Thank you that is helpful even though it’s not a full solution.
thank you! You’ve described my situation perfectly!
To everyone that is asking if I am trolling, or why the middle strip colour aint enough, or why I cannot read the text telling me what to do.
I identify meaning through colour in less than a second.
But it sometimes takes up to 10 seconds to figure out if it’s asking me for meaning or reading.
I don’t know why I am like this but that’s how it is with me.
I get where you’re coming from. Especially at the beginning I run into this problem a lot. Since back then I knew the kanji / vocabs already I had some of them internalized pretty well. So when I typed onna for 女 I was pretty confused why on earth this should be wrong 
Maybe it is especially since WK is doing a great job differentiating radical / kanji / vocab by distinct colors. This sometimes can trick my brain into “i got it, its a […] that is requested”.
But part of the whole idea behind how the app is structured is to not get your brain into some kind of auto-mode. So I always (try to) remind myself to double check before hitting enter… or live with the results.
Apart from this, I totally agree with what many others mentioned already. After using WK on a regular basis I figured out strategies to (somehow) pay more attention whether it is reading or meaning that is requested. Just be patient with yourself 
I don’t think the main app will be (nor should be) changed. But maybe you can ask in the scripts section if someone would like to help you out with a user script doing some additional color changes.
1 Like
I’m happy that so many people find the differences obvious - I’m one of the people that do not. If you’re a word-shape reader like me, Reading and Meaning look exactly the same. One of them is white on black and the other is black on white. Without looking at the screenshots above I’d not be able to tell you which is which. Yes, when put side by side the difference between the two is obvious, but the reviews never give them side by side. You only see one of the two. I’ve made it to level 51 and I still mess up.
Here are your options for distinguishing them:
- Slow down. Take time to manually spellcheck your answer, as the difference between English and hiragana in the answer box is fairly obvious. Downside: doesn’t work when you’re in a hurry or when the answer is something like three letters - you’re likely to hit enter too quickly
- Accustom yourself to starting every item by saying out loud which of the two it wants. This takes less getting used to than you might think. Downside: sometimes you still mess up
- Install the double check script - it has an option to shake the box if you switch meaning and reading. Downside: almost none - double check is meant to give you the option to push through items. Only is a downside If you don’t like having that option or if you don’t want to install scripts.
- Install reorder ultimate - it has an option to always give reading first then meaning, which takes away confusion. Downside: debatable (and debated on this forum if you search for it). Some people indicate only being reminded of a review item once (reading-meaning in succession) reduces your recall compared to being reminded of it twice (when the two come by separately). Not an issue for everyone
- Install a custom CSS for the review page. You can give one of the two boxes a dashed background or different colors or… Downside: depends on whether your issue is with similar layout or with the similarity of the words. See also 6
- Ask for a script that changes the words Reading and Meaning to f.i. Japanese and English (which don’t have the same shape). Downside: depends on whether your issue is with similar layout or with the similarity of the words See also 5
3 Likes
Thanks for your replies guys, I put in a request in the proper section: https://community.wanikani.com/t/different-colour-for-meaning-reading/49196
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.