Level 60 will not give you a functioning adult vocabulary because WK is not a vocab site. It gives you a lot, but you’ll need other resources, as well as just good ol’ encountering them in the wild.
Start making a document to catalogue new useful words you come across.
Also, think about how many words you knew as a child in your own first language. Enough so that you’d never be left reaching to express yourself, and probably never at a loss for comprehension unless you were listening to specialized discussion. That takes many thousands. Welcome to the uphill struggle. (A fun one.)
My impression was that 炒める was a more all-purpose word for “frying.” So, stir-frying included. (Jisho backs that up.) Anyway, it’s included in the core 3,000, and even though it’s not on WK, it’s pretty easy to learn on your own and has an easy kanji to boot (few fires; picture a ring of little flames around a stove burner).
Maybe there’s a constructive way to pass these onto WK for inclusion in the future? I can’t see how it makes bad business sense for WK to take longer to finish?
WK reminds me of WoW.
Initially, you got to level 60 and you hung out on the forums and did endgame things like group up with other players and spin your wheels.
Then, the cap went to 70 and 80 and there were more things to do and more places to explore.
Considering how often I see ~炒め in restaurants, I would have not expected that to be a Kanken 1 kanji
I really wonder why they thought it needed such a high level…
Learning a language isn’t for the faint of heart. And if your native language is English, then it’s one of the more difficult ones to learn. Some of the others touched upon why there’s vocabulary in a children’s book that’s not taught in WK. And wanted to add some additional points.
This is very true and even the children oftentimes don’t know the meaning of such obscure words when they do come up. This is because in education they try to expose children to as much stuff as possible (ideally). For example, in English nursery rhymes are notorious for this:
“Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey…”
When I was a kid I had no conception of those words but it didn’t bother me too much. I just filled in the blanks with words I understood instead.
“Little Miss Muffet sat on something, eating something…”
That’s essentially you have to do during the learning process at times.
Additionally, there are a class of words that are used toward children that aren’t taught to adult language learners because it’s usually deemed unnecessary (e.g., ‘potty’, ‘binky’, etc.). I’m not necessarily suggesting that the words you posted fall into that category but it happens with children’s books.
Beyond that, there are just so many ways to say the same thing. When learning to read, you’re going to come across so many ways to say the same thing. It’s part of putting together a working vocabulary. I’ve been trying to record words I come across in daily life for about a year now and so far have come across ~25k words from work, watching shows, and/or conversation. Your learning journey with vocabulary is just a start, so don’t lose heart.
I also haven’t heard it before, more surprising from me is that the “normal” word is pacifier, sounds more like a stun gun or unique sword in DnD or something.
Even at level 60, I still have to look up words all the time.
The big difference is that I can read SO MUCH MORE between all of those words I’m looking up.
Also, lookups for words using kanji you already know (very common now) are way faster (than drawing out kanji), and oftentimes easier to remember too because you likely know similar readings.
The more you do it, the easier it gets. Just keep going
Yes I’ve seen a huge increase in the amount of words I am able to read even if I don’t know what they mean. This is what I love about WaniKani. I feel like the vocabulary words are just an added bonus and really help instill the readings. I like that WK doesn’t focus too heavy on vocabulary because it can get a little overwhelming. I feel like the amount of vocabulary is perfect for reinforcing various readings of the kanji.
Exactly! That’s why (in my humble opinion) it is vital to start reading as soon as possible and not just do WK (which I’m very guilty of!). Thank you so much @Esceptico!
One of the difficulties of reading children’s books in foreign languages is that the learning resources we use are usually geared toward adults and focus vocabulary and grammar toward situations we’re more likely to encounter. For instance, ordering a meal, asking directions, using transportation, making plans, etc. Children’s books are geared toward situations children are more likely to encounter or find interesting. An adult textbook isn’t likely to have a chapter about ducks in a forest because an adult practical goal in language learning is less likely to involve duckling adventures. Therefore, you’re always going to find a lot of words you haven’t encountered in your vocabulary lists when you delve into children’s books. Really points out how vast the information is in early childhood learning, doesn’t it? Props to elementary teachers everywhere. You might be interested in this book by Usbourne I got for my daughter called “First Thousand Words in Japanese.” It’s vocabulary words geared toward the simple concepts that are more relevant to children and extremely helpful for building up the kinds of words you’re going to find in children’s literature! Just careful if you have kids getting them share is sometimes difficult.
I use an app called Kanji Ninja to help learn to draw kanji. It’s geared toward Japanese school children, and each kanji has a context phrase to make the meaning clear. Anyway, the words in the context phrases should be clear to any Japanese kid, but unfortunately, not to me, even though I do know the kanji already.
For example, the phrase for 麦 is むぎわらぼうし. It’s not that hard to figure out, but it means straw hat, which considering I learned 麦 as wheat took a bit of thinking. But any Japanese schoolchild would know what a むぎわらぼうし is.
It’s easy to forget just how many more years of constant and varied language exposure a child has compared to an adult second language learner.
And if your native language is English, then it’s one of the more difficult ones to learn. Some of the others touched upon why there’s vocabulary in a children’s book that’s not taught in WK. And wanted to add some additional points.
You might be interested in this book by Usbourne I got for my daughter called “First Thousand Words in Japanese.” It’s vocabulary words geared toward the simple concepts that are more relevant to children and extremely helpful for building up the kinds of words you’re going to find in children’s literature! Just careful if you have kids getting them share is sometimes difficult. 
