Today I have the pleasure of introducing one of the most useful Japanese learning tools I've come across - Kanji Dictionary: Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten. This “game” for the Nintendo DS is a fully functioning electronic Japanese dictionary that comes with many extremely useful and time saving features. When it comes to learning Japanese, this program is a must have.
The program features three dictionaries: an English to Japanese dictionary, a Japanese to English dictionary, and a Japanese dictionary. This means that you can use this dictionary effectively at any stage of your learning process. The dictionaries also feature example sentences, phonetic guides, and all of the other usual elements of a dictionary.
And here is one of the most useful functions of the program: the ability to write in kanji. If you've ever encountered a Japanese word and not known how to pronounce it or how to get the right kanji to show up, then you realize how useful it is to be able to write in kanji. Instead of having to count strokes and look up by radical in a bulky kanji dictionary, you can simply write the kanji using the DS stylus.
Another useful function with writing in kanji is the “similar kanji” panel. Tapping on a kanji in the blue highlighted bar will open up a small window with similar kanji. It actually took me a while to realize this tool existed, and it's made the writing function so much easier to use. Sometimes the wrong kanji will come up if your stroke order is off, so this function will stop you from having to try writing over and over again.
The image above highlights a few more noteworthy options. The blue-shaded area is for bookmarking words. If you find a word that you want to save for later, click the 登録 button. Clicking the A will cycle through the other bookmark lists, which are labeled B and C. Click the red-shaded wrench(?) to access the tool panel and click しおり to retrieve your bookmark lists. And just to be clear, the yellow-shaded area is where you can select from the dictionaries. 英和 is English to Japanese, 和英 is Japanese to English, 国語 is Japanese, and 一括 is a “search all” option.
In this image the yellow-shaded area shows the various writing functions. The top most is kanji, underneath it is hiragana, then katakana, roman letters, and then numbers. The blue shaded area allows you select from between the writing area, a kana keyboard, and a roman letter keyboard.
Finally, there is of course the discussion of the price. Fortunately, that is one of the best parts of this program - electronic dictionaries with these functions are usually somewhere in the area of $300. This program is the same price as a normal Nintendo DS game, which means it's $50-$60. Of course, you'll also need to buy a DS if you don't already have one. I'm including links to various retailers to make it easier to find the best price.
YesAsia lists Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten at $52.99 and is eligible for free shipping.
Play-Asia lists Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten at $50.99.
Amazon.com lists Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten at $89.94 (Yeah, really).
Haha that's great!
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting about this - I've just gotten it and it is already immensely helpful. :) ~Marilyn
ReplyDeleteThe iPhone (and I presume other smartphones) has some great Japanese dictionaries, as well. For Japanese <-> English, the app "Japanese" is awesome. For monolingual, I've heard good things about '大辞林'.
ReplyDeleteThe iPhone (and I presume other smartphones) has some great Japanese dictionaries, as well. For Japanese <-> English, the app "Japanese" is awesome. For monolingual, I've heard good things about '大辞林'.
ReplyDelete