Beginner''s Kana Dictionary

[crowfeather]

I have learned the Kana and want to use it as frequently as possible. The beginner's dictionaries that I reviewed seem to rely on romaji. My goal is to learn to read Japanese and romaji just adds another layer of confusion to my learning process.

I found a great dictionary. The Oxford Starter Japanese Dictionary
ISBN: 0198601972
$14.95
427 pages

I love it.
All entires are in Kana with a few kanji as additional translations. There is no romaji used.

In the J-E section the words are arranged by the kana syllabary and the translations are in standard English.
In the E-J section the words are in English with the translations in kana with a few showing kanji as additional translations.

It also has a brief grammar section and charts for "deinflecting" verbs and adjectives. This is a great help because when I read a word in it's inflected form there are many times when I don't know how to get it back to the dictionary form.

Admittedly, this is not a comprehensive dictionary with 5,000 words, however, at my level of Japanese study and comprehension I have not found any words that were not listed in this book.


This may be a dictionary that Clay may want to review for his store.

Barbara

[hungryhotei]

Thats the one I used. Its great. I recommend it to everybody.

[Frumious Boojum]

I'd suggest Kodansha's Furigana Dictionary as an alternative or second dictionary. It should help you with Kanji as well... and it's rather small, so you can carry it a bit easier than some. Since the Oxford Starter Japanese Dictionary only has 5,000 words, probably not one that I'd want, but the Furigna Dictionary is a great transitional dictionary with 30,000 entries in 717 pages.

Ok... admittedly, I've just become a big fan of Kodansha's books (minus a couple). The company is a great resource on several topics that most of the other companies aren't writing about.

[Infidel]

Oxford is great as a first dictionary. It has more usage notes than Kodansha's which is more important for a first dictionary than bulk of entries. I wish there was a more advanced version in the same format.

[jinksys]

I use and recommend Langenscheidt's Pocket Dictionary. Its yellow.

[hungryhotei]

Of course, we all also use the internet:
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi- ... dic.cgi?1C