Or the other way round.
I think if both questions are in the set anyway, it would be nice if:
So if I need to give the reading of X and I type the meaning, it accepts it but then does not ask me for the meaning of X but asks for the reading.
That would streamline things a lot. You’re still testing that somebody knows both of these things.
I am still having trouble with this also! However, taking a little extra time to make sure I am typing the right this is also helping me from making unfortunate typos and getting the answer wrong, so I am trying to adjust.
I just use
To always have the readings first
This seems like one of those things where someone’d just say, “just learn that you need to properly read the question before answering”, and I’d tend to agree. However, I also see the value from a user experience perspective in not getting whiplashed by receiving an incorrect message for something you actually knew and answered correctly (for the opposite question type).
However, what you’re asking isn’t necessarily that simple.
Probably the most problematic part would be words that have the same or a similar reading and meaning.
What if someone is on the reading question for 神道 and they type “しんと” (because it gets converted to kana in the input field)? That could be a legitimate reading mistake (not remembering that it’s しんとう) or just them typing the meaning instead of the reading, like you’re saying, and there’s no way for the system to know what was going on in your head as you were answering.
I could also think of more convoluted examples, such as someone being on the meaning question for 万 and (incorrectly) think it meant “man”, input “man”, and get the question correct (as the reading) and be none the wiser about their mistake. You might say that that would work itself out when they get asked for the meaning (again), but it would still make for a very confusing user experience to end up being asked to answer the same exact question twice in the same session, especially when you consider that they might not be back-to-back and so they might not even end up realizing that their earlier answer got accepted as the reading.
I mean, that’s not unreasonable considering that 男 is fairly similar. 方 is more so, though WaniKani barely addresses the “person” meaning of this kanji.
I notice that you’re level one - so what I will say in this case is that meaning vs. reading is a learning curve I also went through. (I would even go as far as to say others experience it too)
After using Wanikani for about a week or so you get the hang of it and typically look out for what it’s asking for in the input spot.
This is of course my opinion though and the Back to Back user script can help with this. Double Check is also my favorite because on the off chance you get something wrong and you honestly knew the answer, you can fix it!
https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscript-double-check-version-2x/31456
You will also come to note that the background colour indicates what is expected and pretty quickly that will become fairly automatic. Meaning is a white background, reading is a black background.
Wait, really? (goes to do reviews)
Wow. I literally had never noticed this before.
I remember being frustrated about this starting out as well. You quite quickly pick up on the color variations that denote different questions however and from there you won’t make those mistakes anymore.
Take your early on mistakes as necessary learning of the system itself. The first 2 levels are “faster” than the next ones, so making mistakes like this is very forgiving and should not set you back much. 