View topic - WWWJDIC accuracy

by **Totakeke423** » Sat 12.13.2008 1:50 am

I've been looking through the WWWJDIC and really like all of the examples of word usage they have. However, the website has a warning about how correct the examples are.

Which leads me to my question. In your experience, has the WWWJDIC been generally correct? Because I'd like to use it to get an idea of how certain words are used in context, and it would be nice if most of the time the dictionary was correct.

Any information?

Thanks for the help.

by **becki_kanou** » Sat 12.13.2008 2:02 am

The definitions are (almost) always correct, but the example sentences are very occasionally strange, or colloquially translated so it's difficult for a beginner to get the idea of how to use the vocab.

by **furrykef** » Sat 12.13.2008 2:58 am

I'd say the example sentences are OK to get a general idea of usage when there are lots of examples. I wouldn't trust any of the individual examples, though... there are still lots of errors in it. (I've corrected a few myself -- not the Japanese sentences, but I've weeded out some near-duplicate entries and fixed English translations that were obviously incorrect.)

by **jimbreen** » Sat 12.13.2008 4:09 am

Totakeke423 wrote:I've been looking through the WWWJDIC and really like all of the examples of word usage they have. However, the website has a warning about how correct the examples are.

Which leads me to my question. In your experience, has the WWWJDIC been generally correct? Because I'd like to use it to get an idea of how certain words are used in context, and it would be nice if most of the time the dictionary was correct.

The EDICT dictionary is as correct as any other JE dictionary (I find errors in the big Kenkyushas from time to time,) The other files are mostly fine, although some of the entries in the "work-in-progress" files are a bit risky.

The example sentences from the Tanaka corpus are still a bit buggy (although a helluva lot better than when we started working over them about 5 years ago.) Apart from typos and 変換ミス the Japanese is usually OK, but the English is sometimes either a horrible literal translation, or completely wrong. Bear in mind they are sentences collected by students in Japan, and often have been copied out of textbooks. Makes you wonder about the textbooks.

If you see mistakes in the sentences, please send in corrections.

Cheers

Jim