Best Flashcard program for Vocab

[Ovioprime]

Can anyone recommend a decent vocab flash card program for Japanese vocab?

I have seen a few and have downloaded a few but none seem to do exactly what I want.

I want to be able to use kanji and kana easily - ideally interchangably.

I want to be able to learn and review cards using Leitner's method. This is a method of sheduling when you review flash cards so that the information is stored in your long-term memory rather than in your short term memory.

I want to be able to add word lists that other people have written to save me the effort.

If nobody can suggest a program like this then I can write it and put it on the web - I just don't want to have to spend the time doing it.

There is an excellent website similar to this for learning Kanji at

http://kanji.koohii.com/index.php

Thanks,

Dave

[ashitaka]

have you tried "kanji gold" there is a link to i in the link sections

[Ovioprime]

Yes, I have tried Kanji Gold. It review system is very simliar to the Leitner one. The program is very good for Kanji but it doesn't allow you to us vocabulary in the review system - just Kanji. I was looking for something along those lines that I would be able to put compounds and kana words into while I try to learn them.

[ashitaka]

use knuckles in china land or slime forest, they are games that are great for learning and the battles in each are flashcards, in kicl you have to enter what the meaning of the charecter is on the battle card, in slime forest a symbol apears over the slime that you are fighting headand you must type it.

Sry about the misspelling i am very tired right now and the room i am in is to dark for me to see the keyboard.

[colind]

I don't know if you have heard of a program called Wakan, I think its very good. hehe Even thought I have been slack lately and not used it.
http://wakan.manga.cz/
The thing I like about it is, you can make your own vocab lists. So for example, I have made one for words I learn in chat and another one from certain books. Its a good program so check it out~

[KitsuneTsuki]

I must remember that Wakan Project site while I am at work using the laptop and the wireless connection. I just checked out the site and it looks truly interesting. It's just that it will take forever to download everything here at home on the dialup connection.

Arigato, CoLiN!!! That was very nice of you to post that link. B)

Laters!

[InsanityRanch]

FWIW, I think I've used all the flashcards programs there are and none of them do what I would like.

Right now, for vocabulary I use wakan, and it is an awesome program. BUT...

I wish the examples were better integrated. (For instance, the example sentence, with the example word itself replaced by a dash, could be available as a prompt.)

I wish users could easily add their own examples. Usually I encounter words and phrases in context, so I could just enter part or all of the sentence I found it in. This is especially important with phrases, because the wakan example database doesn't have examples for phrases.

Since I try to learn the associated particles with the vocabulary word, I wish there was an easier way to display this information. Right now I stick the particles in the "phonetic" field. So, to take an example, I have two cards for the word 大事. On one card, the meaning field is "(to be) a big deal" and the phonetic field is "おおごと（だ）" -- except wakan won't allow parens in the phonetic field. For the second 大事 card, the meaning field is "important" and the phonetic field is だいじ（な）. Similarly, if a verb takes に or を or と, I note that in the phonetic field.

I wish that the "meaning" field could be entered in Japanese if desired. I am trying to use the Japanese-English dictionary less and less, and this would be a step in that direction.

Oh, and I wish there was a Leitner-like box system. Right now I just let wakan give me 25 or so random words, drill 'em till I know 'em, and throw that list away. Over time it works, if I adjust the value for testing new vs. known words... but a box system would make me confident that fewer words were falling through the cracks.

Anway, I don't mean to speak ill of the program. It is a very nice tool, and free to boot. I would hate to do without it. Kudos to the author!

P.S., while we're on the subject, does anyone know a kanji flashcard program where you can request to be quizzed on all kanji with a given ON reading? I have been making lists like this in Lexikan, but it is time consuming.

Shira

[Murdoc Murdoc]

I use http://www.kantango.com its not the best but it has a ditionary you just type the words in or goto lists other people have made and select words to be in you list of words it will show

[Harisenbon]

Like insanity ranch, I used wakan for a while, but I found it lacking in some areas.
Especially not being able to handle files larger than 1000 words very well.

I'm using stackz, http://www.stackz.com, and while it is pay, it's cheap and I've had good luck with it. It also has a pocket PC version that I'm going to be getting soon so that I can have my cards on the road. =)

[Mukade]

For Mac users, iFlash is highly recommended.

You can have as many 'sides' to each flashcard as you wish, quizzing yourself on those sides in whatever order you choose (it can be different each quiz session). It will remember which ones you got right, and you can fine-tune how often cards will pop up once you've learned them.

Recent versions also allow you to create sides with image (nice for character stroke order) and sound files (for pronunciation).

iFlash handles Japanese texts just fine, and when you can't lug your computer around, you can print out your flashcards or export them to your iPod.

[mattaku]

I use JFC. It's quite simple for making flashcards. http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~grosenth/jfc.html