Electronic Dictionaries?

Zorlee Member

From: Oslo / Kyoto Registered: 2009-04-22 Posts: 526

Hi everyone!
I've searched for recommendations on electronic dictionaries for Japanese studies. Now, all the recommendations I could find were pretty old, so I'm wondering what's the best model to buy today? Casio, Canon and a whole lot of brands have different models, but I have no clue what's good and what's not! (I have never used one!)
I know that they are a bit pricey, but I want to be able to look up Kanji quickly, so I guess this is the best option for me, especially since I don't always have a laptop lying around.
I also have a DS - Can I buy a good dictionary for this one?
I might also buy a iPod touch, because of Anki etc., so is it possible to buy a good (and not poorly made) Kanji dictionary for this device?

What do you guys recommend?
I want something user-friendly, and I want to go mono-linguistic as soon as possible, so the J-J is more important than J-E!
I just want something to use as I read Manga / play a video game etc.

Thank you guys!

Yours sincerely,
Zorlee

nac_est Member

From: Italy Registered: 2006-12-12 Posts: 617 Website

I don't have an electronic dictionary, but here is the casio exword page, with many cathegories (I guess the 外国語 one is the one you're looking for): http://casio.jp/exword/products/.

If you want to spend less you could otherwise buy 漢字そのままDS楽引辞典 for the DS. I have it and it's served me very well, even if the number of dictionaries it contains is certainly lower than that of a real e-dict.

Tobberoth Member

From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

I wouldn't recommend using a dictionary while reading manga or playing games. You will bore yourself to death. When you read or play, make a note of the word you didn't know, then ignore it and move on. The first skill you should get when it comes to understanding is the skill of ignoring what you don't know so you can focus on what you DO know. Learn to do this well and your reading comprehension will skyrocket.

The note with the hard words can be used to find example sentences and put them into your SRS later.

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rich_f Member

From: north carolina Registered: 2007-07-12 Posts: 1708

I've had a Sharp for a couple of years now, and I use it constantly. It's handy for all sorts of things. It's not perfect, but the direct kanji input using a stylus/table is just awesome, and worth every penny. It boots up much faster than a DS, too. The downside is the cost. I wound up paying ~$250 US for one in Nagoya at Bic Camera.

Both Casio and Sharp make models that use a stylus and do kanji recognition with a little pad you draw on. I don't know anything about the Casio, but I know I posted by thoughts on the Sharp a while back. It's not perfect, but it does the job, and it's lighter than 5 kilos of books.

Zorlee Member

From: Oslo / Kyoto Registered: 2009-04-22 Posts: 526

Thank you guys for your answers! Great stuff!

Tobberoth: First of all, I'm truly inspired by the fact that you're a fellow Scandinavian, and that you obviously have a pretty high skill-level in Japanese (after what I've read on these forums!). It means there's hope for us beginners, hehe! And about the dictionary while reading/gaming, it makes sense! I didn't use a dictionary when I learned English through jRPGs back in the days, so I probably shouldn't now either...

And yes, the Electronic Dictionaries with Kanji recognition w/ stylus is exactly what I'm looking for! Do you guys know where I could buy such a thing? A Japanese store that ships internationally, or a US/EU shop that imports?

Again, thank you!
And keep your recommendations for these el-dictionaries coming!

Zorlee

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