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On my desktops I use JWPce, StarDict, and so on, but it's frustrating even with all those tools at times to look up stuff. I have had to rewrite a couple, but no big deal and hooray for practice. It would be much cheaper than a handheld electronic Japanese dictionary, and then I could use it to look up stuff in my other Japanese software. I've had this a few weeks now and I am so amazed by it. I am absolutely delighted with this product.In fact, I am seriously considering buying another DS just to run this program. That's my only real beef, that I can't swap between this and my other DS software while they're running.Oh, and if you do a search on the Web, you can find the instructions in English, very helpful.Again, this is an excellent software/tool/resource. I'd highly recommend buying this & the DS even if you don't want any other games, just to have Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten, if you're into studying Japanese.
And so many of the dictionary entries have voice files that play. Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten is so amazing, it even recognizes my poorly written kanji, almost every time. Neat. Now I'm using it to look up all the kanji on the screen.
Pros- Cheap: even if you do not already own a DS this is largely cheaper than getting an equivalent standalone electronic dictionary- Look up words by writing the kanji or inputting the kana. Also, English to Japanese.- Kanji recognition is very good, provided you know the stroke order- Large word selection & also some standard phrases / word combinationsCons- Does not have many onomatopoeias or psychonyms- Sometimes gives only a contextual example and not a definition. - English to Japanese only gives kanji, not the reading
But overall it's a great tool for learning both English and/or Japanese. I originally bought this for my Mom to use but I started to tinker with it myself. It would of been great if they added a feature that read the Japanese words like they do for English words. I'd recommend it.
When you consider how much a dedicated electronic dictionary from SHARP or CASIO costs, this is a great bargain. Use the Nintendo DS you already have and turn it into a Japanese dictionary. Writing kanji using the stylus is very natural.
If you don't have a DS, buy one and buy this dictionary. I lived in Japan for 3 years and wish the DS and this dictionary were developed earlier. It provides plenty of example sentences and usage, and I recommend this highly. If you already have a DS, this is the cheapest and most functional electronic dictionary on the market, in my opinion. They would've made my life easier and helped my Japanese tremendously. Writing is invariably faster, and this software is a godsend. I looked at many options for an affordable, portable dictionary that accepted writing input, but nothing met my needs.
Not knowing the yomikata means you have to count strokes and look up by radical, which is often a giant and time-consuming pain in the butt. I tried a Sony Clie PDA, but the included dictionary was minimalist and terrible as a study tool, providing only basic translations and occasionally, examples. The dictionaries from Casio, Seiko, and others cost upwards of $300 and almost all of them didn't have stylus inputs. The biggest problem for students of Japanese is seeing a word and not knowing how to pronounce it. It will pay for itself very shortly in time saved and language skills acquired.
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