I already use genki, anki, and other resources but I was wondering if it's worth paying for wanikani. To those of you who've used it for a while, what are the benefits? Would it make learning kanji easier?
Edit: Thank you all for your responses. It sounds like something that could really help me, I'll give the first three levels a try and see from there.
by AloneAndUnknown
26 comments
It’s helped me when I started learning Japanese. But if you’ve used other resources for awhile then start WaniKani, it might feel too easy for you at first. There’s so many levels in WaniKani that eventually after you breeze through what you know, it’ll get harder. It is up to you tho, the first three levels are free. So you can decide until then if it’s worth it
Keep using what you have.
Save the money.
Use the money towards a trip to Japan for immersion.
Yes.
It’s worked wonders for me.
personally it was to slow for me.
It does take a lot of time, I did it for about a year and got through 1000 kanji before my priorities changed. I did work well for me and I think it was worth the money.
To me it was.
Knowing what the Kanji actually means helps massively in remembering and learning words, as rather than “These weird looking symbols mean X and are read like Y” it becomes “不法 = Negative+Law=Illegal” or “劇場: Drama/Play+Place= Theater” for example.
It made learning words much easier as I could kinda guess what they meant by knowing the Kanji and sometimes straight up being able to read it from the get go.
Wanikani also only teaches you the essential 1 or 2 readings for each Kinji, as in the ones that are used 99% of the time, so you don’t waste time trying to learn every single reading, and when the reading is different in a new word it tells you and well, you just learn that new word and that’s it.
Radicals can also help to distinguish Kanji that are really similar to each other. Only complain is that they also add fake radicals which is a bit annoying, but it serves to reinforce already known Kanji so it’s not the end of the world and you can set a synonym for those and just press let’s say 1 if they come up to skip them.
Like another person said, the first I think 3 levels are free, try it out and see if you like it. Tho depending on how many words you already know, the first levels may be too easy.
its been a miracle for me. frankly i dont think any other method could be nearly as effective for me personally. the mneumonic devices are fun and memorable, the srs is good.
I’ve been using it / living in Japan for little over a year now. I’d say it’s definitely worth it *only if you actually use it every day*. If you’re sure you’ll stick with it then yes, it has helped me a lot. It’s helped ne more easily identify Kanji I see out in the wild and is a nice review on top of whatever other resources you may be using.
One irritation with it is sometimes SUPER specific on the responses. For example I got one “incorrect” because I typed in “1st place” instead of “First place”.
If you already know a lot of kanji, then it will be excruciatingly tedious at the lower levels having to type out the answers to kanji and words you already completely know. And with typos setting you back keeping you from progressing as quickly as you could. That was my experience with it at lower levels.
What makes more bearable are user scripts and apps that let you do Wanikani like an Anki session. Without needing to type the words out. And lets you speed past words and terms you already know. IMO, this was necessary for me to continue using the program.
One thing I noticed was the words you learn and the order you learn stuff in feels like their target audience are young boys who are into anime and shounen type of things. For better or for worse, it is what it is.
Also, it’s not an end all be all for learning vocab and kanji but it’s very useful as one of the tools to use in your language learning journey.
Wanikani did wonders for my reading skills. I used it to level 50 but then felt studying kanji was more of a chore as I didn’t encounter those new kanji so often in the things I was reading, so now I just study new words I discover on my own.
But hell ya, it was such an easy system for me to follow along to and learn the bulk of the most commonly used kanji to the point where I can comfortably say I can read and understand most Japanese.
Worth it
Short answer is yes.
Long answer: it depends on how much time are you willing to invest your time in it. The Kanji taught there is not structured according to JLPT and it might be a turn off to many who’s main goal is to pass the exams. You’ll learn the important Kanji in the first 10 levels or so but after that it’s all over the place. Some commonly used Kanji in real life you’ll learn it much much later and it will take a long time (ie years) to get there.
They also teaches rarely used Kanji and it’s kind of a waste to learn it. On the other hand, there are also some Kanji which is commonly seen in real life but was not taught there. In the end they’re just minor issues IMO.
I tried the free levels but felt too easy and slow. I wish they had a placement test. Also, no phone app, that’s pretty lame in this day and age.
It was a gamechanger for me.
Tbh, I tried it back when I was starting to learn and wasn’t really feeling it. Maybe a combination of disliking the idea of learning radicals and learning through mnemonics.
When I learned kanji I didn’t really study radicals unless that radical was also a kanji…and I personally didn’t find mnemonics helpful so for me wanikani was meh…but it did work for other people so I guess YMMV
For me it wasnt the deal. I like the idea, but I learn better (or faster) when I use kanji, and learn them in context. But I do not like sitting there and learn only vocab / kanji with no context.
Just try the free version and if it hooks you, have fun, if not, continue with genki.
Absolutely worth it! The lifetime sale offer is available now. Only happens once a year.
I really love it. It made the kanji section for the JLPT a breeze. Plus I feel infinitely more confident in my ability to read kanji.
Try [onikanji.com](http://onikanji.com)
I used WaniKani and then moved to this. It explains Kanji in a more structured way.
The dealbreaker for WaniKani for me is that it seemed like they totally railroad you on how you use it and on how fast you can progress.
Because I’d already picked up a few dozen kanji from vocab study, it was just way too slow to be useful. It’s probably fine if you’re literally brand new to Japanese text.
I would have been willing to pay for it otherwise. The way they structure it, the mnemonics and so on all seems quite good.
I’ve been studying off and on for about 5 years now. For some reason, I just could not get the kanji to stick with me. I’d be grinding Anki forever, but only recognize the kanji in the context of their Anki cards. After bombing a practice test in September, I decided to give Wanikani a try. It’s honestly helped me out so much.
I have a bad habit of taking myself too seriously, so coming up with silly mnemonics to remember the kanji didn’t appeal to me. Nevertheless, Wanikani’s use of mnemonics seriously made it easier. I just reached level 6 and I’m already finding myself recognizing kanji in a way I never could before.
On top of that, your WK API token can be used on other sites. I love wkstats, which will break down everything you’ve learned based on JLPT level, frequency, and readability. At level 6, I know 83% of the N5 kanji, 9% of the N1. I should be able to understand about half of the kanji used on NHK easy news. It’s actually made learning somewhat addicting.
If you use Bunpro, you can also use your API token on there, and it’ll scrape your WK progress each day.
Glad you asked! I was also wondering about this. I just signed up today and also trying it out now. Just so you know, they’re having a sale on their lifetime membership for one time payment of $200 instead of $300 next Wednesday
It was super helpful to me. But I started it after a couple weeks of japanese. If you already know a good amount of kanjis, it’s going to be very tedious at first.
Yeah, wanikani has been a huge help (level 60)
Just wanted to add that wanikani usually has a sale going on during this time of year. If you decide to buy it eventually, you could save a little that way 🙂
sorry to ask this here too.. Is there anyone that on N2 level and very advanced japanese benefits from wanikani? or wanikani help you thru hard japanese kanji?
I want to buy it but thinking its 4000yen.. I already remember maybe almost 1000 kanjis, I just struggle to write it. I heard wanikani teach from basic for writing too so Im interested
I would give it a try. I tried it but didn’t really work for me and I went with Renshuu instead, but it’s free up to level 3 if not mistaken, so worth trying.
It’s the only thing that works for me. Paired with Tsurekame.