Known Words Percentage

After grammar, vocabulary is the most important area to focus on to be able read manga in Japanese.

Learning the highest frequency words in a series is essential as they'll make up a significant portion of the text. By learning these first, you'll quickly understand a larger part of the content, making the reading experience smoother and more enjoyable.

As your vocabulary increases, you can read manga with the following expectations based on your known words percent for the series:

• Below 60% Known Words: You will likely be looking up so many words that you won't enjoy the material. This situation is expected when using manga to help in first learning grammar and vocabulary, but may become less tolerable as your grammar and vocabulary increase.
• 60% Known Words: If you know around 60% of the words in the book, expect a lot of dictionary lookups. This level is manageable but may feel slow at first. Continue to target the highest-frequency words to increase your percent to ease the challenge as you progress through the series.
• 70% Known Words: With 70% of the words known, you can read with fewer lookups, especially if your grammar is solid. This is a comfortable level for gradually increasing your vocabulary while keeping up with the story.
• 80% Known Words: When you recognize 80% of the words, you'll only need occasional lookups. This is ideal for reading smoothly while still reinforcing new vocabulary.
• Over 80% Known Words: Reading is much easier. At this point, don't stress over pre-learning words. Most of the remaining words will be rare and appear less frequently, so it's best to pick them up naturally as you encounter them.

Pre-learning high-frequency words helps build a solid foundation in any manga. Aim for 70–80% word familiarity for comfortable reading, and don't worry about reaching 100%. Instead, let your vocabulary grow with each new volume you read.

Known Words Progress Bar

The known words progress bar includes up to three sections:

• Known Words: The first segment is the percent of known words. This is how many of the overall total number of words in a series or volume that you know.
• Tracking Words: If there is a middle segment, this is the the percent of words being tracked. Typically, you will want to track words that you are currently learning or may want to start learning.
• Unknown Words: The final segment is the percent of unknown words that are not being tracked.