Had enough of this, been memorizing the same made up radicals for two days and still nothing is unlocked. Some of the names are childish and irrelevant, and only ever used on this course. I’m here to learn kanji, and I’ve not reached one yet. Time to try another.
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Two whole days and you still haven’t learned a single kanji?
Preposterous!
If only there was an FAQ in which this is not only mentioned but explained. Shame.
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I just started here two days ago. I agree that its slow to start and the examples are childish, but it picks up quickly. You have a level bar and when you level up by answering the questions correctly, you’ll unlock more stuff.
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Learn the radicals. They really do help further down the line, and some of them do actually mean something on their own. At the very least, you’re getting used to the look of kanji and easing into it. Trust all of us, it’ll pick up fast. Do your reviews and lessons.
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I do feel the beginning of WaniKani can feel very slow for the more advanced learner.
I wish WaniKani has a “placement test” or something that allows us to skip levels.
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I agree, some of them aren’t even official radicals. I have this great book called The Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji which lists the official radicals and jouyou kanji, along with their original names, meanings, and forms. It’s actually really fascinating, kind of like a history book.
Anyways, I’ve just been adding the correct names from the book as synonyms, or making notes on which ones aren’t official.
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If you dont have the patience to bear level 1, and you are ready to quit after 2 days after starting, I don’t see you going far using any other method.
Why the hurry? You really needed to learn those kanji right away? I mean it takes like 20 levels to start seeing the benefits anyway.
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It’s funny because I had the exact same reaction the first time I tried Wanikani.
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This is an endurance sport. Don’t give up after two days 
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Interesting. I never had an issue myself when starting WK. Maybe because I had 0 knowledge of kanji and I also didn’t know the radical names were made up until later lol.
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Yeah, hate to break it to you OP but uhhh, two days is a drop in the bucket for what you’ll be spending on this language if you continue with it. Surely you haven’t just been waiting around on reviews all that time? There’s a wealth of online resources for learning Japanese to keep you busy. You’re not paying for it and there’s hardly any time commitment in the beginning so what’s the big problem?
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All advice to continue nonwithstanding, if you don’t want to put in the work here then don’t do it. Japanese is hard, and WaniKani is the best resource I’ve found for learning kanji and retaining them (and I’m in Japan!), but it’s all up to you whether you want to continue. Good luck with your studies and don’t get too discouraged by what you find.
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boi you can take your time and use the radicals and mnemonics that make learning and recognizing kanji 10000 times easier and allowing you to read most japanese texts in just over one year or you can give up after two days and resort to pure memorization of kanji, characters that won’t make any sense to you and you’ll forget faster after spending years learning them
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Preach. (#nailbats4life)
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WaniKani is indeed slow. I’m still waiting to learn my first kanji.
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After 60 levels of fake radicals is when the real learning starts.
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I’m half suspicious that this is just bait.
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If it is, I don’t really hate it. The mental image of someone fuming over this then rage quitting in a huff is kinda hilarious to me tbh.
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I would say that I hate drama like this, but I don’t
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