Audio flashcards help

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Reply #1 - 2010 March 26, 5:00 pm
Javizy Member
From: England Registered: 2007-02-16 Posts: 770

I totally changed the format of my flashcards in November, and 4000 cards on I'm really happy with it. What I've been realising lately, though, is that not including pronunciation is a really bad idea. I can't count the number of times I've been corrected for pitch (corrections that I rarely remember), and I really need to do something about it.

Adding the pitch pattern code or some sort of marking is one option, but I think audio is the best way to go. So, a few questions if anyone knows the answers.

1. Where do I get audio? I know Jim Breen's dictionary now has recordings, but is it possible to download them? How are they formatted? Has anybody used them in their own flashcards? I'd prefer example sentences, but that doesn't seem realistic.

2. How do I index audio? I automate my flashcard creation, so what would I need to include to get Anki to find the correct sound file? This is why I'm interested to see if the Jim Breen filenames reflect the words in the recordings.

3. Could I get audio working with Ankimini? I only review on my iTouch (2nd gen, latest software update) using iAnki, but I'd be willing to jailbreak for Ankimini. I'm positive I heard that audio doesn't work with the latest Apple update, though. Can anyone confirm this?

Slightly newbie questions maybe, but I'd really appreciate any help. よろしゅう頼みます smile

Reply #2 - 2010 March 26, 6:05 pm
gyuujuice Member
From: USA Registered: 2008-09-24 Posts: 828

I have been wanting to know how to apply audio (from Smartfm sentences) to anki as well. There needs to be an ANKI FAQ on the baords.

Reply #3 - 2010 March 26, 6:48 pm
iSoron Member
From: Canada Registered: 2008-03-24 Posts: 490

Javizy wrote:

I know Jim Breen's dictionary now has recordings, but is it possible to download them?

Yes. Right-click, save as:
http://assets.languagepod101.com/dictio … utostart=1

I'd prefer example sentences, but that doesn't seem realistic.

What about smart.fm?
http://smart.fm/sentences?keyword=猫

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Reply #4 - 2010 March 29, 4:11 pm
Javizy Member
From: England Registered: 2007-02-16 Posts: 770

I guess I'll answer my own questions in case the answers are useful to anyone else.

Thanks to iSoron's suggestion, I found the thread about the JDIC audio files, and managed to download 4000 of them thanks to mistamark's helpful little program.

To index audio, you simply include [sound:filename.mp3] somewhere in your flashcards. Anki doesn't seem to be able to play files containing Japanese characters in their names, but running the Check Media Database tool solves the problem by converting them to strings of letters and numbers.

To automatically include the audio file reference, you can use the overwrite fields plug-in. First, export your deck as a tab-separated text file, and paste it into a spreadsheet program. Delete the other fields so you're left with just the field containing unique entries (the words in kanji form). Use some sort of CONCATENATE formula to generate a [sound:filename.mp3] string for each word, and then paste these two columns into a text file. Configure the plug-in according to the instructions, using your text file as data.txt, and run Check Media Database when it's finished. My other plug-ins stopped the overwrite from working at first, so try temporarily removing them if it doesn't run.

Media is currently working with AnkiMini, but I can't jailbreak because I have the latest firmware (3.1.3), which currently means all my audio efforts are a waste. It seems as if the developers of the jailbreak programs are waiting for 4.0 before devoting much time to a proper release. Whether or not there's another problem with AnkiMini after the update is something I can only look forward to finding out. Either way, I'm in for a wait...

Reply #5 - 2012 March 13, 3:42 am
kusterdu Member
From: USA Registered: 2007-11-12 Posts: 88

OK, I admit that I am shamelessly necroposting.  I am totally confused about adding audio from Jim Breen to anki.  I generally try to find information on the forum before posting a question.  This is the most relevant thread I could find, but this and the thread it links to are largely gibberish to me.  I don't know much about programming or anki, so I can't make head or tails of any of this.  On top of which, these two thread are kind of old, so I don't know if any of this information is relevant anymore.

Anyway, I just have a little vocab deck, and I want to add audio to it.  Do people still get their audio from Jim Breen, or is there a better source now?  What is the most efficient way of downloading audio for words and importing it to a deck?  Is the procedure different for a mac?

I realize these are overly basic questions, and I apologize for asking them, but I really don't know what to do.  Thank you for your indulgence.

Reply #6 - 2012 March 13, 1:05 pm
overture2112 Member
From: New York Registered: 2010-05-16 Posts: 400

kusterdu wrote:

Do people still get their audio from Jim Breen, or is there a better source now?  What is the most efficient way of downloading audio for words and importing it to a deck?

I used to create subs2srs decks (getting the audio from the anime/drama/movie's video file) and use MorphMan's morphMatch feature to match the sentences against a vocab list to generate customized vocab decks based on real native sources.  I think this results in higher quality example audio, has better and more memorable context, and is quick and efficient.

That said, there's plenty of plugins for TTS or grabbing audio for a single vocab word on the shared plugins list that'll probably do what you want as well- but I haven't kept up with them.

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