Hello, so I have been back to WaniKani and really enjoying it at the moment.
What I have been noticing lately is, sometimes WaniKani asks for the Kun-Yomi reading for Kanji,which I can see the WaniKani Team is coming from, since single Kanji can also be Vocabulary and then the Kun-Yomi reading is required. But lately I have been stumbling apon vocabulary in japanese texts, where I see Kanji I learnt from WaniKani, but I only knew it’s Kun-Yomi reading (for this example, it was 林) and I was like
“Damn, I technically know this Kanji, but only it’s Kun-Yomi.”
Yes, you can technically look up the On-Yomi (or both to be exact) readings from the Kanji in it’s info, but wouldn’t it be much easier and clear to ask ONLY for the On-Yomi reading when the Kanji is asked, and save the Kun-Yomi for the vocabulary?
I think you’re missing the point of why WaniKani was designed. Essentially, the developers put everything together to teach the most common readings you’ll come across; in some cases, specifically the compound kanji vocabulary, words will favor one reading over another. To limit everything for the convenience of making a pattern (e.g., all vocab items are kun’yomi, all kanji items are on’yomi) doesn’t help the end user in the end. Rather you learn with standalone kanji, kanji with okurigana, and kanji compounds which reading is the most useful to know.
WK decided not to include any words that use the onyomi of 林.
I think it would have been fine to at least include 森林, since that’s something you might conceivably encounter as a tourist even (I live near a 森林植物園).
But since they didn’t, then the onyomi would just be hanging off on its own, without vocab to reinforce it.
I started putting the opposite reading in the kanji item reading section myself. I like being able to see them side by side because it helps me get them straight in my head. Alternatively, clicking on a kanji item will show both kun and on readings.