I’ve been using WaniKani for about two years and now I’m on Level 28. It has definitely helped me with recognizing kanji, but interestingly I feel like it has not helped me with my vocabulary that much. For some reason, when speaking Japanese I recall vocabulary from other sources easier (textbooks and Anki), but not from WaniKani. Then I’ll look up a word I was trying to say and think “I learned this in WaniKani before, why couldn’t I think of it”. Anyone know why this is? What can I do to remember WaniKani vocabulary better?
2 comments
Hi Fellow Japanese lerner!
I use WK as well and had the same issue that you are having
the things that I have done to better remember is I started reading outsite sources. one good thing is satori reader it can import what you know from WK and remove the furigana from teh text.
you can also create anki cards with the vocab. but from what I found for me: General reading is the best way to reinforce, even if tis 10 mins a dayi liek NHK news easy and the graded readers I like to use and reconmend are- Japanese Short Stories for Beginners: 20 Captivating Short Stories Vol 1- Japanese Short Stories for Beginners: 20 Captivating Short Stories Vol 2- Intermediate Japanese Short Stories: 10 Captivating Short Stories
hope this helps good luch with your studies
頑張って
WaniKani is primarily for kanji. You do learn some vocab along the way, but it’s not meant to be a main resource for that.
For me, I’m usually focused on visual elements (stroke position, etc.) when I do WaniKani reviews, so my recognition order is shape, then meaning, then finally sounds. In a conversation, it’s the opposite – you start by hearing a sound, then remember the meaning, then maybe how the character looks. I think that’s why it’s hard to make the connection to vocab learned through WaniKani; you’re going backwards from the normal thought process.
There are resources like [KaniWani](https://www.kaniwani.com/welcome) that can help you bridge that gap. I’ve also found listening to things with Japanese subtitles helpful, like news or anime; hearing someone say the word aloud + seeing the character second can help make it “click”.