I really like Rikaichan but have noticed that it causes me to forget readings I would have known. Does anyone else suffer with this or does it actually help you to learn Japanese?

I find it's easier to remember readings that I know I'm supposed to know. So there are words I'll pass in Anki but not recognise in the wild. And maybe Rikaichan lets me look them up a little too quickly...

Rikaichan made me lazy, but the Sanseido, EPWING, and Anki export features on Rikaisama on the other hand, have been extremely useful to me. In other words, using J-J definitions help, and J-E definitions generally hurt my chances of remembering the word.

You can always go to the Dictionaries tab and check the "Hide definitions" box for Rikaisama. It will only show you the readings.

Bokusenou Wrote:Rikaichan made me lazy, but the Sanseido, EPWING, and Anki export features on Rikaisama on the other hand, have been extremely useful to me. In other words, using J-J definitions help, and J-E definitions generally hurt my chances of remembering the word.

Agreed!

If you need rikaichan then you need rikaichan. If you didn't have it, you'd probably just get frustrated and stop reading. Reading with rikaichan is better than not reading at all. Just keep going, and you'll learn the words as they appear multiple times

nadiatims Wrote:If you need rikaichan then you need rikaichan. If you didn't have it, you'd probably just get frustrated and stop reading. Reading with rikaichan is better than not reading at all. Just keep going, and you'll learn the words as they appear multiple times

I agree. So I look up a word in rikaichan to understand a sentence, and then I forget the word 5 minutes later. It hasn't necessarily helped me learn anything, but it helped me figure out the meaning of the sentence. Honestly, the only other real alternative here is that I would have just tried to work out the meaning of the sentence without that word (unless I really really really needed to know it). I would consider that alternative to be the worse one.
For words I am already supposed to know, it refreshes my memory.

nadiatims Wrote:If you need rikaichan then you need rikaichan. If you didn't have it, you'd probably just get frustrated and stop reading. Reading with rikaichan is better than not reading at all. Just keep going, and you'll learn the words as they appear multiple times

If Josh has the earth-shattering Japanese ability he has claimed in past threads, then I would imagine he doesn't need rikaichan.

I use anki to learn readings and then rikai-sama to learn meanings.

its more efficient to pattern match different readings using anki.

However its pointless memorising 3 or 4 similar definitions with anki and getting your mind muddled especially when some words you may not see in the wild for months at a time.

On the other, rikai-sama offers you the opportunity to quickly learn meanings with context.

If you practise re-reading or just read alot, words that come up often will eventually stick.

Hearing words in the wild will also give an added dimension to solidify your learning.

I've caught myself reaching for a Rikaisama tip even when I know the kanji, and could reason out pronunciation/meaning if I gave myself a few moments. I can usually catch myself doing this now, though.

Agreed with midonnay that exposure to words in the wild is the best way to remember. Lately I've gotten wary of spending too much time on Anki, and have been ratcheting down my new cards/day and relying more on reading and listening to reinforce vocab. Rikaisama's great for that. I've managed to learn a bevy of words using Rikaisama while reading きみにしか聞こえない by 乙一. For words that repeat, I find I only need to rely on Rikaisama a few times before the word starts to stick in my memory. Everything else gets saved to my Rikaisama export file for future Anki-ing.

I've been toying with the Sanseido option on Rikaisama as well. I still only find it useful about half the time.