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Reply 1380
Hi guys! I'm looking at doing Spanish and Japanese or Japanes and linguistics next year, so I'm going to start learning the basics.
Reply 1381
Original post by Pi!
Hi guys! I'm looking at doing Spanish and Japanese or Japanes and linguistics next year, so I'm going to start learning the basics.

ganbatte kudasai
Reply 1382
Konbanwa mina-san~

I'm going to Japan next year, and will probably need to buy something along the lines of a denshi jisho... But there are very good dictionary apps available for the iPod touch (my boyfriend has one and it does him very well). So, I'm wondering if I should buy an iPod instead. Does anyone know if there is any significant way in which denshi jisho are better? Or any other opinions on the matter?

Thanks!
Reply 1383
Original post by Natsuko
Konbanwa mina-san~

I'm going to Japan next year, and will probably need to buy something along the lines of a denshi jisho... But there are very good dictionary apps available for the iPod touch (my boyfriend has one and it does him very well). So, I'm wondering if I should buy an iPod instead. Does anyone know if there is any significant way in which denshi jisho are better? Or any other opinions on the matter?

Thanks!

I don't know about denshi jishos (does it take an s for the plural?). I've been using Kotoba! on my iPhone, it's quite good but I don't know how it is compared to a denshi jisho... Apparently people think it's roughly the same quality (except Kotoba is free apart from the price of the iPod/phone/whatever)
Reply 1384
Original post by Xurvi
I don't know about denshi jishos (does it take an s for the plural?). I've been using Kotoba! on my iPhone, it's quite good but I don't know how it is compared to a denshi jisho... Apparently people think it's roughly the same quality (except Kotoba is free apart from the price of the iPod/phone/whatever)


Japanese doesn't have plurals and it sounded odd to me, so I left if off, but I've heard it said with the plural marker, too :smile: anything goes in English.

I think some apps are better than others, but surely there's one that's pretty much the same as the dictionary on a denshi jisho... Or something along those lines. And denshi jisho can be pretty expensive, too, so an iPod with a paid-for dictionary app could even work out the same price...
Reply 1385
Original post by Natsuko
Japanese doesn't have plurals and it sounded odd to me, so I left if off, but I've heard it said with the plural marker, too :smile: anything goes in English.

I think some apps are better than others, but surely there's one that's pretty much the same as the dictionary on a denshi jisho... Or something along those lines. And denshi jisho can be pretty expensive, too, so an iPod with a paid-for dictionary app could even work out the same price...

Well, here's the developper's website and here the appstore page for Kotoba!

It's pretty clear to me it's the best app in the appstore, I just don't know how it fares compared to a denshi jisho, but the only things I can see a jisho would have over this app would be more precise definitions and possibly recordings of native speaker telling the word or phrase.

I'm only a beginner so my opinion is to take with a pinch of salt, but so far I haven't had the need for any other dictionary.
Reply 1386
Ah yeah, it does look pretty good :smile: I think that's the one my friend uses, actually, and he gets by ok with it.

Precise definitions are always good (so many Japanese words are translated with the same word in English!), but that will also probably vary from jisho to jisho. Also amongst Apple apps, though. But I have used Kotoba! on my friends iPhone, and it was pretty good, although I was just looking for straight translations (not wanting to know the difference between two words), so I'll have to see!

All opinions are good! Yours has been very helpful, thank-you!
Reply 1387
If you're serious about learning the language, investing in a Denshi Jisho is recommended, but if you're just going there for vacation and looking to communicate a little bit in Japanese, a traditional paper phrasebook or an iphone app will be great. C:

Denshi Jisho have the advantage of having about 100 different dictionaries indexed and searchable. You can also jump from one dictionary to another mid-search. (Very useful when needing to look up kanji, checking radicals or jukugo for one, or just jumping to a new word from the entry of another to understand it better. ++)

Depending on the brand and model, you also get "Native Speech" for many words. Many DJ only provide this for English words however, since the Denshi Jisho in almost all cases are aimed at helping Japanese people learn English, not the opposite.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 1388
Original post by Ilot
If you're serious about learning the language, investing in a Denshi Jisho is recommended, but if you're just going there for vacation and looking to communicate a little bit in Japanese, a traditional paper phrasebook or an iphone app will be great. C:

Denshi Jisho have the advantage of having about 100 different dictionaries indexed and searchable. You can also jump from one dictionary to another mid-search. (Very useful when needing to look up kanji, checking radicals or jukugo for one, or just jumping to a new word from the entry of another to understand it better. ++)

Depending on the brand and model, you also get "Native Speech" for many words. Many DJ only provide this for English words however, since the Denshi Jisho in almost all cases are aimed at helping Japanese people learn English, not the opposite.


Sorry, I should have made it clear: I'm going there for my year abroad as part of my degree (in Japanese), and should be roughly pre-advanced level by then XD so I would ideally like what will be best for that kind of level. Although, as I said, my boyfriend on the same course as me uses apps on his iPod, and they do him pretty well. Also, the newer iPods can have more than one app open at once, so you'd be able to switch to whatever mid-search. Or have I misunderstood what you were saying? I don't really know that much about them, so bear with me!

I'll be going to Kansai anyway, so pitch accent tools will probably be of little use anyway :tongue:
Reply 1389
Long time no post, Japanese Society! ??????????????

Well I guess that answers that...

Original post by Xurvi
I don't know about denshi jishos (does it take an s for the plural?). I've been using Kotoba! on my iPhone, it's quite good but I don't know how it is compared to a denshi jisho... Apparently people think it's roughly the same quality (except Kotoba is free apart from the price of the iPod/phone/whatever)


I guess it does take an s if we're using it as borrowed English word. 'Can I have 2 Denshi Jisho's please?' sounds more correct than '2 Denshi Jisho please' though I don't how that can ever be used in conversation. :lol:

I've got a question about yabai: What's the exact meaning of it? I mean, it seems like can take both awful and amazing depending on how you use it, incase, does anyone know what context it's used here for example?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgbkXVUKNP0

From 1:30 to 1:40, He says chuudan which is fighting game slang for overhead, mid high attack then the other guy says 'mattaku ano chuudan' maybe before the other guy saying 'yabai yo.' Anyways, any help would be great! :biggrin:

Random: <3 my post count!
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 1390
Original post by Natsuko
Sorry, I should have made it clear: I'm going there for my year abroad as part of my degree (in Japanese), and should be roughly pre-advanced level by then XD so I would ideally like what will be best for that kind of level. Although, as I said, my boyfriend on the same course as me uses apps on his iPod, and they do him pretty well. Also, the newer iPods can have more than one app open at once, so you'd be able to switch to whatever mid-search. Or have I misunderstood what you were saying? I don't really know that much about them, so bear with me!

I'll be going to Kansai anyway, so pitch accent tools will probably be of little use anyway :tongue:


Dude, we should totally be friends. (First reaction to your post, sorry. I have this undying love for all things Kansai.)

Anyway, if it's a part of your degree in Japanese, buying a Denshi Jisho will be a great investment. It's tremendously useful, and once you've got the hang of how to use it, it will be a zillion times better than any iPhone app out there. I don't really know if it's relevant to your interests, but many Jisho have extensive entries on Japanese history, culture, literature, politics (in some cases), religion etc. All this is in Japanese, but if you're at a pre-advanced level that shouldn't really be a problem.

I've owned several Jisho before, and tried many more of various brands. I'd recommend you to check out the Casio EX-WORD series, more specifically the ones aimed at high school level or above. I could talk a lot about the various features of Jisho, since I know mine practically inside-out.

About the jump function: Jisho are touch screen, so you can mark a word or character and "jump" to a different dictionary. You either choose one from a list, or all of them at once so that you can just scroll through the entries for that specific word in all the dictionaries in the Jisho.

Other functions in Jisho include making tango-lists of words you want to master with "links" to an entry for that word if you click on it. (Also has checkboxes in most cases so you can mark words already mastered.) Favourite article lists, memos, digital flashcards etc. Some have time-tables, calendars, possibility to save your own documents/sound files on a micro SD and so on (also possible to read/play them). The newer models are in colour and usually with two touch screens (some only have one.) to easily enable you to look up kanji you don't know (by writing them) or practice stroke order. Most newer models include some classic japanese literature, poems and texts as well as some english ones. If you are interested in older japanese, some also have the Hyakuninisshu with recordings of the songs.

Depending on the model, it might also have some functions that are not too useful when studying, but could come in handy in everyday life. Including wine-guide, medicine-guide, country information articles, foreign language basics for travellers (Korean-Japanese, Russian-Japanese, French-Japanese etc with recordings.)

+more...


Original post by fait

I've got a question about yabai: What's the exact meaning of it? I mean, it seems like can take both awful and amazing depending on how you use it, incase, does anyone know what context it's used here for example?


That's right, it can take both positive and negative meanings depending on the situation, and you can usually tell from the persons body language and how they say it! In that video, it seems like he's kinda confirming what that other person said about the attack by saying it's yabai, but I'm not entirely sure.
(edited 12 years ago)
I found out recently I am going to be living in Japan from August :O

Nothing constructive to add. Just wanted to gloat a little.
Reply 1392
Original post by atheistwithfaith
I found out recently I am going to be living in Japan from August :O

Nothing constructive to add. Just wanted to gloat a little.


Where will you be staying? :smile:
Original post by Ilot
Where will you be staying? :smile:


I don't know yet. Won't find out until mid-May.
Original post by asabashoyuki

Why should I learn Japanese over Mandarin?
Original post by SteveCrain
Why should I learn Japanese over Mandarin?


When I was choosing between mandarin and Japanese, I went with Japanese. Mandarin is a very tonal language.

In this video a lovely (apparently naked) lady demonstrates how the same word means four different things depending on the tone of your voice when you say it.


Japanese does have a pitch register, however it is rarely taught in Japanese classes or mentioned in many Japanese textbooks. It's usually something you tackle once you already have a competent level of Japanese from listening to native speakers. Incorrect pitch accent will give you a foreign accent, but you won't be totally incomprehensible.

I chose Japanese because this lack of a strong tonal aspect in the language seemed less daunting to learn from a book (as I was self teaching).

Of course, I made that decision when I had no prior knowledge of Japanese. Now I've been learning it a couple of years there's all sorts of other things I could have mentioned. But that was the one thing that really stuck out for me when I was totally new to it all.
Original post by screenager2004
When I was choosing between mandarin and Japanese, I went with Japanese. Mandarin is a very tonal language.

In this video a lovely (apparently naked) lady demonstrates how the same word means four different things depending on the tone of your voice when you say it.


Japanese does have a pitch register, however it is rarely taught in Japanese classes or mentioned in many Japanese textbooks. It's usually something you tackle once you already have a competent level of Japanese from listening to native speakers. Incorrect pitch accent will give you a foreign accent, but you won't be totally incomprehensible.

I chose Japanese because this lack of a strong tonal aspect in the language seemed less daunting to learn from a book (as I was self teaching).

Of course, I made that decision when I had no prior knowledge of Japanese. Now I've been learning it a couple of years there's all sorts of other things I could have mentioned. But that was the one thing that really stuck out for me when I was totally new to it all.


Thanks for the reply; me being impulsive, I've ordered my first mandarin book, minutes ago, and minutes after the idea first came to me lol.
How old were you when you started learning, and how advanced are you, in terms of reading and ability to converse.
Reply 1397
Original post by Ilot
Dude, we should totally be friends. (First reaction to your post, sorry. I have this undying love for all things Kansai.)

Anyway, if it's a part of your degree in Japanese, buying a Denshi Jisho will be a great investment. It's tremendously useful, and once you've got the hang of how to use it, it will be a zillion times better than any iPhone app out there. I don't really know if it's relevant to your interests, but many Jisho have extensive entries on Japanese history, culture, literature, politics (in some cases), religion etc. All this is in Japanese, but if you're at a pre-advanced level that shouldn't really be a problem.

I've owned several Jisho before, and tried many more of various brands. I'd recommend you to check out the Casio EX-WORD series, more specifically the ones aimed at high school level or above. I could talk a lot about the various features of Jisho, since I know mine practically inside-out.

About the jump function: Jisho are touch screen, so you can mark a word or character and "jump" to a different dictionary. You either choose one from a list, or all of them at once so that you can just scroll through the entries for that specific word in all the dictionaries in the Jisho.

Other functions in Jisho include making tango-lists of words you want to master with "links" to an entry for that word if you click on it. (Also has checkboxes in most cases so you can mark words already mastered.) Favourite article lists, memos, digital flashcards etc. Some have time-tables, calendars, possibility to save your own documents/sound files on a micro SD and so on (also possible to read/play them). The newer models are in colour and usually with two touch screens (some only have one.) to easily enable you to look up kanji you don't know (by writing them) or practice stroke order. Most newer models include some classic japanese literature, poems and texts as well as some english ones. If you are interested in older japanese, some also have the Hyakuninisshu with recordings of the songs.

Depending on the model, it might also have some functions that are not too useful when studying, but could come in handy in everyday life. Including wine-guide, medicine-guide, country information articles, foreign language basics for travellers (Korean-Japanese, Russian-Japanese, French-Japanese etc with recordings.)

+more...


Haha XD Kansai is pretty cool, I just love the dialect! It just sounds so much more fun when you hear it... And I love how verbs conjugate into the negative differently. Also, it seems logical to learn another dialect of Japanese, particularly one so popular, because you'll be able to understand more (Kansai dialect is on TV quite a bit, and it does sound quite different to standard Japanese ne!). What is it you like about Kansai?

You do argue persuasively... It sounds like they would have more words and better definitions than an iPod app. I expected that would be the case, but I wasn't sure to what extent. Entries about culture and politics etc will probably be very useful when in Japan trying to work out what's going on..! A general knowledge of such things is necessary if you want to deepen your understanding of a culture. The jump function does sound very useful, since the inability to do that with an iPod app is one of the drawbacks I've heard about. I quite like the idea of one that does more than just be a dictionary, that way I'd be able to maximise it's use! And having other foreign language dictionaries that translate into Japanese rather than English could be interesting XD thanks for your help!


Original post by fait

I guess it does take an s if we're using it as borrowed English word. 'Can I have 2 Denshi Jisho's please?' sounds more correct than '2 Denshi Jisho please' though I don't how that can ever be used in conversation. :lol:

I've got a question about yabai: What's the exact meaning of it? I mean, it seems like can take both awful and amazing depending on how you use it, incase, does anyone know what context it's used here for example?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgbkXVUKNP0

From 1:30 to 1:40, He says chuudan which is fighting game slang for overhead, mid high attack then the other guy says 'mattaku ano chuudan' maybe before the other guy saying 'yabai yo.' Anyways, any help would be great! :biggrin:

Random: <3 my post count!


Maybe I've been doing Japanese for too long, then :tongue: It didn't sound right to me when I thought about it with an s on the end, anyway...

And yabai, I once met a girl who used it *all* the time, in contexts of good and bad... Maybe a good way to translate it into English might be 'extreme'? (if you thought about that used in a slang way... Bad, I know, but it kind of fits...). I managed to use it for the first time the other day, in a context of 'eek, not nice' (in reference to revision). But I think it's just something you have to keep on hearing in context and get a feel of before you can use it confidently yourself. We can but try! XD
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 1398
Original post by Natsuko
Haha XD Kansai is pretty cool, I just love the dialect! It just sounds so much more fun when you hear it... And I love how verbs conjugate into the negative differently. Also, it seems logical to learn another dialect of Japanese, particularly one so popular, because you'll be able to understand more (Kansai dialect is on TV quite a bit, and it does sound quite different to standard Japanese ne!). What is it you like about Kansai?

You do argue persuasively... It sounds like they would have more words and better definitions than an iPod app. I expected that would be the case, but I wasn't sure to what extent. Entries about culture and politics etc will probably be very useful when in Japan trying to work out what's going on..! A general knowledge of such things is necessary if you want to deepen your understanding of a culture. The jump function does sound very useful, since the inability to do that with an iPod app is one of the drawbacks I've heard about. I quite like the idea of one that does more than just be a dictionary, that way I'd be able to maximise it's use! And having other foreign language dictionaries that translate into Japanese rather than English could be interesting XD thanks for your help!


I've lived in Habikino (in Kansai) for a while, so I mainly speak Kansai-ben Japanese. I'm having real trouble switching over to standard at times, but I managed when I was in Tokyo last.

Kansai is my second home, so naturally I love everything about it! If I have to pick something it would be that you have everything you could possibly want in Kansai. From big city modern Osaka to beautiful nature in Wakayama and Nara to old traditional stuff in Kyoto.

http://casio.jp/exword/products/XD-B4800/

Here are the specs of the Jisho model I currently own. It's awesome.
japan ftw

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