Slow & Steady Is Much More Gratifying Than Leveling (in my opinion)

[Umio]

I remember my first attempt at wanikani and this was basically all apprentice.

I finally feel like I have wanikani under control. I am really enjoying drilling in all the little details of wanikani, not just the ++ level gratification most people are after.

I was putting off some unlocks for a while because I was having issues with ordering content, but now I can guru all my vocabs, then radicals, then all current level kanji( allows unlocking mass vocab at once).

This has been extremely consistent in progressing without getting overwhelmed. I have decided not to ‘rush’ through the content.

Ask yourself, are you after a level number, or actually knowing the content?

[Leebo]

Ask yourself, are you after a level number, or actually knowing the content?

Both

[anon6098980]

Ask yourself

Don’t tell me what to do! You’re not my mom!
Seriously though, it’s encouraging hearing from people who have their learning pace figured out. Advice is always welcome. Well… almost always. Well… most of the time. Anyways…

the ++ level gratification most people are after

That’s not a nice thing to assume.

[acm2010]

I will ignore my way to level 60 and then walk around with a golden shirt.

[Caracal]

Gotta admit I did some rushing through…not so much for the gratification of leveling, though, but mostly because I wanted to get to all the content before this year’s subscription ran out. Kinda wish I’d gone for lifetime early on, but since I didn’t…

[Nedeli]

Definitely after actually knowing the content. I’m actually planning on hitting the breaks after I get to level 30 and even things out. My numbers are stressing me out lol. I kind of like the idea of knowing the first half of WK as well as possible before continuing on.

[Raionus]

I finally feel like I have wanikani under control. I am really enjoying drilling in all the little details of wanikani, not just the ++ level gratification most people are after.

Ask yourself, are you after a level number, or actually knowing the content?

I get that some people need to go slow, but do you guys really need to take shots at people who go fast to do that?

[rumade]

Levelling up, burning items, and taking it slow are all pretty gratifying in their own way. I liked the thrill of levelling up and I know that on the last few levels I was stretching my brain a bit more by learning vocab in larger chunks. That was great for my confidence- whereas before I thought I could only learn 10 in a day, I discovered that if I learnt 40 that at least 85% of them would stick.

I’m taking it slower at the moment because of life things and because I’m very close to the level of kanji I need for JLPT N4 and I want to make sure I’m stamping out leeches and really getting older stuff down.

Different people have different learning styles and goals and we should all be supportive and encouraging to each other.

[lamarozzo]

Everyone here just wants to learn Kanji and Japanese words. The level is just a fun minigame, that serves the purpose of rewarding students with a sense of achievement and to quantify their progression through the content. Just as in video games, there are people who have to unlock all the trophies, others have to speed-run the game, or unlock all the costumes, etc… Same here, some people want to speed-run WK, others want a more enjoyable pace, or only care about kanji. In your case (OP) you like burning the items before progressing, that’s just another form of motivation. No matter what one needs to keep going, I think we are all grateful that WK keeps us motivated to continue through this difficult but fun journey.

[Umio]

@nedeli congrats on all that BURNED

[Sezme]

I like to go fast, but only because I think I can absorb the material. If I felt I couldn’t, then I’d slow down.

[Umio]

I get that some people need to go slow, but do you guys really need to take shots at people who go fast to do that?

@Raionus
Not taking shots at all - its my own experience; there are many posts people make about getting lost in massive review queues (level gratification). I never made one of these posts, but I have been victim to massive review queues which I was unable to regain control over. This thread was to draw attention to my own findings about how I used 1 method to overcame that obstacle
(2nd method: never complete vocabulary lessons, and use a recorder script to access Radicals+Kanji)

This thread was about my own experience, not an attempt to make a shot at anyone else.

The queues grow because when people level up, they complete ‘new lessons’. The fact is, one does not need to ‘pass’ vocabulary to level up(dont even need to be unlocked), one only needs to ‘pass’ radicals (super easy to do - thereby unlocking enough kanji to get 90%, subsequently enabling one to level up).

Expected behavior is that people will complete new lessons as they become available:
1.Past level vocabulary,
2.all newLevel Radical
3.All newKanji

Most people I would assume , would complete these lessons as soon as possible

The Result: an exponential growth in review queu items ( you can add more to your review queue without clearing the same amount); this can cause one to lose control if you ever put wanikani studies on a back burner.

Simply meant to be informative a note on my own progression/experience.

[Daru]

In my opinion, you have to know what your learning style is like.

If you’re a speed demon, good.
If you’re slow and steady, that’s good too!
The key is to identify which one you are.

Took me a year and a half to realize I’m on the slow and steady team, lol.

[Leebo]

Just admit that your shiny “60” is meaningless and that you cheated your way to the top.

[Vanilla]

I get that some people need to go slow, but do you guys really need to take shots at people who go fast to do that?

There are plenty of people on the slow team who are pretty insecure about their own speed and feel the need to talk about how maxspeed is a trap created by satan himself.

The Result: an exponential growth in review queu items ( you can add more to your review queue without clearing the same amount); this can cause one to lose control if you ever put wanikani studies on a back burner.

Review count levels out once you start to get burn reviews.

[pgoonghang]

To each their own, but I’ve noticed (or at least imagined) that the people who go at a more moderate pace seem to burn out less. And also, if someone is going fast, and then something comes up with work, school, or something similar, they often get caught with a gazillion reviews waiting when they return.

As I said, though, to each their own. I’ve experimented with several different speeds, and have now settled on one set of 5 lessons per day, every day, whether I’m sick, on vacation, or anything else. It seems a bit slowish at times, and I’ve considered going back up to 10 items a day unless they’re kanji. But I’ve been enjoying instead reading native material and studying grammar and building my vocabulary that way. Besides, it’s always nice coming across a word in WK that you’ve already learned elsewhere, in context.

At my current pace, I think I’ll have my last lesson in October and then my workload will very quickly drop. It has been slowly dropping now since I am burning more than five items a day and only taking 5 lessons. I’m thinking I might speed up my tempo a bit for the last 3 or 4 levels since I am so close to the end.

As an aside, the upper levels have some good stuff, but I don’t really like learning the kanjis that have no associated vocabulary. I’ve looked up these kanji to try and find common or useful words that use them, but there does not seem to be much. It have probably been answered before, but does anyone know why these were included?

[Leebo]

As an aside, the upper levels have some good stuff, but I don’t really like learning the kanjis that have no associated vocabulary. I’ve looked up these kanji to try and find common or useful words that use them, but there does not seem to be much. It have probably been answered before, but does anyone know why these were included?

Basically all the kanji with no vocab at the moment are commonly used in names. They are going to add them at some point.

And yeah, with regard to the topic itself, I know I made a few sarcastic posts, so the OP probably thinks I’m picking a fight. I just get amused by the “hey, fast-going people, don’t you see your life spiraling out of control?” topics and like to poke fun.

[pgoonghang]

Basically all the kanji with no vocab at the moment are commonly used in names. They are going to add them at some point.

That was a slow response.

So, do you know what happens when a completed level has new content added? Will I then see new lessons available?

[Leebo]

Basically all the kanji with no vocab at the moment are commonly used in names. They are going to add them at some point.

That was a slow response.

So, do you know what happens when a completed level has new content added? Will I then see new lessons available?

It happened not long ago with the new words like 人参 and 荷札. They just show up in your lessons out of the blue.

[pgoonghang]

人参 and 荷札

Ah, yes. I got those two already. I was wondering what took them so long to show up. Thanks!