I think it’s ignorant to assume that just because someone has an ignore script they will cheat.
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That is the thing isn’t it. This is not part of an official educational establishment so there is no need to have certain stringent criteria.
All of my Japanese is self taught apart from 2 years in High School some 24 years ago. With all my self-taught knowledge I have passed both the N5 and N4 JLPT tests and am aiming for the N3 next.
Who cares if people argue that they are “higher” than the basic level. It is not effecting you, it is not effecting me. If they want to start at a level that they feel is more appropriate for them then let them do it. People who want to learn Japanese and Kanji are not going to sabotage their own chances of learning.
Put it this way being at the level I am here is no badge of honour to me. If someone new were to join and want to start at level 30 because they knew all the Kanji below it then it would not upset me, hurt my pride or effect me in any way. They are here to learn. I am here to learn.
To me this is the only educational type of website that penalises and holds back people that want to learn opposed to allowing them to excel.
** laughs in criminal **
everybody cheats. everybody.
even you.
especially you.
I saw what you did.
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I understand all of the arguments but I think ultimately this site is pretty clear on what it offers. And there aren’t any bells or whistles, it’s pretty cut and dry- what you see is what you get. I don’t know anything about programming, but I can only imagine that whatever is necessary to allow learners to pick and choose what they do or don’t want to see, combined with the SRS system, would be pretty serious computing. Or offering placement tests to figure out what level you should start on…
And I can’t imagine that these options haven’t come up in the WK office. Maybe they’re on a “this would be an awesome feature” list…
Obviously because we pay for things we have expectations, and it’d be nice if there were more options and flexibility, but in choosing to pay for a service that doesn’t claim to do more than what it says, you have to be okay with some level of dissatisfaction. There’s no penalizing. The first levels are free for a reason. If you choose to pay after seeing how this system works… there are other options for learning kanji that allow you to do what you want.
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I wish I had a computer/eyes as fast as yours. For many short readings, I can (and often do) type the reading instead of the meaning and send it before being able to see the text.
(full disclosure- i still don’t use any of the saving scripts - i just swear a lot very loudly and annoy my neighbors when i do this)
I’ve been part of a study where I can type things faster than I can read… this has been an interesting investigation.
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In this case, I would say that WaniKani isn’t for them. There are other places to learn, as you know since you passed the N5 and N4 JLPT tests even without WaniKani. I didn’t say anything about pride and honor but I do think people are often bad judges at what they know. I didn’t even claim that they’re intentionally being malicious or cheating. I just don’t think a language program should go by people’s feelings rather than by what they demonstrate. This is just my personal opinion. I’m not an employee of WaniKani so I don’t have anything to do with how the program operates.
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I know how you feel, I dont switch readings and meaning often but it does piss me off sometimes lol. But I’d still rather take more review than a script.
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I think its rude to say someone stating their opinion is ignorant.
When your opinion is assuming the worst of people I think it’s fair to call that opinion ignorant.
Anyway, I’m done with this thread. Sorry OP for helping derail this topic.
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I am not assuming something bad of anyone, I am assuming that there will be some people who might be tempted to put getting to a level fast ahead of their learning, which is why they are paying in the first place.
The problem is this website already goes by peoples feelings rather than what they can demonstrate. Scripts and other downloads exist to alter it, discrepancies with on and kun readings where in some Kanji the on reading is completely neglected and if you enter the on reading in a review you will be scored incorrect. Example 手. The whole website is going by what the administrators think should happen and not what it should be.
The whole idea came to me when I noticed with burned items that they could be resurrected. Ultimately if one wanted to do it how I suggested then theoretically they could cheat their entire way to level 60 and then resurrect the ones they do not know.
The fact that this can be done means that it is possible to implement such a policy where people can manually select to burn any Kanji and Vocabulary they wish to without effecting the course.
As a new user and someone who remembered around 500 kanji fifteen years ago using Heisig’s method, I feel this. It would be a welcome option.
I’ve restarted my efforts now and am really enjoying WaniKani, but the early levels really are a drag for someone who already knows many of the kanji really by heart. I would never forget numbers for instance, but the early levels so far involve lots of counting stuff. People, days, months, machines (…?) and so on.
Meanwhile I’m counting hours, minutes and seconds to get past these early stages. 
I’m eager to start learning new things in addition to retracing my old memories.
Thanks for the reply, that is exactly how I felt. The website is good when you finally progress to something you can actually learn which is what I value a lot.
While I accept that some people on this website are school children being given this subscription by their parents and need some form of control, there are others who are grown adults and the website should adapt to meet the needs of people from all walks of life rather than the one-size-fits-all approach.
I can see this websites reviews system is good and helps with retention but I totally agree it is a drag to rehash very simple stuff that will never be forgotten.
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