You think it's funny Koichi?

WaniKani
1

Completely enraged but keeping it together

Why does it seem like after level 30 that most of the context sentences provided for new vocab are filled with kanji that we were not taught yet. When we level up we are trying to get around 60-100 new vocab lessons done and we want to practice the context sentences as they are good refreshers for kanji we learned already so its nice to skim through each one of them during new vocab and read them out loud and make sense of them to practice grammar etc.

It was only once in a while that the context sentences would have kanji I hadnt learned yet and I chalked that up to random error or because over the years you shifted around the levels of certain kanji. Willing to show charity and give benefit of the doubt, I would just read the kanji and kana I could make sense of and then proceed as normal.

But now after level 30 it seems like almost every context sentences is full of Kanji that are way ahead of the level im at. I wondered and thought, what am I missing? Is there some benefit to me getting interrupted and hit with doubt wondering if I seriously had forgotten a Kanji you taught me earlier, then looking it up and finding out that unknown kanji is weeks away from where I am now.

If there is some secret knowledge or some benefit I am not seeing for this context sentence practice you have done with your vocab lessons, please educate me
BECAUSE LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING KOICHI, I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE
stands up and kicks over chair
throws laundry basket out window

IF THERE IS NO SECRET BENEFIT TO YOU CONSISTENTLY DOING THIS PRACTICE OR IF YOU THINK THE BENEFIT FOR US IS THAT WE WILL STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR NEW VOCAB LESSONS AND LOOK UP YOUR MYSTERIOUS NEW KANJI THAT WE DONT HAVE YET BUILT INTO OUR LESSONS OR REVIEWS, DOING ALL THIS EXTRA WORK FOR THE CONTEXT SENTENCES I THOUGHT WERE FOR US TRYING TO SEE HOW OUR NEW VOCAB WORKS IN CONTEXT AND PRACTICE OUR READING OF KANJI WE ALREADY LEARNED IN PREVIOUS LEVELS AS A NICE QUICK RECALL REFRESH, THEN YOU MUST OF CHOSEN TO DO THIS BECAUSE YOU THINK ITS FUNNY I GUESS.

IF THERE IS A SECRET BENEFIT TO BEING INTERRUPTED IN EVERY CONTEXT SENTENCE BY UNKNOWN KANJI FROM FUTURE LEVELS AND SOMEONE IN THIS THREAD EDUCATES ME ON WHAT THAT BENEFIT IS AND ALSO PROVES IT IS SUPERIOR TO HAVE THESE UNKNOWNS INSTEAD OF JUST HAVING THE ONES WE LEARNED IN PREVIOUS LEVELS TO GET EXTRA FREE RECALLS (MEMORY LEVEL UPS) WHICH IS WHAT I THOUGHT THE CONTEXT SENTENCES WERE FOR AND WERE ACTUALLY REALLY HELPFUL, IF I AM HUMBLED, THEN I WILL REPENT AND APOLOGIZE.

THROWS UNFINISHED ENERGY DRINK AT THE ALREADY-TARNISHED PICTURE OF KOICHI I HAVE HANGED UP NEXT TO MY COMPUTER

NOT SO FUNNY NOW IS IT? AND WHOEVER VIET IS, I DONT CARE WHAT YAKUZA YOUR PART OF, GIVE ME THESE WHACK CONTEXT SENTENCES TO MY FACE AND NOT ONLINE AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS PAL.

5 Likes
2

To be honest, I never made a ton of usage of the context sentences - I used them to get an idea of any nuance or uses that seemed like they belonged to specific contexts, or when the English translation is a word with many meanings, but I rarely studied the context sentences, instead getting my practical usage fix from reading native material.

8 Likes
3

If youā€™re willing to use extensions, I like the 10ten Japanese reader for hovering over kanji I donā€™t know to look them up (very customizable to hide English/etc.)

I also like the WaniKani Hide Context Sentence Userscript to hide the English entirely until Iā€™ve read it first in Japanese.

4 Likes
4

Not sure if if this is a joke, ēš®č‚‰, or seriousā€¦
Butā€¦ maybe you should lay of the energy drink and be thankfull wanikani has helphed you learn hundreds of kanji throughout the last couple of months.

You have every right to point out a flaw, but chill.

1 Like
5

I do use this when im on my PC but the issue is that unless im going to be doing proper srs timing recalls for it, im just taking time to interrupt the flow of my reading and also feel subtle doubt in the back of my mind wondering if it was just a kanji I learned but am failing to recall. I will sit there and try to honestly recall it if it looks a little familiar with the radicals and the truth is, if it is an unlearned kanji, all that recall im doing was a complete waste and builds more doubt and sense of unease. I can use the tenten reader to look at what that kanji is and see it but unless I start srs reviewing it from that moment, im going to forget it the next day so thats why I say koichi must have some secret knowledge about how adding unlearned kanji is actually beneficial or HE IS JUST PRANKING US.

6

I think itā€™s important to expect that WaniKani wonā€™t teach all the Kanji, which is getting more relevant the more you get near Level 60, or the formerly Level 50.

Hide Context Sentence Translation is a good thing to have, imo, that WaniKani has yet to careā€¦

1 Like
7

IMO itā€™s great that WaniKani forces you to look up unknown words from a relatively early stage. If you keep reading, itā€™s something that you will keep doing for years after finishing WaniKani ā€“ getting your tools in order to make it painless is something you ought to do early on.

Also, for those kanji that do show up later in WaniKani, you have an edge when you come across them ā€œfor realā€. Theyā€™re freebies. Itā€™s nice to have some of those each level!

3 Likes
8

Yeah for me the context sentences were near-useless for that reason. Most of the time I would just look at the English translation to get an idea of the nuance, completely ignoring the Japanese.

I think the team has been incrementally reworking the context sentences starting from the lower levels and they seem to do a better job of coming up with actually level-appropriate stuff instead of flexing their Japanese. I donā€™t think they reached level 30 yet however.

Too bad that they didnā€™t use this opportunity to add furigana on hoverā€¦

10 Likes
9

i laughed tbh
I think the content team is working on it? iā€™m getting that sort of thing all the way down here at my level
For my part, I donā€™t think itā€™s beneficial either - Iā€™m usually just looking to learn how the word is used and some grammar usually associated with it, not how to look up unknown kanji/vocab
and it really can be kinda demotivating to see a word on WK, think ā€œiā€™ve never seen that in my life, does this SRS thing even work?ā€ and then jisho it and find out iā€™ve quite literally never seen it in my life because itā€™s a level 40 kanji or something

2 Likes
10

Thatā€™s my impression as well.

I too havenā€™t integrated the example sentences as well as I should. I sometimes treat them as a little ā€œextraā€ exercise, having to look up the vocabulary and grammar I donā€™t quite get. Itā€™s free reading practice at a +1 level, which is a pretty good use of time I think, but I donā€™t always feel like it when Iā€™m in ā€œdo my reviews grindā€ mindset.

2 Likes
11

Sir, this is a Wendyā€™s

2 Likes
12

I do use the context sentences OP.
But down at level 10 it is rare that they include a kanji not studied yet (but definitely new vocab)

Yes, ā€œfurigana on hoverā€ would be helpful (I often have more trouble remembering a reading when it is in a sentence than when it is in isolation in SRS. I think this is just a mental context thing). But even more I would like each kanji to be a link to itā€™s page in WK. It is strange that I end up using non-WK tools to look up kanji even though I am in WK! Seems like a missed opportunity here, but obviously it takes time to implement.
+1 on the work to redo context sentences in the higher levels!

3 Likes
13

It does require a user script, but this functionality is included in the Hide Context Sentences 2 script. In the context sentences all kanji are highlighted with colour indicating whether you have already studied it or not (or not included in WK). Hover over pops up a info panel with things like the reading, WK level, readings, SRS status, etc.. Clicking the kanji takes you to the WK page of that kanji, in a new tab.

image
image818Ɨ420 90.8 KB

2 Likes
14

Thanks #mgrice
I do 99% of my wk study in the android app (on a tablet) so havenā€™t made use of any scripts yet :grinning_face:.
Maybe I will try doing new items in a browser (but keep my reviews on the tablet)

I realised that I already have a Firefox extension for looking up the wk page from a highlighted kanji or vocab, so that is another option (prior to jumping into the user script world).

Ah, I see the colour in your image! Yes, this too is a helpful prop for novice readers.

1 Like
15

My main reason for using the script it not for any of the things I mentioned here. My main reason is that it hides the translations unless I hover over them. It is much more elegant solution than me trying to hold my finger over the English translations :wink: However, the other features are nice and I do often make use of them as well.

2 Likes
16

It feels like a bit of a waste, because the context sentences are often not useful. Theyā€™re hard to understand, and sometimes they donā€™t even cover the most basic uses. I think itā€™s fair to ask for improvements - AI could generate simpler sentences that reflect more common usage.