the electronic dictionary market has changed quite a bit since i got my ppc. At the time I heard from a number of individuals that as long as your fluent in japanese and know all the pronunciatinos the dictionaries are fine, but if your a foreigner who doesnt know all the onyomi kunyomi etc then you will struggle or find it time consuming to find compounds or explore words you dont know in the example sentances you come accross. I dont know why in practice as ive rarely used one so i will stand corrected. Id be interested if thats resolved because i could be tempted to switch providing i can add new dictionaries to these things as i please i.e. japanese->chinese or japanese->french etc (hey ill be fluent one day ;-) ) Now the elecy dicys have have stylii as well so maybe that problem is fixed.
This is what i do know
1) With a pocket pc you can install as many dictionaries as you want in any language now, tomorow or yesterday.
2) The quality of these dictionaries are amazing. Yes EDICT is free and yes its got its faults so get the green dragon. An excellent dictionary and 6000 yen and their is eijiro (a translators dictionary) for 2000 yen which ive heard is very good. The green dragon (kenshuku in japanese i think) is a japanese to english dicitonary and ill give you an example here of looking up ようす。 you can look up by drawing the kanji, hiragana or even romaji...yes romajii for you lazy buggers. Also if you use the keyboard (dont know why you would)...
ようす１【様子】 ﾛｰﾏ(yōsu)
1 〔物事の状態･状況〕 the ┌state [aspect, phase, situation, position] of ┌affairs [things]; circumstances; 〔動静〕 movements; doings.
▲なんだか様子が変だ. Something strange is going on.
･様子がわからない be ┌ignorant [uninformed] 《of?》; be a stranger
･私はこの土地の様子がわからない. I am a stranger ┌here [to this place].
･10 年ぶりに来てみてすっかり様子が変わっているのに驚いた. I came here after an interval of ten years and was surprised to see the place so completely changed.
▲この様子では as things ┌go [stand]; by [from] the look(s) of things
･この様子では完成は 5 月ぐらいにずれ込みそうだ. The way things look completion will be delayed until around May.
▲様子をうかがう[見る] see the run of events; see which way the ┌wind blows [cat jumps]; see how ┌the land lies [things stand]; take stock of the situation
･敵の様子をうかがう watch the movements of the enemy
･〔たてこもり現場で警官隊が〕 様子を見て突入する see one's chance and break in
･そのうち様子を見て父に話してみます. I'll look for an opportunity and speak to Father about it.
･〔医者の診察で〕 しばらくこれで様子を見てください. だめなら薬を変えましょう. Let's see how things go with this. If it doesn't work we'll try another medicine.
･様子を見ながら牛乳の量を増やしてちょうどいい固さになるまで粉をこねます. 〔調理の手順で〕 Watching how it goes, increase the amount of milk and knead to just the right consistency.
･現場の様子を見てこよう. I'll go see how things are at the site.
･(ここの)様子を見に来たのさ. I've come over to see what's happening.
･一目でその場の様子を見て取る read [take in] the situation at a glance
･様子を探る inquire into the state of things
･内々彼らの様子を探らせてみた. I had someone secretly report to me what they were doing.
･?の様子をよく知っている be quite familiar with?; be well informed of?; be well acquainted with?; be at home in?; have ┌good [thorough] knowledge of?.
that continues on and on and on. Lets say you like one of the example sentances such as the second to last one
･内々彼らの様子を探らせてみた. I had someone secretly report to me what they were doing.
and although you can guess the final word means "report" by the translation you still need to know how to pronounce it in japanese presuming you dont know that kanjis pronunciation. So you just highlight 探ら.... and search for it. If it aint in the green goddess you can simple bring up the contect menu (hold down the stylus) and use one of the other dictionaries you have installed.
I have edict and edict names as backup. Though its accuracy is not perfect its has loads of obscure words in their that the green goddess may sometimes miss. Together they are brilliant.
Theres also some even better dictionaries that are about 6000yen. True monolingual dictionaries that ill soon venture too. But the green goddess is great for intermediates and beginners.
finally ppc can use flashcard software though i think they are pretty shit...maybe anki will be available for it one day (i hope!). But they are there and i did use them a lot once.
Finally you can use the built in organiser (i dont but its there), sound recorder (could be useful), built in wifi for email and install whatever other software and games you may find useful.
This is what i do know
1) With a pocket pc you can install as many dictionaries as you want in any language now, tomorow or yesterday.
2) The quality of these dictionaries are amazing. Yes EDICT is free and yes its got its faults so get the green dragon. An excellent dictionary and 6000 yen and their is eijiro (a translators dictionary) for 2000 yen which ive heard is very good. The green dragon (kenshuku in japanese i think) is a japanese to english dicitonary and ill give you an example here of looking up ようす。 you can look up by drawing the kanji, hiragana or even romaji...yes romajii for you lazy buggers. Also if you use the keyboard (dont know why you would)...
ようす１【様子】 ﾛｰﾏ(yōsu)
1 〔物事の状態･状況〕 the ┌state [aspect, phase, situation, position] of ┌affairs [things]; circumstances; 〔動静〕 movements; doings.
▲なんだか様子が変だ. Something strange is going on.
･様子がわからない be ┌ignorant [uninformed] 《of?》; be a stranger
･私はこの土地の様子がわからない. I am a stranger ┌here [to this place].
･10 年ぶりに来てみてすっかり様子が変わっているのに驚いた. I came here after an interval of ten years and was surprised to see the place so completely changed.
▲この様子では as things ┌go [stand]; by [from] the look(s) of things
･この様子では完成は 5 月ぐらいにずれ込みそうだ. The way things look completion will be delayed until around May.
▲様子をうかがう[見る] see the run of events; see which way the ┌wind blows [cat jumps]; see how ┌the land lies [things stand]; take stock of the situation
･敵の様子をうかがう watch the movements of the enemy
･〔たてこもり現場で警官隊が〕 様子を見て突入する see one's chance and break in
･そのうち様子を見て父に話してみます. I'll look for an opportunity and speak to Father about it.
･〔医者の診察で〕 しばらくこれで様子を見てください. だめなら薬を変えましょう. Let's see how things go with this. If it doesn't work we'll try another medicine.
･様子を見ながら牛乳の量を増やしてちょうどいい固さになるまで粉をこねます. 〔調理の手順で〕 Watching how it goes, increase the amount of milk and knead to just the right consistency.
･現場の様子を見てこよう. I'll go see how things are at the site.
･(ここの)様子を見に来たのさ. I've come over to see what's happening.
･一目でその場の様子を見て取る read [take in] the situation at a glance
･様子を探る inquire into the state of things
･内々彼らの様子を探らせてみた. I had someone secretly report to me what they were doing.
･?の様子をよく知っている be quite familiar with?; be well informed of?; be well acquainted with?; be at home in?; have ┌good [thorough] knowledge of?.
that continues on and on and on. Lets say you like one of the example sentances such as the second to last one
･内々彼らの様子を探らせてみた. I had someone secretly report to me what they were doing.
and although you can guess the final word means "report" by the translation you still need to know how to pronounce it in japanese presuming you dont know that kanjis pronunciation. So you just highlight 探ら.... and search for it. If it aint in the green goddess you can simple bring up the contect menu (hold down the stylus) and use one of the other dictionaries you have installed.
I have edict and edict names as backup. Though its accuracy is not perfect its has loads of obscure words in their that the green goddess may sometimes miss. Together they are brilliant.
Theres also some even better dictionaries that are about 6000yen. True monolingual dictionaries that ill soon venture too. But the green goddess is great for intermediates and beginners.
finally ppc can use flashcard software though i think they are pretty shit...maybe anki will be available for it one day (i hope!). But they are there and i did use them a lot once.
Finally you can use the built in organiser (i dont but its there), sound recorder (could be useful), built in wifi for email and install whatever other software and games you may find useful.