Christmas for the Learner

[Kisshu]

XDDD Ok, this may seem funny to be posting a Christmas topic already this year,, but hey.. never too early, ne?

Anyways, Christmas is a pretty big deal for our family. My parents LOVE giving gifts (that is why I am so lucky!) I usually get one big gift ($150 or more) and a bunch of smaller gifts. Now I already have a bunch of small gift ideas, and was considering asking ofr an ipod for a big gift. But then I got to thinking if I would actually use an IPOD that much.

My first question is, would a Japanese electroic dictionary be a good thing for someone who is only beginning Japanese (probably a medium beginner). If so, is it possible to get a good one for areound $150.

If the answer to that question is no, do you know of a better gift that will help me learn Japanese????

[aKuMu]

Well, first, i don't know much about Electronic dictionary's, but i haven't seen "good*" ones for 150$

*A good one for me is one, where you can draw Kanji on the Screen with a Stylus. Like the Canon V90

-edit-

just saw >>this<

[ashitaka]

check out TJS, i think it would be alot more usefull than in Ipod, but thats just me.

[kat_san23]

I saw this calculater thing, or an electronic. it was japanese or korean. I'll see wat it is^_^

[hungryhotei]

Kisshu wrote:
My first question is, would a Japanese electroic dictionary be a good thing for someone who is only beginning Japanese (probably a medium beginner).

No, I don't think so.

Kisshu wrote:　If so, is it possible to get a good one for areound $150.

I think mine (a C50) cost a little over £100, I'm satisfied with it for my Japanese needs. One of those pen things might have been useful if I couldn't read as many kanji though.

Kisshu wrote:　If the answer to that question is no, do you know of a better gift that will help me learn Japanese????

Classes, learning materials (like textbooks, CD's, flashcards etc.) and/or private tuition. It might be hard to give lessons as a gift though, but I'll let you worry about that.

[mamba]

Wow that electronic dictionary looks super cool aKuMu-san. But wow $362. I have a Nintendo DS and a Japanese-English dictionary. Its really good because allows handwritten input as well. I read the feature list, and the NDS is almost exactly the same, except that it doesnt show stroke order.

So yeah if you want to give like a "double-gift", a NDS with a Kanji Dictionary would be perfect, and a lot less than $362, and closer to $150.

[Kisshu]

Does anyone know if I'd be able to manage one of those dictionary although I only know about 100 kanji?

[Yudan Taiteki]

Electronic dictionaries are generally pretty tough to use for the kanji-impaired. Even the J->E and E->J dictionaries are intended for Japanese natives and require Japanese reading knowledge to make full use of. Also, if your kanji is good the component lookup works very quickly and well without the need of a stylus input, but if your kanji is weaker you may need the stylus.

$150 for a good dictionary is possible in Japan, where you never have to pay full price for them (i.e. ordering through kakaku.com), but outside of Japan it's tough.

[Kisshu]

Do you know any that are meant for the English natives?

[ebidebi]

Personally, I don't know of any electronic dictionaries geared toward English speakers, but after a year of studying Japanese, I was pretty good with my Canon IDX-9700. It was very simple and easy to use. It may be hard to find one of those now, however.

I think you can learn how to use any dictionary with enough trial and error, though. That might not be the most time-efficient method, but it works