Using WaniKani exclusively to learn Japanese (eventually)

[WeebPotato]

@kewms

Japanese learners tend to focus on the kanji first because they are seen as “the hardest” part of Japanese.

I don’t think it’s universally true. Yes, people do often run a whatever-core 2-10k Anki deck, but at least online I noticed so much emphasis on immersion that I don’t think kanji specifically is the focus. It’s getting to understand as much Japanese as possible, as quickly as possible to be able to enjoy content in it more.

@Dragon007

I am trying to learn Japanese purely as a fun exercise and eventually watching anime without subs and reading light novels in distant future.

That would suggest the priority is listening comprehension.

@Dragon007

That’s why I am kinda ok skipping grammar for later after finishing WaniKani.

You don’t need WaniKani to watch anime without subtitles. You need to grind vocab to be able to understand what’s happening in the series and/or watch the series with Japanese subtitles to grasp how the phonetics relate to the kanji. Before any of that you would need to know hiragana and katakana very well.

@Dragon007

I am fine not being able to read stuff till I finish Wanikani, but would like to know if spending time on grammar will improve my speed in WaniKani.

Grammar and WaniKani are different things. If the overarching goal is watching anime without subs, grammar is way more important than WaniKani.

@Dragon007

I understand the geenral idea that grammar alongside consuming media would be helpful in retaining WK better. My hesitation also comes because I like the gamified SRS structure of WK with levels and all. So I feel more motivated to finish WK as a checklist (I know only level 3 out of 60 so plenty of time to lose that motivation ).

Here the problem is the overall approach. It’s the gamification, not the actual learning process that draws you to WaniKani. There are apps like that for grammar, but it’s way better to learn some grammar and then learn its usage from native context - watching/listening/reading. Apps are based on whatever 1:1 gloss/card matching which is by definition imperfect and the variety of input you get from them is limited.