that long to get your accumulated items up to speed.
I recommend using the Shin Wanikani Leech trainer aswell as it helps to distinguish the lookalikes and just all around reinforces what doesnt stick so well.
I think the important thing is to stop using the ignore script, as hundreds of other wanikaniers have learned the hard way. The rest will sort itself out just fine.

those are my 2 cents

4 Likes
#4

I have reset, and I wouldn’t recommend it - it would only make sense if you are getting entire levels 100% incorrect.

You’re aware of some of your behaviours that have created a disparity between your level and your knowledge, so just move foward with more pro-learning behaviours, letting the SRS do what it is supposed to do in selecting the not-yet-learned items for more frequent study.

I think all the threads around here about racing (to the cake, to be finished by the Olympics, the next solar eclipse, etc.) are a bad influence and make those of us who need a little more time to absorb everything feel like we should be going faster, leading to the corner-cutting you wrote of. We’re less vocal, but the slow and steady crowd is here and we are also going to finish, just without the collective, publicly-broadcast deadlines.

頑張りましょう。

10 Likes
#5

You don’t neccessarily need to reset either. Just take some time off lessons, and the SRS system will sort all your items based on how well you know them. Some will be no problem, some might return a few times before you learn them, and for a few you might want to look at explanations again. No need to loose your progress :blush:

6 Likes
#6

Thanks heaps, guys. Love the community here :smiley:

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#7

I wouldn’t. Just start better practice, don’t cheat yourself, and you’ll improve.

If you don’t know an answer and get it wrong, it’s going back to Apprentice level whether you reset or not. So why throw away progress on words you do know because you’re getting some others wrong?

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#8

I wouldn’t either. How about just stop taking lessons and just solely focus on your reviews everyday. Do your reviews as honestly as possible by avoid using undo scripts (unless it’s a typo)? Maybe it would just take you 2 or 3 weeks to recover.

If you really want to reset, I think probably about 4 to 5 levels at most.

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#9

Remember that you can use scrips to unburn items that you notice you have forgot. That way will everything you might not remember be a part of the SRS Carousel

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#10

Like mentioned above, you don’t need to reset. Just stop doing lessons for a bit and re-review all of your “doubtful” items. SRS will kick in and show you the ones you need more frequently, until you get them.

Then, restart the lessons.

I would never reset.

3 Likes
#11

Off, topic, but, what can you guys tell me about Anki decks? I’ve only ever used the software way back in the beginning to get the verb forms down, but I hear all the time on the boards of people using Anki along side WK. Any recommendations? I was thinking of making one for vocab I find in the wild, however I’m not sure if I want to be learning words I don’t know the kanji for…

#12

I’m using Kitsun rather than Anki as I find it much more user-friendly.

I’ve not yet made my own cards, but you could ask the creator some questions in the Kitsun thread.

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#13

Interesting. Can you give me context and recommendations?

I tried Anki 6 months ago and found it very counter intuitive and turned me off.

1 Like
#14

I tried Anki for a few days, trying to create a vocab deck, and just couldn’t figure it out and gave up.

A while later I read a few posts mentioning Kitsun and had a look; the interface is much nicer, and there was already a Genki vocab deck created by a community member, so I’ve been using that. The bit I’ve read about creating cards in Kitsun sounds a lot more straightforward than Anki.

The Anki vs. Kitsun thread may be more enlightening for you than my comments above, and if you follow the link in my previous comment, you can see screen shots in the OP and a comparison with Anki in the 3rd or 4th comment.

3 Likes
#15

I reset and I’m incredibly glad I did. I was so stuck and I forgot so many things. I thought resetting was crazy until I was in Japan and I realised how much I could be comprehending if I hadn’t forgotten so much and had better learning habits. I read some of the level 60 guides here, reset, and have been using more spaced-out practice methods and exposing myself to seeing more kanji in nature (books, etc) to reinforce them, plus writing in a journal, and seriously it’s way better this time.
Most people say not to, so I thought I’d share my experience as someone who it’s working out for. I feel like you know in the back of your mind what the right decision for you is though. Good luck!

3 Likes
#16

If you feel like you need to reset to slow down the pace and go over things you truly did not work for before then I would say go for it. I’ve reset twice now due to life dragging me away from WK by my pink and green robes. It has been good at least for me to go over everything again and solidified my learning a lot.

Now if you don’t want to reset you can probably just revive all your burned stuff and it will get there again maybe.

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#17

Thank you so much for your insight and for the link!

1 Like
#18

I highly recommend you to tackle down vocabs using @jprspereira 's WK Expansion Deck on Kitsun. I wish I could learn this deck in parallel with WK since two years ago.

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No, I’m not gonna talk about my experience with Anki for years.

5 Likes
#19

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