Hello guys,

I would like some advice about an electronic japanese dictionary. I yearn for one and I would like to have one when I go to japan next year. I would like to have the possibility to search kanji or text I don't understand easily. If I can have anki or other cool functions/programs, it will be all good. I've identified three solutions:

-A electronic japanese dictionry made by Casio.
The + : battery,
The -: I'm completely lost by japanese interface 0_0
I don't know it they provide multiradical kanji search, and I would like to have one.

-A Apple gadget. I think I pod touch would be the best solution (i'm not a phone user, and the i phone suscribre are to me a waste of money)
The + : All the possibilities behind this gadget (being able to have internet without PC ?)
The -: it's expensive and nearly all interesting programs aren't free.

-A solution like I pod touch but with Android : do you know if there are solutions like this which are not phones ? I've found there were some interesting programs with Android.
The + : programs are generally free.
The - : As good as others solutions ?

Can you help me ? Talk about your experience ?

Thanks

[Katsuo]

I've got several electronic dictionaries (by Canon, Casio, Seiko and Sharp), but nearly always use my iPod Touch instead these days. It has a much better display and is more versatile – I can choose what to put on it.

The electronic dictionaries do have advantages as well though, e.g. easy jumping between dictionaries and longer battery life.

Multi-radical search is an essential feature for me, but Casio seem to have dropped it on their recent models. To be specific, models with the Kanjigen kanji dictionary have it, but those with the Kangorin don't.

Although many of the best iPod apps cost money, there are some good free ones, and many that are fairly cheap.

I haven't tried Android, so can't comment on that.

For me, I have multiple--a normal electronic dictionary + DS. I like the DS because it allows me to do direct input of kanji (i.e. draws it in), but if I know the reading I prefer the physical keyboard of my 電子辞書. The Canon Wordtank I have is not cheap, unfortunately. Even though the model's been out for several years, it's still in the $300 range. With the canon, however, you can change the interface to English. However, even if the Japanese interface, you can quickly figure out which buttons do what with just some playing.

Thus, if you already have an apple gadget, DS or an android gadget, that would probably be the cheaper route. it'll help you figure out what you need in an Japanese dictionary.

I've got all of them, just about... it really varies depending on your level, I think. To be honest, I use my computer first, because 9 times out of 10, I can guess the reading and get the kanji to pop up in the search box for the online dictionary I want to use.

For portability, it's hard to beat a cell phone. But for those times when you want speed and those "what the hell is that kanji" moments, it's really hard to beat a 電子辞書.

I have a 2007-model Sharp Papyrus, with an area to draw kanji on, and that makes it my "go-to" dictionary when I see a kanji I don't know and can't pronounce. (Although the number of those are dwindling, so I don't need to use it that often, but I still use it the most of all of them.) Downside is that like most 電子辞書, it's pricey (~$250), it's a uni-tasker, it doesn't fit in your pocket very well, and you can't update it. But oh is it ever fast. Fast fast fast.

My other main option is my Google Nexus One, with Froyo (Gingerbread coming *real* soon.) It has a "drawable" kanji interface as an aftermarket keyboard now, as well as a really good JP keyboard (not the cell-phone style, an honest-to-god keyboard that does kana/kanji) app called Simeji. You can get the cell-phone style JP keyboards, too, but why?

The Android platform has a lot of Japanese apps going for it, especially AnkiDroid (look for beta 0.5-- it can sync), DroidWing (awesome EPWING dictionary search tool searches all dictionaries at once, plus online dictionaries), and Vertical Text Reader (for 青空文庫 formatted books).

Naturally, it's not as robust as the iPhone/iPod touch in that area, but there's been a lot of movement. Japanese cell phone makers are adopting Android, and are coming out with their own Android smartphones, so look for a glut of apps to come out soon.

Of course, it's hard to go wrong with the Apple stuff, too. I have an old 3G that is now a glorified iPod touch (no SIM card), and there are some solid apps for it.

One thing that Apple has over Android: Mahjong Police-- the best Riichi Mahjong cellphone game out there. Seriously, Android has just the worst Riichi Mahjong apps ever. Mahjong Police has the best interface of all of them, and is just dead simple easy to play, and addictive.

I just don't use my iPhone to look up stuff anymore, even though I have $100 worth of dictionaries on it. It's too slow. Depending on where I am, Either the N1, the Papyrus, or my computer is faster.

I tried using a DS as a dictionary for a while, but I got tired of the fiddling with it to get the dictionary up and running every time I wanted to look up a word. It was also a pain when I was playing a DS game in Japanese... yeah... That's why I like the 電子辞書 best. But there are some great training games out there. Not the NA ones, get the ones from Japan.

1. Computer
2. 電子辞書
3. Nexus One (it's a close 3rd.)
4. DS (I use it more for training than looking things up.)
5. iPhone/iPod Touch (for Mahjong, mostly, and as an alarm clock.)

@rich_f

Have you tried running the same dictionaries on an iPhone 4 or the new iPod Touch? With multitasking, the loading time of dictionaries is not an issue. Likewise, the superior hardware makes searching almost instantaneous.

After I was off of my 3G contract, I switched to an unlocked Nexus One with no contract, no more AT&T, real multitasking, tethering, my own mobile wifi hotspot, etc., and I get the latest Android updates first because it's a Nexus.

I can also run whatever software I want without worrying about dudes in black turtlenecks descending on me, too. (Or bricking my phone.)

iOS doesn't interest me anymore. Too much walled garden, no widgets, hate iTunes. Not interested in hacking it to make it work.

Dictionary-wise, it's really hard to beat an EPWING index search for ease of use, IMO, especially DroidWing. You buy the dictionaries in EPWING format once, use them cross-platform (PC, Mac, whatever), then search them all at once. Downside is finding them, and the cost. (The cost can be high.)

What DroidWing does that's better than most EPWING readers is allow you to search online-- enter the search strings of your favorite dictionaries/etc, and you just have to tap them to go to the web and get automatic lookups. A bit of a pain to set up at first, but once you figure it out, you're golden.

And DroidWing uses a whopping 652KB.

Most of the dictionary apps for iPhone run in the $20-$40 range. The good ones, anyway. (Never pay for EDICT.) The EPWING dictionaries will run for a considerable amount more than that: $50-$250, *but* they're cross platform. So if you toss your phone, it won't matter.

With iPhone, you have an app for each dictionary, a different interface for each one, an update for each one, bloat from each app, conflicts, etc. etc. Running each dictionary app, pasting in your search term, and looking it up is not almost instantaneous. It's annoying, because I have big fingers, and the iPhone's screen is too small. I'd rather type in my search term once.

Is there an EPWING app for iPhone? I know there's one for jailbroken iPhones, but then there's the hassle of having to jailbreak it and risk bricking it.

EDIT: Go here and have a look: you can get some EPWING stuff through this guy's site:
http://www.japaneselanguagetools.com/

He sells a modified version of Eijiro/Waeijiro with a Conjugations dictionary for ~5000 yen. Sounds like a good deal to me. He can also get 大辞林 and other EDICT dictionaries if you inquire.

@rich_f

Since you search multiple dictionaries, it's very clear why iPhone can't meet your expectations. However, I think the iPhone does a good job if you only need a single dictionary. With the high quality of dictionary apps available for the device, it even makes sense for someone to only need one. Having more might simply be overkill.

My opinion on this is the same as it was last year :-) I love my electronic dictionary、it makes reading so much nicer.

@rich_f, et al.

Yes, there's an EPWING reader for iOS. It's called EBPocket. There's a free version and a $5 (?) version.
I've got it on my iPod, but have yet to load any dictionaries on my iPhone 4. After using the iPhone 4, it seems like it could go faster on the iPod -- but it's like that for every app.
The Chinese Input is correct most of the time, but it'd be nice if I could do multi-radical or the thing where you say what section has how many strokes...I forget what that's called. SWAP or something?

I'd say that -if you already have- an iDevice, definitely go for this. I mean, you an put Anki on it too, as well as PDFs and access Koohii . It's a good device for doing a bunch of different things
But, if you're going out of your way and buying a new device just for the dictionary -- I'm not sure. There are probably nicer 電子辞書s out there. But iOS does have an EPWING reader that works OK (i have nothing really to compare it to), and does lots of other stuff too.

How about the free Android app AEDICT? It uses the EDICT database and has kanji look-up, romaji entry, flashcard and notepad function. It's sufficient for most of my needs right now.

> rich_f
> EDIT: Go here and have a look: you can get some EPWING stuff through
> this guy's site: http://www.japaneselanguagetools.com/

> He sells a modified version of Eijiro/Waeijiro with a Conjugations dictionary for
> ~5000 yen. Sounds like a good deal to me. He can also get 大辞林 and other
> EDICT dictionaries if you inquire.

I originally bought this package for my old Palm Treo. And when I bought my Nexus One, I installed DroidWing and then simply copied all the dictionaries to the new phone. So now I have Eijiro/Waeijiro, Conjugations, Readings, Edict, Kanjidict, and Enamdict, all searched simultaneously. I am very happy with this arrangement.

Thanks for all your replies.

For the moment, I don't own any DS/Apple gadget or phone with Android. I agree neither of these solutions will replace, for me, the personal computer, but I wish I could have a more transportable solution than my 2.5kG PC which puts 2 min to switch on (and 3 to switch off, except when it doesn't switch off) and have 30min of autonomy.

I suggest Android with a big "?" because I'm not interested in smart phones : their prices without subscription are high, and if you take the subscription, it's the subscription which is very expensive in my country. I put Android in the case a kind of Pocket PC with Android exists ??? But I didn't find any...and you seem to confirm this point.

Denshi Jisho seems popular, but the trouble with it is my Japanese level is very low and I'm completely lost in the interface...plus, not all of them do have multi radical kanji search. Of course, I can trace the kanji, but i'm not very good (even if I've made progress) in this art. That's why I still hesitate :/

After, I Pod Touch : for the moment, this solution has my preference, even I still don't know whether it's a good choice because of the price and the fact it's Apple, which implies I've got to install that Itunes and Quick Time, and taht my PC is already very slow. Of course, I would try to take the best part of this solution ; for instance, instead of taking my old PC to Japan, I take that to go through Internet with Wifi.

(yeah, one day I will do something for my PC too )