Huh, I don’t have to do lessons anymore? I am finally level 60? Ain’t no way.
First and foremost a big thank you to the WaniKani team, and also to everyone who is active on the forums. I don’t post much, but I do love to lurk. Everyone posting all types of interesting topics was a big help to me.
Notice that random reset? Word of advice don’t start an entire batch of new lessons when you are out drinking with friends. You might not remember a thing you did the next day and have to restart your level 
I am sure some of you may be wondering. What does reaching level 60 feel like? Well it’s a little odd, I mean the last almost year and a half of my life has been revolving around WaniKani and now I am suddenly just done. Well not done done, since I will be burning everything, but also I no longer have to worry about lessons. Like, at all. That is really great because now I can just pull out WaniKani anytime to just work on reviews. No more strict scheduling required. Still I think I am going to have the ‘oh god did I do my reviews today….’ jumpscare for a while as an adjustment to not having to worry about the strict timing of my reviews anymore. The best part about level 60 though has to be the cake. The sweet taste of knowing over 2,000 Kanji (work in progressTM)
My journey
I started my WaniKani journey in October, 2023 a few months after moving to Japan. I am on the JET Program, and I was lucky enough to get placed in Kyoto. I have the distinct memory of watching my friend sitting in the teachers office across from me doing WaniKani on her phone. She had been doing it for a while but for some reason it was on this day I consciously realized it and decided to ask her about it. I knew her Kanji level was very high. In fact she was taking the JLPT N2 soon, of which she would end up passing, of course. Anyway, she told me it was a program called WaniKani and I thought, wait a minute I know what that is. You see, I had made my WaniKani account in 2021 but like many of us I immediately quit. Actually, I didn’t even make it to level 2 lol. At that time I had a lot going on. I was also working two jobs while going to university, but admittedly mostly I had not fully accepted the reality of what learning Japanese would really mean. Although I am not done with my journey yet, I have come very far since I first started learning Japanese, and actually I have seen the biggest improvement in only the past year and a half since getting serious about studying Japanese. This post is a celebration of not only reaching level 60, but it’s also a post about what I wish I would have been told when I first started my journey. That being said, it’s a long one. So anyone who sticks around until the end, you a real one.
The hard truth
I have seen so many other level 60 posts that say ‘Now you can really start your Japanese learning journey’, and I think that is something everyone should take to heart. Japanese is not an easy language to learn. In fact arguably it is one of the hardest languages to learn, especially for those of us with a first language originating in the west. Before learning Japanese I would recommend figuring out what your goals are for the language as everyone has different end goals. My goal is to be able to smoothly talk about, and really add to, most any conversation that I find myself in. From something as simple as hanging out with friends, to having a political discussion about geopolitics and its consequences globally.
That being said, most people go into Japanese wanting to become ‘fluent’. Which is really awesome, but the hard truth is that’s going to take grueling hard work, and statistically most people will give up before they even come close to that. You may even try to do every shortcut in the book. You might also need to go through the humbling phase after getting just enough Japanese under your belt to make you think you are better than you are. Going to Japan will help with that! Trust me, I know.
Anyway, first and foremost to me, getting fluent means studying almost every single day. Since I do live in Japan, I have a lot of passive intake of Japanese, but I also enjoy (maybe too much) going out with friends and having a good time. So every single day may not always be possible, but most days for sure. It also means constantly doing my WaniKani reviews/lessons and then supplementing that with constantly reading books/taking in native material. Becoming ‘fluent’ is not something most people can do over the course of a couple years, it takes a long time of constant hard work. I want people to take on this challenge but I also want them to really understand what the challenge will mean. Becoming actually fluent is not just a fun hobby on the side, it’s a decision that is as important as deciding on some big life decisions such as deciding to study XYZ in college. Countless hours of your life used on learning that language. For me it has been super worth it so far, but that decision is strictly subjective. Know what you want out of the language, set goals, and execute. It is very rewarding.
The positives
Now that the serious talk is out of the way let me tell you about all the amazing parts of my journey so far. When I first moved to Japan I knew maybe (strong maybe) 400 Kanji. Could I tell you their readings and all the words associated with them? No. Can I now? Sure, except now I know over 2,000 Kanji, their readings, and the words associated with them (give or take). You see, when I first came to Japan I tried to only use the Tobira gateway to advanced Japanese textbook. An amazing textbook by the way, but I was not really learning words at the time, I was learning a string of sounds that was honestly just a rough English translation. Very little depth. I was trying to shortcut fluency. After learning Kanji I was no longer just saying a string of sounds, I was using the very foundation of the Japanese language to understand a word and its nuance. Suddenly I went from barely being able to memorize 50 vocab a month to memorizing 400 vocab a month. Now I was not just learning a string of sounds to build an entire word, but instead I was learning individual Kanji that each had its own readings and meanings. Finally it was like ‘Ah 電話! Ok so, 電 meaning electric and 話 means talk so this must be telephone! I get it now!’ Not to mention actually understanding each individual Kanji and not confusing similar Kanji like 熊, 能, and 態. This was all because I was actually studying Kanji with my full effort, and not trying to shortcut my way to fluency like I had tried to do so many times before. I finally admitted defeat to the Kanji gods and said ‘Yeah I’m clueless and I suck at Japanese. I’ll do it the right way from now on.’
It was like a video game as I leveled up on WaniKani. I got new unlocks and achievements, and even new areas of Japan were unlocked. Restaurants I had passed by many times were now enterable because I could not only understand the menu, but I could understand the smaller nuances like the little paper notes pasted on their doors and walls with vital information. I could go into the bookstore and not just marvel at the coolness of being in a Japanese bookstore, but actually picking up books and saying ‘Yo this looks interesting’. I had a couple of Japanese friends before moving here and our interactions were very limited, but slowly but surely we were just hanging out and having normal interactions without the awkward air of mistranslation. I met new Japanese friends as well and we started to go out and just having a good time. Admittedly this was all a huge motivation for my studies (still is), but when I had tried to do super serious Japanese studies in America it did not work out. That being said I have seen many people on the forums here that have done it faster and better than me who did it all from America so I know it is possible. It’s all about if you can keep yourself motivated or not. I just personally was obviously unable to do so while being in America lol
Speaking of motivations, my boyfriend is Japanese, and we lived in America for 4 years before moving here. His English is god tier, in fact I look up to him a lot when it comes to my studies. He is my goal, but without glazing him up too much though, he was a big motivator for me to really get serious about Japanese. Slowly but surely he went from saying things to me like もっとspecifically教えて to もっと具体的に教えて。Very random example I know, but that was a great feeling. He was slowly but surely taking the training wheels off and talking to me like he would his friends.
At my job I was able to really start to communicate with my co-workers without them having to awkwardly look certain words up on their phone, or if it was a new word they could say it, and based on my Kanji knowledge I could guess and ask ‘Oh you mean like this?’ to move the conversation along. With my students I was able to actually form a bond with them because now we could conversate more naturally without too many hiccups. I could also teach them more because now I could explain why X is the way it is in English. Side note, this job has taught me that English is an awful language to learn, our rules do not make any sense. Japanese may be hard, but at least it is consistent…
Anyway, I could go on and on and bore you with the details, but the point is I saw first hand the countless times I had banged my head against the wall learning Japanese finally paying off. Now I am sure all of this sounds great, and well it is, but also it sounds better than it really is so let me set realistic expectations. This was not some overnight experience, it was gradual and is most definitely still ongoing. There were, and still are times where I don’t understand what’s being said and Japanese people have to repeat themselves, or sometimes have to say it a different way. Some days are better than others. Also this was a big part of the fact that I was constantly supplementing WaniKani with other studies. The important thing though is there was very obvious progress and that felt amazing.
The gamification of Japanese
For me when approaching Japanese I structure it like a video game. I spent my whole life playing video games. Literally from age 2 or 3. Actually it’s crazy but, the first game I ever remember playing was Mortal Kombat lol. Point is I am a nerd. So like I said earlier in this post, I felt like I was leveling up and unlocking new abilities, new areas I could enter, who I could interact with, to what extent I can interact, new dialogue opportunities, etc. Straight up nerd type shit, but it works.
I mean it was a eureka moment everyday ‘Oh that big sign was talking about a landscaping business this whole time?!’, ‘Oh that’s how you use that word, the translation did not convey that very well on WK.’, ‘Wow they did not default to English as soon as I attempted Japanese, guess I did it right this time’. This was all part of the gamification of my Japanese journey. Constantly trying to beat my prior high score. I measured this not only by the levels of WaniKani but also by a stats bar that gauged my Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking skills. I view it like a chart that looks something like this in my head:
(R = Reading) (W = Writing) (S = Speaking) (L = Listening)
Notice there is no cap at the top, that’s because you are always leveling up, and each category is always changing. During one of the levels on WaniKani you may have a super high reading skill, but a few levels later you may have improved your listening skills more to surpass your reading skills. It is forever changing. From my experience this starts to plateau at a point, but you always want to make sure you are keeping each level high enough for your goals. For me my writing is awful. For example, if you asked me to write Kanji I would struggle and pull out Jisho.org. Even for something as easy as 散歩. I’m not kidding, it’s something I am going to have to work on eventually. This works for my current goals though, but for someone else they may want to have a strong writing skill. There are no rules, but each will allow for new unlocks and interactions within the world.
My WaniKani method
Maybe people do but I don’t see too many people post their exact method used to complete WaniKani. I have learned there are a lot of different ways to do WaniKani, and although I do not think any one way is the best way for everyone, I do think there is a best way for each person. Not sure if mine will make your personal favorite or not, but I hope it at least provides some insight. I will post my full method here as a PDF (it’s long), and I will also post the faster TL:DR so you can see if it might even be worth looking at the PDF. The PDF does have some other cool information though, so I mean feel free to skim that if you want.
My Method (TL:DR version):
First this is no possible without scripts/extensions or a third party app. I can only speak for how I do it which is with an app called Tsurukame on the app store. As for android users or for browser plugins I have no idea how any of that works but I do know there are ways to do it.
Do an entire levels lessons ALL at once.
Reviews comes in > do each card > if you make a mistake DO NOT just move forward, instead hit ‘ask again later’ > repeat this process until you actually get every single item correct > wait for the next review batch and repeat prior step > repeat this process until you reach Guru on those items (around 4 days) > as soon as you are done with the last review batch (Those are now officially Guru) begin the next 80 or so lessons immediately > rinse and repeat until you reach level 60.
Voila, you are a Kanji master! Please note: Only use ‘ask again later’ to Guru. After that it’s 100% fair game to get it wrong. Yes, even if it drops back into apprentice again. Sorry. In my experience this is rare. In fact, this method has actually caused me to have a much higher retention rate compared to the traditional WaniKani way. On the other hand I have one friend who it doesn’t work for and the traditional WaniKani way does wonders for him. Each person is different and that is okay! The important thing is if are you actually retaining the information.
My detailed method (Note this was something I made for friends who were just starting out so it has some extra introductory information):
So...what's next?
Well that is a great question. I am currently working on the N3 Kanzen books, although I have learned it all before I want to make sure I know it inside and out. Then this summer I will be moving on to the N2 Kanzen books to prepare myself for the JLPT N2 test in December. As a supplement I will be continuing my WaniKani reviews, of course. I will also continue reading books and manga alongside this. Lastly, I plan on really stepping my game up in terms of listening. I love anime, and I do think it can be a good resource for listening practice, but at the end of the day it is not real life. I want to take in more podcasts, and TV shows with real unscripted dialogues.
Lastly, I want to improve my speaking skills. I feel like I am in an okay spot, but it’s not quite where I want to be. For example when talking about more difficult or complex topics I can not get the words out smoothly. I also struggle to recall near as much as I can read. Which yeah this is going to be the case without more practice. Even recently I needed to help a student with something. I wanted them to use the word doesn’t instead of the word does. I was trying to tell them「doesの否定文は?」but the only Kanji that would pop into my head was 否 and 文 for some reason. 定 would not come to mind. Had I been able to recall it easily and smoothly I would have been able to push my student in the right direction much easier. A very random example, but things like that definitely happen. Sometimes it can feel upsetting, but then I remind myself that it’s not upsetting as much as it’s a reminder and really motivation that I am not done yet. I have more work that needs to be done, and that is okay.
I will be working hard on my recall/speaking abilities. After I pass the N2, I am going to be done with the JLPT for a while. Instead of focusing on a traditional test that doesn’t translate all that well in practical use, I want to really just improve my Japanese overall for the sake of my job, life, etc. Nothing wrong with shooting for N1, but I know personally it would hinder me from advancing my daily practical Japanese. I am sure some people can do both, but I am not one of those people. Perhaps one day I will aim for it, but in the meantime I think I am good.
So I guess that is it. If you made it to the end I appreciate you. Feel free to leave a reply about really anything. I personally love reading level 60 celebration posts because not only is the post full of good content but the replies can also have some really useful information! In fact I would love to know if anyone has a unique way of dealing with leeches. Cause I sure don’t! 
A lot of people make a big thank you list, but I don’t really know all that many people doing WaniKani, so I will just give a shoutout to a couple people I know who are really working hard and have also helped me out a lot: @gyaretto, @bladestan23. I know y’all are right behind me!
I too grind out every single lesson in one sitting as soon as it becomes available and then power through the reviews without confirming errors until the next batch of new lessons comes out.