Well, there’s also the problem of some people having a harder time than others. I’ve always struggled with learning things, and was even diagnosed with a learning disability many years ago. Not to try and self-pity, just saying some people struggle no matter how hard they try. So its hard to say “X number of study hours will yield Y amount of results.” For some of us, its more time with less payoff. As is, my reviews are usually around the 55-65% range.
And being well organized does not give me back all that time I lose working, cooking, cleaning, raising a child, taking care of the house, taking care for the animals, etc. As far as ‘free time’ goes, I maybe get 3 hours a day. Which then has to be split between spending time with the wife, spending time with my daughter (and changing all those diapers), and finally, studying. And of course, WK isn’t 100% of the study time either.
Which, then you see all these folk on WK forums humble bragging about how fast their going, and making round-about comments on how if you’re sub-10 days per level, there’s something wrong with you, and aren’t ‘dedicated’.
Have you tried waiting 5-15 mins after your lesson batch and then quizzing yourself on it for a minute? Around lvl 14, my accuracy started to dip a bit, but once I started doing that, it helped tremendously. For example, I might do 10 lessons at 8:30, then at 8:40, go to the recently done lesson page and quiz myself, and aim to do my 4 hour review at 12:40. For me at least, that method has been much more efficient (time and accuracy wise) than just spending much longer on each lesson page. I’m certainly no prodigy when it comes to memorization, but little methods like that can make a big difference.
I don’t think it’s especially fair to blame someone’s slower average level time on lack of organization. Kids are exhausting and time consuming at all ages (but especially younger), relationships need nurturing, and people need time to themselves to decompress. Organizing isn’t going to do much for your study habits if you simply don’t have time in your day, or don’t have the mental capacity to remember anything after spending 2 hours with a crying child. (I don’t have kids, but I’ve seen my sister foster a billion.)
I mean this as its own statement, by the way, not in reference to the OP.
Thanks for doing this
^ ditto 
I’ve just become a salaried teacher this past year; broke-af student-me would’ve loved this! thank you for being a cool, stand-up dude and spreading the Wanikani love. <3 
I hope in a few years I can be confident enough about my financial position to offer the same to someone
I did have a response to this, but opted not to further sour the thread. I hope everyone is having a good day! .
@Aemaeth, I was a student not long ago and completely get it. This is kinda why this thread exists to begin with . Thank you for your kind words!
Is the join date on your profile correct? It says April of this year.
… … heck, I choose to do WK instead of doing the dishes.
I have to agree with this, in part. I agree some people require a lot more effort and time to get the same results as someone who is a faster learner. And that going slow isn’t a bad thing even for someone who could learn faster, if WK isn’t their sole goal in life. I know it isn’t for me. I want to learn Japanese, but I also like to sleep and see people. I did the whole “no play all study and work” for a while and only got a burnout and health issues to show for it. Not worth it.
That being said, it’s a private sponsorship, he’s allowed to set whatever criteria he wants. Same as getting scholarships in university, they ask for minimum grades, and it’s fair.
I agree with his right to set his criteria ( I actually agree with his criteria).
But you are wrong to say it’s only a question of priorities and time management. Okay, so you have a full-time job and a family. Some jobs are more time consuming than others. Some jobs are more mentally exhausting than others. Some people have long commutes. Some people study on top of working. Some people have small kids. Some people have chronic health issues that make it already hard for them to just do a normal week’s work. It’s not only “make it a priority and magically you will make energy and time for it”.
ETA: it just comes across as condescending, you know?
My main point was that people often have more time than they think. I want to stress that like I said, I didn’t blame anyone for not having WK as their priority. Family and other important stuff should come first ofc. I’m not saying it’s magic either. Nothing in life worth doing is easy. Some people do have to work harder for the same reward. Some people in Harvard started in the ghetto and others started in ritzy prep schools. My hope wasn’t to be condescending, my message was for those people who spend time here and there on unimportant things (like Netflix/drinking/gaming and not necessary things like working/taking care of family).
I don’t know where you see that, but it’s definitely not the date I joined Wanikani… Maybe it’s the date I joined the “community” part of Wanikani?
‘seasoned’ may be a little too much I get it, but I wanted to say that I already spent quite some time on WK… whatever :')
These threads, while I applaud the OP and it is a great thing you are doing, always seem to go off the rails. The last time I saw, and became a part of, a thread like this people focused on the wrong parts of the message. This is someone offering to help and just asking for accountability. Good on you OP, I felt great giving a few people a year to work on their Japanese with WaniKani and every dollar spent makes the website better and may speed up the roll out of EtoEto…lol Take care
How generous of you, although I can afford it by myself =)
I wish the winner a nice time and much effort!
Great idea man! I myself don’t need the help, but there are obviously people (probably younger students) in the community that would really benefit from this.
I commend your good spirit sir!
The hubris and arrogance of your post here is astounding, and deserving of a slating. I won’t speak my mind, because you message wasn’t intended for me. I do however believe you owe DaisukeJigen an apology.
@jakehopking I wasn’t clear enough, it seems. If the person in question feels that I was somehow arrogant, then I do apologize for the misunderstanding. However, if you had checked everything up, you would have seen that I didn’t continue the conversation after getting a response. That should have been enough of a signal for you to understand that my answer back was a “Ok, I understand.”
You know, sometimes in life we have our focus on so many things around us that we tend to get a little bit lost in our path. That doesn’t make anyone inferior or superior. It makes us human. Based on the data, I’ve made a quick plan to help our friend @DaisukeJigen. He answered back based on my comment. I respected his response. Done. There was no intention of being arrogant.
@SpicyDragon My jab wasn’t so much directed at him, as it was a jab at the general mentality I see around here of ‘Gotta go fast. Go slow and you’re dumb’. And you’re right, the guy’s giving away stuff for free, he can set whatever criteria he wants, within reason. While I don’t agree with his criteria, it is sound and I do get it. Perhaps if the criteria contained ‘Only open to men, because women are too stupid and belong in the kitchen anyways’ or something like that, then yeah, not acceptable and I’d hope people would call the person out and fight them on it. But here, eh, its fine.
@jprspereira No worries man. While it did seem a bit arrogant, it wasn’t extreme or anything, and you did start off with a ‘I’m still young so perhaps I’m wrong but…’ statement, which could have be sarcastic, but seemed more genuine. Also, I did get your point, and if I were still 22, it would be a lot more sound. Oh, to have all the time and freedom I had at 22… that’d be nice (of course, while also still having wife and kid and everything of course). Convo was basically ‘hey man just do this?’, ‘eh… doesn’t really work that way anymore’, and lack of response back either meaning ‘fair point, i getcha’, or ‘man, f this POS, he’s not even worth engaging’ (I was assuming choice A on that one)
Interesting that an apology is demanded of @jprspereira but not of the person who started this nonsense to begin with and implicitly attacked me by implying I consider people who choose to go slow to be “unworthy”. The double standard is noted.
This is a general note, not aimed at one individual:
Please either contribute to the actual topic, or scram. I don’t take a dump in your house, please award me the same courtesy, as I am sick of this off topic rubbish.
Thanks for the kind words!
Sheesh, tell me about it…
Haha, big dreams 
. Would be nice though. Speaking of which, I thought a Lifetime TextFugu subscription have access to the EtoEto alpha, but I still haven’t heard back since I asked… 
.