Kanshudo - Kanji-Grammar-Vocab SRS -

Japanese
#1

Happy New Year everyone!

I am just wondering if people know about this resource… I made a search of the site and only 11 results came back using Kanshudo, one which is mine. lol

https://kanshudo.com

I hear a lot about Wanikani, but I don’t like it. It forces you to go through all the levels even when you’re advanced. It is so tedious. It is a bit too brute force learning in my opinion. I prefer to make connections between Kanji and Vocab, and Kanshudo does that very well.

I found Kanshudo last year, (they have a sale every December half price annual - don’t know if it is still on). I prefer it over Wanikani. Has anyone else used it?

I’m trying to optimize using Kanshudo, alongside with Bunpro, so any recommendations on how you’ve used it? What has worked best for you using that website? Why do you think it is not as mentioned as Wanikani, Anki, Kitsune, etc?

Thank you!!!

Note: I prefer Bunpro overall as a grammar app even though Kanshudo has grammar too.

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Feature Discussion: Bunpro AI Assistant
#2

Looks very interesting. Bunpro and WaniKani should take note of this new competition. I’ve only read the introduction so far, but if the site lives up to the hype, it could be a serious competitor with some innovative features and possibly even more-complete content.

For me, the strength of WaniKani, as a complete beginner, was and is their whole system of mnemonics, especially their system of ‘radicals’. This allowed me to get past the barrier of not knowing anything about kanji to being able to learn steadily right from the beginning. A gentler learning curve than the alternatives.

#3

I’ve never really used kanshudo for learning (think I did some free account stuff and didn’t really like it) but I have looked at their vocab lists before, I think that they’re pretty good except that they use dictionary definitions instead of simplifying things and explaining what the word actually means instead of just likening it to an english word which can get misinterpreted… and I think that it might be things like that that make it less talked about.

I’m guessing it’s just that it’s being made by a very small team that’s prioritizing getting as many features as possible instead of working on design, advertising, or the smaller aspects and nuances that they can get by without.

Bet it will be more competitive as they get those smaller details but for now I like how wanikani teaches even though the leveling thing is annoying.

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#4

i haven’t used kanshudo but can share some thoughts…

oho, kanshudo has an AI assistant built in?

That’s actually interesting, the use case of using AI to have a recommended study path for the work you’re doing. Bunpro should consider this as a way to retain users…

I can think of Marumori and Jalup as other resources in this area of (aiming for comprehensive Japanese learning resource)

and Kanshudo seems to have other quizzes, dictionary, that kinda thing.

It seems like Kanshudo has existed since like 2016, which is interesting… maybe part of it has to do with aesthetics? super feature packed but not as pretty to look at, which some part of the potential userbase would consider.

#5

Kanshudo has a system of mnemonics but they are very simple. They kind of just divide a kanji in its parts and tell you a mini sentence about it. By breaking down the kanji by its parts, for an intermediate user, it helps a lot to build those associations.

I can see why as a beginner one might need more guidance and Wanikani can be quite useful. I never knew of it until I was advanced enough it didn’t make sense to go through the lower levels. At a higher level, would you recommend using Wanikani to review?

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#6

I can see why that can be bothersome. At the end, I think that the ideal is to read Japanese directly without English. I think they try to solve that problem by partnering with Joy of Kanji.

The joy of Kanji are long essays about different kanji. The essays are very comprehensive.

The lure of Bunpro is that they have japanese-japanese options. I am going through everything with only Japanese to review. I find that is a great advantage that is similar to Jalup new app: Nihongo Lessons.

Did you start Wanikani when you were a beginner or later in your progress?

#7

They also have an AI sentence checker which I use a lot and really like to learn more about grammar nuances.

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