I like this feature. I also like the ability to override. I had restricted myself to 5 lessons a day because reviews were getting out of control and I have reduced my batch size to 3 so I get 9 reviews a day. However, I have a problem with the algorithm for interleaving. I have about 50 vocab lessons outstanding for level 45 and now I am getting lessons for kanji in lesson 46. I could live with one kanji in 9 lessons but the interleaving seems to occur per batch so I am getting 3 new kanji a day. If I let it automatically choose I will probably reach level 47 or even 48 with outstanding lessons for level 45. I will use the override to pick vocab items for a while but it would be good if someone had another look at the picking algorithm.
See the post above that describes how the new algorithm works. In short, I’m pretty sure what you describe won’t happen, because it’s proportional and as your kanji that you’re doing now unlock a bunch more vocab it’s going to slant towards that.
Hello @tofugu-scott,
Thanks for posting the details. We were discussing the new algorithm a bit in another thread and a question came up regarding the selection logic I was hoping you can answer.
Will the algorithm choose the most efficient radicals first?
By efficient, I mean radicals that are components of multiple kanji at the same level. For example, at level 10, the 頁 radical is a component of three level 10 kanji (namely, 顔, 頁, and 頭). Ideally, it would be prioritized due to that.
I’ve been using the Lesson Picker beta and I’ve absolutely loved it so I’m glad to see it’s now fully live. I was able to uninstall Reorder Omega after this update since that’s basically what I was using it for. Ideally I like to do 5 new kanji and around 10 vocab a day and the new algorithm is pretty varied enough that I haven’t needed to use the Picker yet.
This looks a lot better now. Thanks!
I worked through the math with the full rules and it does turn out that I will finish all the vocab lessons for level 45 before I finish the kanji lessons for 46 even without getting new vocab for 46. It just seems counter intuitive so I will stick with the lessons chosen for a while. Having falling badly behind in reviews a couple of times I think a default of restricting lessons is a good thing.
Yeah, I really, really hate this change. At least as long as (as far as I can tell) there’s no way to revert to just getting all lessons at once like usual. I learn perfectly fine choosing my own pace of how many lessons to do based on how much time I have and how I’m feeling (I’ve restarted once so don’t let my level fool you), and it feels incredibly condescending to have to click through every time to get more than a paltry amount.
Also it’s not an insignificant thing to me that this is yet another algorithm. Much of my life on the internet is spent trying to escape the damn things, and I really didn’t need it here. This program is great for self-directed SRS learning, it doesn’t need an algorithm forced into it no matter how cutely you name it. If it’s going to stick around, at least do the ethical thing and give us the option to opt out of it completely. (And preferably make it something you have to opt into in the first place. That’s just good tech practice.)
As a master procrastinator with the constant need of hacking my mind to get things done, seeing a small batch of daily lessons really makes me commit to it lol
love this update
The is no “automatic” algorithm that selects for “efficiency” at play here. The content team may do this by setting the appropriate lesson order for the subject, but I couldn’t confirm that practice. If you really want to know if the content team manage the lesson ordering by this “efficiency” please drop support an email with your question @ hello@wanikani.com.
Also, are there any plans to make the contents and weights of this algorithm transparent? I’m not saying I think this is the case, or that it would be the only or even main motivation behind the algorithm if it was, but I can’t ignore the fact that WaniKani is a monthly subscription service for many of its users. And as was pointed out further up-thread, limiting oneself to only the daily recommended lessons adds at least a year onto the time to make it all the way through.
Respectfully, what assurances do users have that the algorithm won’t be taken advantage of to encourage them to slow down their progress to keep them subscribed longer? I got a lifetime sub as a gift a while ago so I don’t have a personal horse in that race, but on principle I’m still concerned. Publishing the contents and weights of the algorithm would give me and probably a lot of others a lot more faith in it and the motivations behind it.
I had a system to my learning, it was slow, but it worked for me, I bought in the Lifetime thingy because I KNEW it was gonna be slow. This system completely f’ed it up. I don’t know what order I’m learning things on, I don’t feel there is incremental growth, I’m sure I was taught an example of a counter before the counter. I don’t care if you wanna show me a 15 or a 200 on my lessons, but I need to know what to expect every time I click in. I don’t wanna be learning random radicals along with verbs, and kanji, and words.
If I paid for the lifetime sub, I should be given the option to use whatever version of Wanikani I want, you already got the money you asked for.
I don’t think this has anything to do with trying to slow people down and especially not with trying to make more money. 15 lessons a day is still a relatively fast pace - probably like twice the actual average speed. If anything, this change pressures people to go faster (which is why I dislike it, because language learning is not meant to be fast). We can criticize Tofugu for a few things, but greed is not one of them. They’ve always been very fair.
Their term of service says otherwise.
It’s very common with online digital content, so many language apps I use look nothing like what they started as, Duolingo, Lingodeer, Wanikani, Pimsluer. The only way to get unchangeable content is by buying a physical book/media, ‘cause when they change the content, it’s a new edition, and it doesn’t affect theway you use what you already bought.
When you buy an e book from amazon, it’s not really yours and can disappear from your library at any given moment. Idk who started this trend, but that’s the way it is.
Hit the advanced button and you can know 100% exactly what to expect since you’re selecting them. Even more than previously for that matter.
Your preferred way is just a click away.
*3 clicks every time you open the app
One click if you save it to favorite
Nope. Still 2 at least.
If you’re calculating opening the browser, then yeah. But that’s the way with every site. Unless you have a homepage one, or whatever they used to call that feature (does it still exist?).
Nope. I’m counting the click on “Select All” and then “Start Lessons” - 2 clicks
Unless you’re implying you should go directly to the lesson without even visiting the lesson picker or any menus - in which case I believe (but have not checked to make sure) that you can’t do it that way as the URL expects two parameters that change over time - so you cannot hyperlink diectly to it. The application needs to inject GET data first.
It will work once, but I believe either once you complete a batch of lessons or once you level up, it should stop working and force you to update the URL. I will go check to make sure that’s accurate though.
EDIT: Just checked and yep, I’m right. You cannot bookmark/favorite the lessons page the way 2tea assumed. The URL changes depending on what lessons you have selected, meaning you’ll need to change it at least every time you level up at a minimum.