? I thought the main point of (proper) radicals were so that you could look stuff up in a paper dictionary, and the main point of WK radicals is so that you’re not suddenly faced with something like 麗 with no idea how to break it down into smaller components…
You don’t even have to know the radical names to do that. To use a paper dictionary, you have to actually learn which radical is “the” radical for the particular kanji, though usually you can guess within a few tries.
So, overall, for using a paper dictionary, the most important thing is understanding generally what parts can be radicals and how they can change shape depending on where they are.
Like, the dictionary radical of 相 is not 木, but 目, but it should only take you two guesses to get there. Others are even trickier.
Knowing the “real names” can help with understanding the meaning of the kanji when it’s actually relevant and not obscured by the history of the kanji itself.
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The confusion about it happens, I think, because that’s the only way it used to work (if I’m recalling correctly) but now you can do it without a WK key, based purely on JLPT levels or WK level ranges. I’d say doing it without WK is a bit silly though, at least in my opinion… then again, maybe doing it WITH WK is silly too - I can’t remember what the science said regarding doing multiple SRS for the same content.
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No, paticles. Pay attention.
Paticles, noun.
- Something so advanced in Japanese that only @Leebo understands but even Ke can’t describe
Particles, noun.
- Something really basic in Japanese like の
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Am I the only one that thinks 小 and ⺌ look nothing alike? If you write them both the same way inside kanji, you must have some really strange handwriting. Having them both mean “small” would be very challenging… I read 105 posts in this thread just to say this 
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Well, neither do 心 and 忄, but that doesn’t change the fact that etymologically, they’re the same radical. And sometimes knowing they’re the same radical can help with understanding, because kanji with 忄 as the radical quite often have meanings to do with emotion or feeling.
It’s… less relevant when it comes to 小 and ⺌, I suppose, because they don’t tend to contribute to the meaning quite so often.
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*mnemonics to 2055 漢字
Do it in less than a year and you only have to buy a yearly subscription… 
Did you forget the additional $0.50 for the forums with all the user scripts and resources and the people complaining that the site isn’t good enough? You’re going to have to create that to stay competitive… 
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Maybe he was talking about how you create mneumonics from paticles.
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It helps, because this way each radical has a unique name.
Suppose I was trying to discribe a kanji and said it has a “small” radical. With traditional radicals, you’d have to ask “do you mean normal ‘small’ or modified ‘small’?” With WK system you’d know that it means normal “small” otherwise I’d use “triceratops” instead.
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Closed as per OP’s request.
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