It’s difficult at first but try to reach lvl 10, you’ll get the hang of it
Yes all fair comments. I expect the variety at level ten means I’m kept more on my toes. It’s the rudimentary nature of the early levels that is likely the barrier.
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It’s probably worth mentioning that although it only took me a few days to adjust when I switched themes, at that point in time I was already intimately familiar with WK and I had mountains of reviews rolling in nonstop.
I honestly can’t remember how long it took for the distinction to become second nature for me in the beginning, but I guarantee it’ll happen if you keep at it. I promise 
Also, if you have an iPhone, Tsurukame is a 3rd-party WK app that has an undo button built-in.
(Typing answers on a phone will likely be much slower than a real keyboard, though.)
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Then how do you know there aren’t enough visual cues if you admit to not looking at the screen?
If you want the visual cues to be obvious you have to slow down and gasp look at the screen instead of just firing away at the keyboard? Even with a couple of dozens items spending an extra 5 seconds to double check what is being asked for is barely gonna add a minute or two to the review time. Hardly some insurmountable amount of time.
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Keep in mind that this is to be used very carefully, since the temptation to say “Ah right I know this” when you did something wrong can creep up and sabotage yourself.
Two points that might help ease the frustration…First, remember, WK is gonna be teaching you like 8000 items when it’s all said and done. So, messing up here and there in the grand scheme of the 72,000 or so reviews you’ll be doing if you stick with it isn’t all that bad. Second, it sounds like you are mainly messing up vocabulary. Whenever I do that, I remind myself that vocabulary won’t hold me back from progressing to the next level. As long as my kanji are 90% good, it’s fine. The vocab will correct itself with time.
In regards to all the similar stuff WK is teaching you days, etc. some of that is just the fault of the language itself. You gotta learn it sometime cause it’s just how Japanese works. And early on in your kanji learning, those words are using simple kanji, so you can learn a lot of words and see the patterns of how days, months, etc. interact with other kanji, such as numbers. All the while your brain is getting used to seeing kanji and getting ready to be able to handle the more complex.
Not saying WK is perfect - no system is or ever will be - but, honestly, they’ve made a really good and very effective product, and they’ve made it very sincerely with the goal of helping us learn kanji. I would say, trust the process, bear with the flaws, and you will see results.
I know this wasn’t a practical fix for you, but hopefully a different perspective on the matter can help alleviate some of your frustrations. Best of luck!
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Is there something that changes at level 10 or is that just about when you think people will become used to the visual cues?
I don’t know about other people, but yes, I started getting more used to the visual cues and making fewer of that kind of mistake around level 10 (or 14).
I think if you stick with it long enough, you will get used to it, but this has been such a problem for newish users that I think WK could probably improve on the interface. There have been a few suggestions in other threads, but I’m not sure what’s best. Maybe a visual clue near the kanji so that people who aren’t looking at the input field will see it anyway.
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Like @Sezme, I stopped making those mistakes around level 10 (a bit after, I guess; it’s the last level where I remember doing that kind of error)
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youre only level 3, why are you paying money? shouldve waited unil you have to
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Don’t really want to say “you gotta”, because it’s probably not terribly helpful, but you gotta learn how to type without looking at your hands. Personally, I only ever need to glance at my hands on occasion if I’ve accidentally put them down at the wrong place.
Actually, I don’t even need to look at the screen while typing - I can even hold a conversation with another person while typing on the computer (though to be honest, it tends to be me just going “uh huh, uh huh” while trying not to accidentally type what the other person is giraffe to me).
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Maybe they got lifetime during the sale.
Was that the best you could do? 
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I mess up typing all the time. I had to get the double check script. It has saved my life. Sometimes I type my English words so bad WK doesn’t even recognize them. So you can imagine how many typos I make where it has to be perfect. I’m level 12 now and I have reset a couple of times and still make these mistakes talked about in this thread.
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I’m not as think as you distracted I am.
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I had this problem for the first week of WaniKani. I have not made an error of reading vs meaning since then. Ever. And I don’t exactly go slowly either, probably average around 3 seconds per item. If it is a continuous problem (which I doubt it will be), you can always simply use the override script. That is word for word the “ignore answer” button that you’re talking about should be implemented. Whether it should come preinstalled with WK is a big debate, but kouichi & co have made their stances pretty clear and I doubt it will be changing anytime soon.
I don’t have the link for the override script, but you can search it in the forms and I’m pretty sure it will come up.
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I still make the occasional mistake but with an ignore script, its no big deal. Though in my case I’m colour blind, so that may be working slightly against me.
Really just fight through and try to create good practices. Once you get them down, it’s no problem. This will just be a minor blip on your Japanese learning journey.
I suggest learning touch-typing before lodging this particular complaint against the site then.
Or just add the “ignore” script. Whatever.
(But also, like, really–if you can’t keep your eyes on the screen while typing, you’re never going to be able to get through the piles of reviews to come in a reasonable time frame. So this started out being flippant, but now I’m seriously suggesting that if you want to take advantage of fast-paced SRS sites for language-learning (and they’re really useful!), you’re going to have to get comfortable with typing without looking first. I’m not sure there’s anyway around that. If you actually have trouble with touch-typing, maybe take a week or two to drill that first, and consider it language practice time for the dividends it’s going to pay off there.)
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There’s this story about an old self defence master and a kid that desperately wanted to be his student. The master, let’s call him Mr Miyagi, always told the student to wash the windows and other household chores a certain way. “Wax on, wax off”, he said to the student.
The kid, let’s call him Daniel, complained all the time to Mr Miyagi, asking why he always have to do chores instead of doing “real training”.
Unbeknownst to Daniel, the seemingly repetitive movements were actually Miyagi’s way to condition Daniel so that when the “real training” starts, progress will be much easier.
To quote a source: “Daniel’s training starts with menial chores that he believes only makes him Miyagi’s slave. When he becomes frustrated, Miyagi demonstrates that these actions have helped him to learn defensive blocks through muscle memory.”
The rest of the story, they say… are spoilers.
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I used to mess up like that really often, but I barely ever do now, so you’ll get there!