How are y'all using Wanikani in conjunction with Bunpro?

Bunpro
#1

I’m curious as to other people’s methods.

Right now I’m at level 13 (almost 14) in Wanikani, and I’ve finished the JLPT N5 grammar deck. I’m using both tools for vocab, Wanikani for kanji and Bunpro for grammar, so my routine looks like this:

  • Wanikani + Bunpro daily reviews as they’re available (and I’m available to do them)
  • Wanikani daily: up to 15 lessons if they’re available, I try to mostly prioritize radicals → kanji → vocab
  • Bunpro daily: 3 grammar lessons + 10 vocab words. I just started doing vocab as I was using Anki before but I prefer Bunpro’s SRS. I started with the basic JLPT N5 deck; I know a lot of the words already so I just hit Mastered for anything I already know both in terms of meaning and kanji reading. If I know a word but not the kanji I add it to my lessons and I don’t count it as correct unless I can read it without looking at the furigana.

The interesting thing, and I’m curious as to where y’all fall on this, is when it comes to words that you will learn the kanji for in Wanikani but you haven’t gotten to it yet. Currently what I do is for each new word I will pull it up in Wanikani to see if it’s there. If it is within the next few levels (up to level 16 for me currently) I mark it as Mastered in Bunpro so I’m not working on it in both places at once. However, if it’s any further away than that, I add it in Bunpro. I figure studying it later in Wanikani will just help my memory for it.

I also really like Wanikani’s mnemonics, so I will add those to my Bunpro vocab notes for any kanji I haven’t learned through Wanikani yet. I’ve only had a non-Wanikani kanji come up once so far (鞄) but it was pretty easy to come up with a mnemonic for it with Wanikani’s radicals, so I added that to my notes as well.

Sorry for the long post - TL;DR is that I’m curious as to how y’all are handling the overlap between Bunpro and Wanikani if you use both sites, outside of just using the Wanikani sync to handle words you’ve already learned.

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#2

I sync WaniKani with BunPro but limit BunPro to grammar because I’m doing vocabulary on WaniKani and Anki.

When I encounter a new word and if the meaning is not apparent or if it has new kanji I look up each kanji on WK, read the meaning mnemonic and the reading mnemonic if it’s relevant, then I look up the whole word if it’s present on WaniKani, and read the mnemonics. After that I hide the furigana and try to remember it.

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#3

I kind of went the Kanji first route and did wanikani to level 60. Now I’m starting to curve back around and finally start working on grammar.

I’m more of the mindset that vocabulary within wanikani and bunpro is more just to assist with helping to understand the Kanji and grammar. You need vocabulary with Kanji to give examples of how you may see it in Japanese. And you need vocabulary with grammar since you need some words to read and write the grammar within sentences with some variety.

I would much more prefer to learn vocabulary through reading/listening, but that’s just me. Currently, since my grammar is very poor, I’m more just picking out and noticing words or phrases and then trying to understand them and not whole sentences. Most of what I read or listen to goes way over my head but I’ll notice a few words here or there. If I pick out a word that I don’t understand then I can look it up and figure it out. Then the next time I come across it I can force myself to recall what it’s supposed to mean. Then the repetition of recall over time places the vocabulary into memory.

So for example I was listening to japanese news and i noticed they use 現在 a lot. I looked up what it means and it means present or now. Then afterwards as I listen to the news in the future, I keep hearing 現在 over and over and it’s starting to make a bit more sense.

Early on with japanese, I made some anki vocab mnemonic cards but it was mostly just to build a foundation.

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#4

I started back when Bunpro didn’t have vocab, so if I started today I’d do things differently from my current way I guess? I sync both for furigana though.

I started Bunpro and Wanikani at the same time, and was doing both every day. When I had N5 on Bunpro, I think I had level 10 on WaniKani. Though these days I tend to spend more time on WK than Bunpro, because I’m just N3 on Bunpro but level 50 on Wanikani (I should really change this, upper levels on WK are progressively diminishing returns, but habits are hard to break)

I’m doing 15 items on WK and then 3/6/9 (depending on mood) lessons on Bunpro, for each grammar point I used to have a Word document entry where I tried to explain it in my own words, using sources Bunpro gave and its own grammar write-ups (though these got very good so I could skip on sources if I started today). Nowadays I’m kinda lazy though, so I stopped doing the document thing (though it’s arguably more useful when you’re just starting and trying to wrap your head around basic things, anyway)

I never tried vocab on Bunpro (mainly out of habit and SRS inertia – I’d definitely give it a go if I was just starting), but I use Torii 10k core deck with “exclude WK vocab” option. I also have an Anki deck specifically for new words I encounter while reading something in Japanese (but I tend to forget about Anki)

…Bunpro became so much better in the last couple of years… :sweat_smile:

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#5

I don’t use wanikani but as for your question as to how you learn words without knowing the kanji. I never learnt the kanji, just the word. Eventually through exposure you get the meaning + readings down easily. I think you shouldn’t be too concerned about learning the kanji before learning a word with a kanji you haven’t seen before

#6

I started WK a couple months before discovering Bunpro. I wanna say 3-ish months? Now that I use both, I just do both alongside everyday, at a pace that allows me not to be overwhelmed with reviews.

Generally speaking, I try to progress Wanikani faster than Bunpro to accumulate the kanji and vocab knowledge, so as soon as I unlock new kanji on there I learn them to get the reviews going; for vocab I take a bit more time and split it over several days, taking it a bit slower to not get utterly overwhelmed with new reviews.

Every couple days/once a week or so, I sync my WK progress with Bunpro (Practice, NOT Master) that way I also get some “real” practice with the words I learned on WK included with context in actual sentences.
On Bunpro, I do 5 new vocab and 1 new grammar a day. I used to do 3 grammar a day until I finished N4, but I was having way too many daily reviews so I slowed it down now that I’m going through N3.

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#7

I say extra studying is never a bad thing, and I don’t skip Bunpro vocab even if I don’t know the kanji yet. I tend to come up with my own mnemonics for the readings.

I use manual fill in for vocab, so I type in kana anyway, and I think that if you can connect the reading, meaning and a vague silhouette of a word, it’s good enough, and you can learn the kanji later.

Currently, I’m at WK level 14, and I do 20 lessons a day there. In Bunpro I usually do 4 to 8 N4 grammar points and 4-12 vocab words, depending on how overwhelmed I feel. Occasionally, I do KaniWani as well

#8

I also sync WK to BP, but use BP only for grammar at the moment. WK (currently lvl 22) Ill do anywhere from 3-12 lessons per day (slow and steady for me).

BP I’m much slower, as I find having more than ~10 reviews per day overwhelming. I’m halfway through N4, but I’ll only add a few new lessons per week on average. Since I’m using BP to reinforce WK, I make a point to try to fully comprehend each question’s example sentence, as well as listening to and shadowing the pronunciation. So each review takes me significantly longer than a WK review.

Regardless, the integration of WK and BP has been immensely helpful, and I recommend it!

#9

I also used to do the notes thing (didn’t have Bunpro at the time, was working through Cure Dolly’s material). I felt like it was helping at the time but I realized I had basically no recall of any of it later lol. To be fair I didn’t have an SRS system at the time. I don’t do notes for grammar anymore but if I have even the slightest bit of trouble with a grammar question in my reviews I go back and review the information on it. The thing that gives me the most memory trouble is mostly remembering when to use stem vs て-form vs plain form in conjunction with a particular grammar pattern.

#10

That’s fair, I think it’s a preference thing - I like being able to see kanji in things I read and be able to take a reliable stab at what it means in context even if its a word I’ve never seen before. Makes it less frustrating to read content to me because my brain starts getting bored and annoyed when I’m trying to parse sentences and I basically don’t understand anything.

Definitely valid. I hear all the time that I would be better off doing more “immersion” than spending time with SRS and I appreciate that that approach works really well for a lot of people, but my brain gets mad at me if I try to read something without understanding like 90% of it already minimum. I try to force it anyway but it’s rough going.

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#11

This is a perfectly normal human experience. I can vaguely remember being 3 or 4 and trying to read, and by sounding out the words even at that age I certainly knew at least 90% by the time it was spoken aloud. Even in my native language, if I attempt to read a text which causes me to look up more than 10% of the words, I’m not reading. That’s a very intense study, and it’s hard, and no one wants to do it.

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#12

Found Bunpro when I was already Level 20 on WK and for me, it was the best timing as it’s easier to read a sentence with Kanji in it vs all hiragana. Being able to sync is awesome.

Can someone clarify - do we have to sync the 2 regularly or just set the API once and it will just sync regularly on its own?

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#13

Having finished WK… and being halfway through N3 but only having started it recently, would recommend:

N5

  1. First, build up the most common vocab - WK 1-10
  2. Next, if you haven’t given up, start building up some Kana vocab using Bunrpo
  3. It’s best to start and prioritize N5 Grammar while slowing down on WK here
  4. N5 Grammar should be finished around WK level 20 if you paced yourself well.
  5. If you hit WK level 30, learn the remaining vocab and pause Radical/Kanji until you get about halfway through N4.

N4

  1. WK 20 + N4 Grammar
  2. Start reading beginner material, book clubs, etc.
  3. Aim for WK level 27 to 30 and N4 to finish about the same time
  4. Exception: If you find Keigo really confusing, just skip it until you get through most of N3 Grammar. You shouldn’t go to N2 Grammar without it, though.
  5. If you hit WK level 51, same as above. But you shouldn’t go back to WK until you’re done with N2 Grammar imho.
  6. Katakana vocab is something you eventually just stop doing after you do 100-500 of them. You’ll know when you can relax on it. In bunpro, add katakana from any level as you encounter it if you don’t get it on the first pass when you’re out in the wild. This will save you a lot of time on English Loan Words you don’t really need SRS for. Hiragana words / onomatopoeia are much more worth your time.

N3

  1. WK 27
  2. Finish N3 Grammar about the same time you hit WK 40-45
  3. If you hit WK 51, stop!!! Seriously!!! Reviews only!!!
  4. Read a light novel or medium-grade manga
  5. Listening practice if you haven’t started by now. Best if you take a class, get a tutor or something for listening / speaking. Doing it on your own is error-prone, and not the “fun accent” kind of error-prone.

Intermediate Checklist

  1. Are you WK 40+?
  2. Are you done with N3 Grammar?
  3. Do you still have a goal? If so, do the goal!!
  4. If you haven’t done anything with JP other than study, go on review-only mode and do something… anything instead!!!

N2

  1. WK should hit 51 about halfway through N2 Grammar, and you should stop at this point
  2. Finish N2 Grammar
  3. This is a good time to hit the bonus decks - anime, オノマトペ, 関西弁. Pick something that interests you.
  4. If you haven’t started your own flashcards, this is as good a time to start as any. One reason you may avoid doing it up to this point is to not overwhelm yourself with SRS. It’s OK to just trust the process others have made their career. But at some point, like with #3 here, you need to start branching off to what interests you.

"N0"

  1. N1 is not important!!! At this point, learning should be secondary to immersion and using the language.

N1

  1. Ok fine… let’s finish… so we can take the test and get a job I guess?
  2. WK to 60 is a better first step
  3. N1 Grammar
  4. Do you really need advice at this point? It helps to have a goal!

Expert Notes

  1. Keep in mind, as far as Kanji goes, you’ll get all sorts of non-WK ones as you go. Some from song lyrics I just ran into - 凪げ, 僅か, 鎧 - and 巫女 was in a video game. It never ends…
  2. … just like with English! How many new ENGLISH words will you find in here: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/Maugham_The_Verger_0.pdf
  3. 四字熟語… holy rabbit holes
  4. Cursive Kanji!? Is this seriously a thing!?
  5. ゑ!?ゐ!? Why are these on my |insert random alcoholic beverage|

Edit for two notes:
Learn to write Katakana / Hiragana early. Kanji writing order can be completely different to save you a lot of time. Contrary to what I was led to believe by “experts”, it helps a ton with memory when it comes to similar Kanji, so if you have time, it’s valuable. I’ve found there are times where writing practice is all I can do due to the environment I’m in.

Listening/Speaking: In person is important, as are sub-optimal environments. If all you’re doing is listening to clearly and slowly speaking Youtubers, it’ll hurt later on. Even the JLPT could be on a CD Player from the 90s connected to speakers that muffle the sound a bit.

Edit 2: Saw a couple likes added, so to add a little tidbit on time management.

I can’t binge. 4 hours of study in a single day is really tough for me. Proper pacing is the only reason I was able to make it as far as I did. The easiest, “phone it in” pacing for WK + Bunpro I was able to stumble into is as follows:

Weekdays: Review between 8pm and Sleep
Weekends: Learn AM, Review Afternoon, Review PM

With this cadence, everything lines up pretty well, and the review pacing lines up with the Learn>4h>8h>24h “standard” SRS pacing really well. By managing my queue, I end up with 30 minutes on weekdays and 1.5 hours on weekends. This does mean some weekends I skip learning to make sure the queue doesn’t get too big over time.

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Losing hope after 6-7 months. I know
#14

You definitely should NOT have to sync more than once for WK kanji within BP grammar sentences.

Now, I can’t speak to the BP vocab side, as I don’t use it. But I did an original sync of WK to BP like a year ago, and it’s up to date in BP grammar sentences.

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#15

In my experience, if you strictly want to sync the Furigana it’s as easy as a one-and-done setting. However if you want to sync your WK Guru vocab with Bunpro’s vocab (whether for Master or Practice) you have to click the sync button every so often.

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#16

I didn’t think so. Was confused by the comment posted by someone above. Thanks!
And I only use BP for grammar.

#17

Awesome tip! Thanks! I was starting to feel like I’m progressing too fast on WK but too slow on BP.

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#18

I’ve been using WaniKani for much longer than Bunpro, and just synced all my words over on ‘practice’ last week.

I like seeing words in context, and I like how Bunpro vocab forces me to recall the Japanese word with the context of a whole sentence. I’m removing any vocabulary that doesn’t have the sentence questions from my Bunpro reviews, and have had to completely reset a few WaniKani vocab words I burned a long time ago that I’ve since forgotten.

I think WaniKani has given me a leg up in reading, but there’s a lot when it comes to output that I’m missing. Obviously, just adding another SRS into the mix isn’t going to fix this, but it is working as a start for me, and has been helpful for discovering where the lapses in my brain are.

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