Mistakes in course

WaniKani Bugs & Errors
#1

Hi, I am fairly new to this course because I am aiming for JLPT N3 and above level kanji. I am already certified as N5 on the JLPT so starting fresh is somewhat frustrating to say the least. What is bothering me is the fact that with my experience of the Japanese language and multiple text books and reference material, there is an abundance of mistakes in the course or vocabulary to kanji that is marked wrong when it is in fact correct or how it is actually written in a Japanese dictionary or course.

Examples are from the beginning æ­ąă‚ă‚‹ often most JLPT textbooks will have “to make stop” as an option, sadly this is missing from wanikani and as a result am marked wrong, forced to wait up to 12 hours for a review before more lessons come available. The next one ć€–ă‚Œă‚‹ “to come undone” again this is missing from the vocabulary of wanikani and is actually a common Japanese word that they would use if a button or shoe lace has come undone. Other frustrations are the names of radicals which are rather dogmatic on this course and do not reflect what they are called in some JLPT material or other Kanji dictionary type books.

Is anyone else having problems like this and if so what can we do to overcome it.

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Does Wanikani listen to feedback
#2

Add your own user synonyms if you want. WK can’t possibly cover every possible English translation that every resource out there covers by default.

There is functionally no difference between WK’s “to stop something” and “to make stop.” But you can phrase the same meaning a variety of ways in English, so that’s just something that you typically have to deal with with user synonyms.

As for the radical names, they are designed specifically for the mnemonics that WK makes, so of course they are sometimes unique to this site. Anyone not making the same mnemonics wouldn’t use them. The JLPT does not test radicals, so there really shouldn’t be any conflict with JLPT resources anyway. Someone studying for, say, the Kanji Kentei will need to know the Japanese radical names, but that’s beyond the scope of WK.

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#3

Like @Leebo stated, use user synonyms. WaniKani lets you input your own meanings for reasons just like this. Its not fair to say WaniKani is ‘full of mistakes’ because they use a slightly different meaning. If you had done WaniKani first, then gone to those other materials, would you then say they were ‘full of mistakes’? Both are correct, but you can’t expect everything to teach everything 100% the same.

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#4

omg, so I saw the user synonym thing, but for some reason, it didn’t click that it would then accept your added synonym as a correct answer
this could have saved me so much trouble earlier on for similar mistakes as the OP :persevere: Thanks for the tip!

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#5

To add to what Leebo and DaisukeJigen said, if you find a critical meaning that isn’t at all covered by the WK-provided list, you can email the WK team at hello@wanikani.com and ask them to add it to all users. Kristen posts what changes were made on a weekly basis in this thread:

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#6

There is a reason that few meanings are listed. Especially when there are a wide range of applications, it isn’t beneficial for the learner to list them all. Found/Know any other? Add them manually. This doesn’t have to be done in reviews, you can search for vocab in the wanikani database and add them there.
But of course, if you had been paying attention during the lessons, you would’ve seen that particular translation missing.

Also note that in the case of vocab this won’t affect your leveling up speed.

#7

Thanks so I see I can go into the word details and add user synonyms. That is helpful. It is probably best to do that in advance to save wasting time by waiting like 4 hours, 8 hours or even 12 hours to review it before new lessons become unlocked slowing the process down.

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#8

Yeah. If you feel like you miss translations often, just keep an extra tab open during lessons. I don’t think it will take that much time, as you can view the vocab/kanji/radicals per level as well.

#9

You can use the wanikani override script to have your answer ignored if you deem it was wrongly marked incorrect, then add your answer as a synonym. You won’t be penalized for not adding your synonyms before your reviews this way.

Note that this script is easily abusable, so if you think you lack discipline you may want to stay clear of it.

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#10

Yep, I got liberty added to è‡Ș由 and saving added to 保歘. I felt they were pretty important and I provided context (screenshots of applications, links to jisho.org, etc). If you think it’s going to be a big help for other people to have more context, it doesn’t hurt to see if It can be added for everyone.

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#11

You can also use this script to add your created synonyms during lessons rather than open a new tab to create them during your lessons.

One thing to keep in mind is that synonyms don’t work for the lesson test, but they should work for the reviews going forward. I’m not sure if that issue has been resolved since I’ve last used it, but the script is useful nevertheless.

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#12

I think they do work during the lesson quiz, but I’m not 100% sure.

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#13

I run that script, and you cannot add synonyms during the quiz after you learn them for the first time. Only during lessons and reviews. ^^

#14

I don’t think you can add synonyms during lessons, right? Or am I missing something?

#15

The script that rfindley linked to specifically lets you add user synonyms during lessons already. Seanblue was wondering if it also works during post-lesson quiz, but it does not.

Edit: Although, I just checked, and it’s not working for me right now. :joy: I’ll have to poke around at my scripts.

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#16

Oh!!! Nice :relaxed:

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#17

I didn’t mean you can add synonyms during the quiz. I meant that if you answer using a synonym you added before the quiz your answer would be accepted.

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#18

This is what I was referring to in my earlier post. In the past, I tried and failed. Whether that’s changed, I’m not sure. Seanblue understands what I’m talking about.

#19

I usually add synonyms during a quiz
 it makes you re-answer, but you can on a web browser.

#20

Thanks for that info re the override script. I am just wondering how I do that. I think I need to use it.

Just as an example I had reviews this morning and got scored wrong for seattle city where I had to type it in Japanese. I typed shiatorishi instead of shiatorushi. Clearly an easy mistake しあべり しあろる ă‚·ă‚ąăƒˆăƒ« ă‚·ă‚ąăƒˆăƒȘ given that the u and i on the keyboard are next to each other.

This is another example of my frustration with the reviews as it adds it to the queue to be reviewed again when in fact it is a word that I will never need to review because it is such a simple word to remember.