Currently, if I dont know the answer to a question, I intentionally type a wrong answer, which may register or not depending on whats being asked, hit enter, then go to the eye icon to see the correct answer. Is there any way I can avoid having to type a wrong answer first? Is there not an “I have no idea, show me the answer” button that I’m somehow missing? If not I feel like there should be. But the eye is greyed out until I going through the process of registering an incorrect answer. Thanks.
5 Likes
There isn’t, but I think there’s userscripts for that.
I do agree it should be something built into the system though.
7 Likes
Hmmm… maybe this is by design? I think I might end up hitting the “I don’t know” button a bit too frequently LOL… it forces me to think more about it and try and surprisingly sometimes I then still get it right (even though maybe half guessed). So I think not having such button also has some advantages.
5 Likes
Maybe, though I think that depends on what your goal is. If you want to go fast then that’s great. If you want to spend more time with the material you aren’t sure about, admitting you don’t know and spending time relearning is a very valid option.
3 Likes
That’s not a new idea, but we don’t develop new features here. the devs have been stagnant for over a year now.
Your best option is to look for a 3rd party script or write one yourself.
3 Likes
They want you to guess because the burn system is built of just barely remembering. If you can take an educated guess that really causes you brain to struggle your suppose to remember better.
10 Likes
That is a very good explanation, thank you!
Come to think of it, there were a few cases when I would enter a reading while thinking “surely, this couldn’t be the actual reading, can it?” – and it turned out it was the correct reading! 
5 Likes
Hi, we actually just released a Knowledge Guide article addressing this topic here.
9 Likes
If I burn an item where I feel that way, I purposely fail it. Hope I’m not the only person that does this.
4 Likes
You are most definitely not alone! With so many of us trying to learn Japanese, I HAVE to believe that MANY of us will deliberately fail a ‘burn’ item if we don’t feel that we truly know it! Otherwise, why bother? 
1 Like
From the faq;
” No, there is no way to skip a question on WaniKani.
Instead of skipping past a review that might be difficult to remember, we’d rather you spend a bit of extra time and try to answer the question. We know it can be frustrating, but did you know that the act of struggling to recall something can actually strengthen your memory?
When you’re struggling to recall something, your brain is going through all the items you’ve learned on WaniKani so far. When you finally attempt a guess, your brain updates cues to recall the information in the future, even if you don’t know the correct answer. Once you read the correct answer after making this effort, your brain will be able to process the correct information and reconsolidate it so it stays in your long-term memory. This means there’s a higher chance you’ll get the answer right next time you see the review.
If you don’t make any attempt to recall from your memory and just go straight to reading the answer, you’re likely to forget this information soon after as it may only stay in your short-term memory. This is all to say that even if you get the question wrong, it’s better to try than skipping it completely!”
3 Likes
I intentionally hit “again” in Anki a bunch of times to purposely keep certain cards in longer even if I know the answer myself too yeah. Sometimes having that extra time with content can really help. If anything, I’ve found that cards where I guess the answer, or struggle with an luckily get right, I’m going to be in the exact same state the next time. And I’ll probably forget I ever even learned them much later on.
Ever since moving to Anki, I’ve started feeling like I don’t have to be so rushed anymore, and I wonder how much of that pressure I used to feel has to do with the payment element with Wanikani. Where wasting time by taking longer is means it’s also wasting my money in a weird way. Though Anki also doesn’t lock off new content for several days because you missed an answer once, so there’s generally just much less pressure to get it right on that front.
But that’s just what works for me. WK’s design is very opinionated on how they believe people should learn when I don’t think what works or doesn’t is quite that set in stone. The choices definitely aren’t coming from a bad place, and there is quite a lot I can agree with, or at least understand the reasoning of if I don’t.
2 Likes
I wish there was a way (without using scripts) to lower an items level retroactively if you guessed right. Like unburning, but for lower levels (and not resetting it all the way to Apprentice, ideally, which I also don’t like about unburning items)
1 Like