I think that sounds like a great mindset! To try to do something everyday and keep a balance is all one can ask for in my book.
My motto in Japanese is 継続は力なり - Continuation becomes strength.
For me, Wanikani right now takes up the majority of my study time as I have picked up the pace a bit in order to reach that final level, so I can absolutely respect those who are able to juggle more aspects of the language.
I also reread my post and I also apologize if I sounded accusatory, I was simply curious about how ambitious people study. Thank you for taking the time to satisfy my curiosity.
The Font Randomizer Jitai that @windupbird mentioned is a great example of why script in and of themselves aren’t necessarily making things easier. Jitai is a script that actually makes your reviews take more time, at least until you get used to the fonts you choose to use.
Another example would be the “Close but no Cigar”-script which forces you to imput the exact correct answer in English instead of allowing some letters to be wrong.
So I firmly believe that the act of reaching higher levels without scripts really doesn’t say anything at all about how much effort you put in in comparison to someone who has used scripts. It is not a bigger achievement.
Scripts are neutral. there could be a script that makes you burn everything automatically, there could be one that changes the color of an element on the site, or there could be one that automatically marks all your answers as wrong. (I think all these three actually exist).
I would Love that script for Memrise! At least in the computer you have to type in the answer several times too, on the phone you pick choices and choose kana boxes to piece the word together… I dont really like it too much that way, but I still learn pretty well from there, and I think It’s a lot more relaxing using the app over the PC version
So, looking through the replies, I cannot find anyone who actually responded to the question. Instead, everyone seems to have answered whether or not scripts are useful or could be considered cheating.
I am going to take this to mean that nobody reaches higher levels without using them.
Thank you. I wasn’t really looking for a debate about this. People seem to have strong, perhaps somewhat even emotional opinions about this, which is somewhat understanding considering how much time we all invest in Wanikani, therefore we all want to believe we’re making the best use of that time. I really just want to know who has succeeded without using them.
When I read through the replies I see a lot of people who atleast imply that they use scripts and then provides their reasoning for why they do so.
Some quotes are:
“I wouldnt want to use WK without scripts now that I’ve seen them.”
“I don’t really use any scripts of consequence”
“Could I complete WK without scripts? Yeah I guess. Would I want to? Noooope.”
Doesn’t that mean they responded to the question?
The topic of this thread also makes it difficult to answer the question if you use scripts, since it is only aimed at people who does not use them. At the same time people want to voice their opinion.
I think some of the emotional responses has to do with the original wording of the thread, before the edit.
“A lot of users on the forums talk as though scripts are virtualy essential for success” can be interpreted as a challenge to how people use Wanikani or an accusation that the way that they use the site is in a “less pure” way. Not saying that was the intention, just that it is a possible interpretation that could have been avoided by more careful wording.
I think the edit that was made makes it better, but I am not surprised that this initial confrontational tone gives echoes in the kind of replies that get posted. If there is anything to learn here I think it is that wording of the first post of a thread is immensely important to how the rest of the discussion pans out.
Like most people have said, learning kanji is learning kanji. There’s no script to make it easier really.
There are people who care more about levelling up than learning the kanji and abuse scripts to level up as fast as possible, but those kinds of people don’t usually last long.
Sorry, I forgot to mention that the script only works on computer. I think there’s no solution for the app. Maybe you could try this to see if it works:
The number of people who reached higher levels is really small anyway, you won’t see many hands in any case.
And your question could also imply that WK is not optimal because so many modify it, but it is actually a smart move from the developers side to let their users implement features on their own for free. This question wouldn’t have come up if there were checkboxes for everything in the settings already included.
I also use KaniWani and the lack of ultimate timeline makes me a bit nervous, the default “next hour/next day” info is kind of useless.
Using Violentmonkey would only work if he/she uses Firefox and goes to the memrise website instead of using the actual app, but I’m not sure if the web version of memrise works well on smartphones?
This is also one of the main reasons I stopped using Memrise, as there was no way to disable multiple choice answers on the app.
I just take them as they come. No rush and I don’t see the benefits of knowing when reviews will happen etc. If I make a typo then I make a typo - I still know the word whether WK records that I do or not. I’m happy with how WK works as it is but each to their own.
Yep, it was the same for me for some time. I discovered this script recently, so yeah now I only use Memrise on the computer. It’s not like I spend all day using it like WK, so that makes things easier
It’s a question that implies something strange, that’s why the actual question was largely ignored. If someone used the script that turns their burned items background gold, then by his definition they “didn’t reach the higher levels no scripts” but what exactly did we learn about getting to the higher levels from that info?
I reached approximately level 25 without using any scripts and without adding any synonyms (because I didn’t realize I could).
Then, I made it to about level 35 only using an occasional synonym or two, but no scripts.
Now, I use the Allicrab app on my phone with both the Jitai and Override scripts turned on. I use the Override script sparingly, only to correct honest typos or similar, and the Jitai script is a font randomizer, which actually makes reviews harder - so I should get some credit for that.
And, of course, the re-oredering scripts have been sort of rolled into the Wani Kani main app. All hail the Mighty Crabgator!
I use a couple of scripts, but nothing like Ultimate Timeline or anything that reshuffles lessons to the front. I know that WK changed now offers users the chance to structure their lessons a little more, but I just keep mine at shuffled. I review radicals, kanji, and vocab all at the same time instead of having radicals/kanji/vocab at the front.
I use golden burn (it changes your burnt items from gray to gold), level duration (just a tab on the top of your screen that tells you how long you spend on each level), override (which lets you ignore words marked as wrong, which I mostly use for spelling errors, and stroke order (during my lessons/reviews, I can see the stroke order of each kanji, which is probably my favorite one as I keep a kanji notebook).
I think these have all made WK a better experience for me. Especially the override for silly mistakes like putting “clear weather” for 晴 when it’s meant to be “clear up.”
Thanks for sharing!