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Best Japanese English dictionary? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Chris Heptaglot Senior Member Japan Joined 7120 days ago 287 posts - 452 votes  Speaks: English*, Russian, Indonesian, French, Malay, Japanese, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Korean, Mongolian | Message 9 of 20 30 May 2011 at 6:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Kodansha!
Shows you the pitch accents too. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| irrationale Tetraglot Senior Member China Joined 6049 days ago 669 posts - 1023 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog Studies: Ancient Greek, Japanese | Message 10 of 20 31 May 2011 at 12:06am | IP Logged | |||||
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So is the message I'm getting here is due to the complexity of the Japanese writing system, there is no good paper dictionary, or at least, you must use a Kanji dictionary as well? There are plenty of good Chinese dictionaries but then again, Chinese usually has only one sound per character and is thus easier to organize.
I really would prefer not to get an electronic dictionary for many reasons, so this is disappointing. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5380 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 11 of 20 31 May 2011 at 12:13am | IP Logged | |||||
Other than price, what are your reasons? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| jazzboy.bebop Senior Member Norway norwegianthroughnove Joined 5417 days ago 439 posts - 800 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Norwegian | Message 12 of 20 31 May 2011 at 12:23am | IP Logged | |||||
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If you have an iPod touch or iPhone, there is a very good dictionary simply called
Japanese. You can read about it from the developers website here: Japanese Plenty of example sentences, over 150,000 entries, stroke order for Kanji and pretty cheap. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| irrationale Tetraglot Senior Member China Joined 6049 days ago 669 posts - 1023 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog Studies: Ancient Greek, Japanese | Message 13 of 20 01 June 2011 at 6:56am | IP Logged | |||||
Well since you asked, 1) Not worrying about losing it, get it stolen, etc (has to do with price) 2) Not worrying about keeping it powered, breaking it, dropping it, etc. 3) I like the feel of a book, I like seeing other words next to it, coming across new words in my search, etc, and all the other things that come along with the physicality a real book. 4) Easier on the eyes. I get tired of reading an electronic screen, with glare, etc. 5) I am a Luddite generally speaking. 6) I am relatively fast looking up words in a dictionary and using a radical system. Even if it is not as fast, the fact that you are thinking about it more and holding the word in your short term memory helps you remember the word. Anyway, I think I have a clear idea on the reality of my options. Thank you all for your thoughtful answers! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5380 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 14 of 20 01 June 2011 at 3:52pm | IP Logged | |||||
I would have tried to make the point that you are no more likely to loose an electronic dictionary than a paper one, that very few people would have any interest in stealing a Japanese dictionary, that they are usually quite solidly built, can take a drop and last for years, that with an electronic dictionary, you also see all the words before and after, including instant links to other words or to the same word in other dictionaries, that you wouldn't be reading the screen for more than a few seconds at a time and that the new models have very clear screens, that they are easy to use and that, finally, you can write kanji to look up words in many models, but since you "have a clear idea on the reality of [your] options", perhaps that would have been a waste of my time. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Lucky Charms Diglot Senior Member Japan lapacifica.net Joined 6948 days ago 752 posts - 1711 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: German, Spanish | Message 15 of 20 01 June 2011 at 4:56pm | IP Logged | |||||
It seems like you haven't actually tried out a Japanese electronic dictionary before, and are basing these judgments on your impression of electronic devices in general. Next time you're in Japan, why don't you visit a 電気屋 and try them out? I'm also the type to avoid buying a lot of gadgets, but my 電子辞書 (purchased in 2007 and still working beautifully) has seriously been the best language-related investment I've ever made. They're a must-have for Japanese, and I wish they made them for every other language as well. The batteries (2 AAAs) need replacing only a few times a year (or once every 2-3 months back in my intensive study days). As for sturdiness and durability, they're closer to the old plastic black-and-white Nokia phones of the early 2000s or a pocket calculator (and are just as usable under direct sunlight, by the way) than to an iPhone or anything like that. Mine has endured all kinds of abuse, and after I drop it I don't even feel the need to turn it on to see if it's okay. They include several dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. so you can perform cross-checks and easily look up specialist terminology, a jump-to-word feature, kanji input, a bookmark feature, and whatever other conveniences they've added in the past 4 years since I bought mine. Of course you can also see the other entries in the list just as in a paper dictionary. Even if you're dead-set against getting one yourself, I think it's relevant to this thread to note that the awesomeness and ubiquity of Japanese electronic dictionaries will likely make it difficult to find many high-quality paper dictionaries being published. As an English teacher in Japan, I've personally never seen or heard of anyone here learning English with a paper dictionary. Most Japanese get an electronic one in high school as a matter of course (including those who are not particularly serious about English). Edited by Lucky Charms on 01 June 2011 at 5:04pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| irrationale Tetraglot Senior Member China Joined 6049 days ago 669 posts - 1023 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog Studies: Ancient Greek, Japanese | Message 16 of 20 02 June 2011 at 7:44am | IP Logged | |||||
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@Lucky Charms @ Arekkusu
I have used other people's electronic dictionaries before, but never a Japanese one. I will consider your suggestions. Thank you all. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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