This app was mentioned in 57 comments, with an average of 3.56 upvotes
+1 to Akebi! Its built-in handwriting input is superb. I've never looked back after starting to use it. I wonder why nobody seems to know about it.
Try it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.craxic.akebifree
If you use Android, Akebi has Anki integration. It can create cards from the dictionary entries and export them directly into Anki.
I really like Akebi. It has a great interface, and, if you're as bad at stroke order as this lefty, the fact that the kanji drawing recognition doesn't require correct stroke order is amazing.
No problem! I have Japanese on my phone as well haha
I prefer Midori but they're both good. But to tell the truth, I'm still holding out for the day that Akebi comes to iPhone. Maybe the creator will bring it over one day! Or I'll just go back to Android for that app alone lol
I use Akebi, a dictionary app with Anki integration. When you highlight text on a web page, there's an option to look it up in Akebi, and from there you can add the word to Anki in one click (after configuring which note type/template etc.)
Don't try Barakamon. Like not. It's full of slang, accent, and it's basically slapstick, nothing easy and slow in there. Read or watch Azumanga or Yotsubato instead.
As for dictionary (which also has it own draw recognition, conjugation and flashcard quiz), look no further:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.craxic.akebifree
If you don't mind installing some apps in your phone, I use this dictionary called Akebi. You can copy-paste Kanji, look up vocabs and idioms, and draw the Kanji if you can't copy it.
Granted, the drawing function isn't perfect. Google translate does a better job at that.
But overall, it's a handy app.
If you're looking for an offline app, I would recommend Akebi.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.craxic.akebifree&hl=en
One word - Akebi. You can search by drawing the kanji on your phone and the actual stroke order doesn't matter.
Pretty handy app.
I would choose Akebi, It is completely free and has details on vocab as well as kanji. It has full anki integration and also allows you to create custom lists you can study and add notes to. It also has kanji search by drawing.
Doesn't work for you since you're on iPhone, but for Android users, Akebi (dictionary app) has Anki integration.
I use Akebi for things like this. Doesn't give you the definition, but a clear breakdown of the kanji so you can usually figure it out.
soo... I managed to find dictionary with handwriting support, doesn't seem to have any trackers (exodus and virustotal report nothing), no ads or in-app purchases. At the first glance seems fine, even has anki integration which is really nice. In case if someone needs it, there's a link.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.craxic.akebifree
Akebi is an android dictionary app that has Ankidroid exporting. So you can create a card in one click that has the word (+ furigana) on the front and definitions on the back. Unfortunatly it doesn't support word audio but it should still help you speed up the process.
A different deck might help, or even making a custom deck from your duolingo lessons. I started off with the 'kanji damage reordered' anki-deck, which although can be a little 'crude' really caught my attention memorizing. I do my review on an android tablet, and use the dictionary 'akebi.' I look up a word, and there is a button to quickly send the word, example sentence, pitch, kanji to a custom deck.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.craxic.akebifree&hl=en_US&gl=US
Even better for me has been the 'mochimochi' app. Not only do I need to recognize the word, but I have to type it out in hiragana. That has exposed a number of spelling/pronunciation problems with my memorization.
[I have 'issues' with a a few of their entries/ examples sentences, but as a co-worker says, 'as long as you know the word when used in context, what does it matter to you if they show a single kanji with no context/definition - you answer じゅう but they were expecting とお and get it 'wrong;?']
May I suggest you also test drive Lingodeer? And as others mention grammar is getting to be very important for me to learn more, as I try to understand those example sentences. [How does verb-の work? Oooh. Why did they use 'こと' in this way? Oooooh. I need read my textbook chapters for things I need to focus on...]
Not OP, but I've settled on Akebi because the handwritten kanji recognition works fairly well. You do have to get comfortable with the stroke order somewhat (it's not as good as some other handwritten recognition engines I've seen) but the dictionary itself always has all the information you need, and the speed at which you can look up related words in the UI is fantastic.
There are still people who don't use Akebi dictionary on Android?
You can pretty much just draw to search kanji and there are plenty of other features too..
Try Akebi dictionary. It adds a custom search to the context menu, so you can just select the text you want to translate and tap "Akebi". I don't recall if romaji is enabled by default, but it definitely has the option.
Thanks a lot!
You mean this one? Keep an eye on the GitHub page I will be putting a roadmap there in a few days.
Just try Akebi, their recognition doesnt care about the order of strokes, unlike jisho.
I mean I wasnt even trying:
Akebi. A very powerful dictionary. You can type in conjugated verbs, look up conjugation, and look up idioms.
It has a drawing feature for Kanji you don't know, but it's not that good compared to Google Translate's drawing feature, which I'd say perfect. And the examples sentences that Akebi gives sometimes don't match the translation of the words.
Despite that, I still recommend this app. Best Japanese-English dictionary ever, and free too! You won't regret downloading it.
[Edit]
Didn't notice you mentioned Akebi in another comment.
Easiest way yet people here are still recommending jisho...
I would also recommend Akebi, the recognition doesn't care about the correctq stroke order and the dictionary itself is very well-done.
I like Akebi. It looks a bit complicated at first so make sure you do the tutorial, but it has fancy search features and Anki integration.
I don't know about physical dictionary, but the one I use the most is an app called Akebi. It's free to install which is a plus.
It's a very powerful dictionary. One thing that I love the most about it is it:-
Shows verb conjugations in a list under a the verb
Deconjugates the verb so you can copy paste from anywhere(though it doesn't recognize -teru/deru, which you have to manually type as -teiru/deiru)
Translates idioms
Gives suggestions in case you have a typo in your search
Let you search by either typing(in both Romaji and Kana), drawing, or Kanji radicals
The example sentences aren't the most perfect but overall it's still a valuable app to have as a learner.
Try out Akebi
It's an Android (maybe iOS?) Dictionary that has the ability to decompose kanji and I absolutely LOVE it. It's exactly what you're looking for.
I use Akebi. It has its own handwriting function and will guess at characters as you draw. You can take as long as you want and just tap the correctly guessed character that shows up when you're done.
I wanna share this with my fellow weebs since it helped me a lot. Akebi it's a free(also no ads) app for learning kanji and vocabulary.
I'm using Akebi (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.craxic.akebifree&hl=es)
It's impressive, so easy to search kanjis (drawing kanji by yourself, by radicals, english, romaji), it shows you how a kanji is decomposed, kinda reminds me jisho.org !
I have Akebi as the dictionary for my Android phone. It work quite well for a dictionary when I used, which awhile ago. It has a nice simple flashcard program where you can flashcards out of dictionary words.
It does work offline. I know because most of time that I used it was waiting for the bus.
Also on a side note, I does have a handwriting feature to look up Kanji, which is new since the last that I used it.
I think most study tips have been covered really well already, but if you have an Android phone I really want to recommend Akebi. I'm a major of Japanese and Chinese, both of which have different stroke orders which has led to me adopting a "the destination is more important than the journey" approach. Akebi has been a lifesaver on that front, as you only need the correct amount of strokes for the handwriting system to pick it up.
Google translate is also awesome for the handwriting recognition if you need to write kanji but can't figure out how many strokes you're meant to be putting in.
Akebi is what you're looking for my good sir/madam. The answer for flashcards is almost always Anki, I would suggest that you learn stroke order for only a little while and then try to learn just by looking at kanji. Once you have the basic stroke orders down it becomes increasingly easy to 'predict' the stroke order of kanji. A great resource for flashcards and other general information is KanjiDamage. It may not be the most 'reputable' but it will always tell it how it is and get to the point.The KanjiDamage anki deck provides a range of kanji in a logical and progressive order.
Well done! I commend you for your effort.
However, I beg you not to use Google Translate. I say this as someone who has been in a similar position to you. It will only hurt your studies.
If you have Android, I recommend you download the app Akebi. If you are struggling to work out words in context, then use ReversoContext or Yourei, and if you absolutely must use a translator, please use DeepL. Anything but Google Translate.
I find Akebi the best dictionary app for japanese. Have you tried it? It's the most similar one I found to pleco
I use Akebi
I used Wasabi for their free self-learning resources and it was ok. They also offer video lessons but never used them so I can't say anything about that part. I also used Akebi (for kanji) and Anki (for vocabulary) apps, both are free with no ads. You can visit /r/LearnJapanese for more.
My resources change depending on the stage I'm at. Over my time of learning I've accumulated a lot of various tools based on the next challenge in my studies.
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It's different for everyone, but these are the resources I found the most helpful so far. Like I said, it constantly changes for me too. There's no one right way for everyone as everyone learns differently, but I can break down some simple rules I've found to be true:
1) Alphabet > Grammar > Vocabulary
Learning the alphabet will help you with the grammar and reinforce what you've learned about the alphabet in the process. Learning the grammar will help you plug in various vocabulary inbetween and reinforce your grammar in the process
2) Learn -> Familiarize -> Relearn
We learn concepts, but then we find the boundaries of those concepts through the utilization of them and the mistakes we make. Once that happens, relearning it from a new perspective helps solidify the lesson.
3) Structured Learning + Exposure**
4) Constantly Evaluate Current Weaknesses
Recognizing where we're having continued issues is pertinent in addressing them. This is what leads me to seeking out different types of resources.
5) Focus on what you know, Not what you don't know
It's tempting to look at a sentence after studying for a long time and trying to decipher every piece of it. But there are many concepts we have yet to learn and sometimes it can feel demotivating when you can't figure it out. When you recognize what you know, you solidify what you already knew and set yourself up for new things to come. Don't worry about unknown territory. In due time of study, it will explain itself. Eventually you may go back and have it be a complete no-brainer as has happened to me.
All in all, have fun with it. Japan has a great culture (albeit weird many times...) and an incredible language.***
Enjoy.
*Additionally, Romaji has 2 styles. Nihon-shiki and Hepburn. Nihon-shiki focuses more on Japanese pronunciation for it's writing style whereas Hepburn focuses more on English pronunciation. I highly recommend you use Nihon-shiki if you use Romaji at all. It takes some getting used to, but it's better to adjust to Japanese speech early on than fitting English speech to it just because it's more comfortable.
**Anki is also good for Shadowing. You can download a deck of cards with speech in them and test yourself on listening to the sounds (I'd recommend this for sometime after you're accustomed with the alphabet). If you can't hear what someone's saying, you certainly can't translate it, so it's important to have these shadowing exercises train your ear to pick up Japanese's phonetics.
***Tidbit: It's believed that Western languages are hard for Easterners to learn and vice versa. Japanese will more than likely be one of the more challenging languages an English-speaker could learn as opposed to Spanish.
On Android, Akebi is free (no ads) and really good IMO.
I use Akebi for its ability to create word lists and export them to Anki along with translations and example sentences.
The kanjivg data has that information to some degree, but it's not easily accessible from their website. Lots of android apps use kanjivg and some of them do show the decomposition, e.g. here's a screenshot from Akebi. Even here you can't see that 氵 is really 水, but kanjivg does know, here's a line from the svg:
<g id="kvg:06feb-g1" kvg:element="氵" kvg:variant="true" kvg:original="水" kvg:position="left" kvg:radical="general">
There are also websites that use kanjivg, like jisho.org, but I don't know if any show the breakdown.
It's a pretty good Japanese Dictionary that I found recently. Also can do flash cards and stuff for studying vocab.
Some dictionary apps make it easy to export words to anki, like Akebi (assuming you're on Android).
I really like Akebi. It's got inbuilt handwriting recognition and is offline.
akebi is the best dictionary app btw.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.craxic.akebifree&hl=ja
Akebi is the one I use.
If you're on Android: Try out Akebi instead. Much better, hasn't updated its JMdict file since 2015 though.
I've been using it almost every single day, since day one, for about two and the half years now. I have 17.3k+ words on my study list, 5.4k+ notes, and 5k+ words tagged with ~200 different tags. This software is my life.
2. Dictionary of [Basic/Intermediate/Advanced] Japanese Grammar
These are simply amazing. I've read the first two from cover to cover.
3. TV Asahi "ANN News"
Inexhaustible source of Japanese content. You can also supplement it with their news website and rikaichan.
4. Anki
Extremely boring but effective. I somehow managed to memorize how to write ~1.5k kanji and read ~2k words before giving up.
5. Akebi
It's a nice android dictionary. Handwritten kanji lookup feature is nice to have.
The big question here is actually retention. I have seen a lot of people who did the RTK in just two months and then remember nothing some six month later on.
Realistically, you simply can't remember all Jouyou Kanji in just two months, that's impossible. In that regard RTK actually promises you unatainable.
People defending RTK tend to overlook that the actual retention happens when writing those characters by hand. And only by regular practice can those kanji stick in your memory. Those two things are actually the best way to learn the kanji. But you can do both of those things with every other method too.
Also, I recommend checking KKLC too, their graded sets works pretty well with Kanji Study app and I feel the book alone gives much better stories than RTK (and for all characters, not just for first ~500). Along with few vocabulary words and real radicals. And it works well with Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary (although, personally, I only use Akebi nowadays.
I also use ankidroid and have tried a few pre-made decks also. (https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks/japanese)
I also use the Akebei dictionary to add words right to a custom decks (adds kanji, example sentence, pitch ) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.craxic.akebifree
and also https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.takoboto dictionary
because I when I am trying to find a new word from kanji I like seeing the results from either's particle/ (also handwriting on akebei) matching.
Awesome list. Let me add some:
Akebi dictionary (includes pitch accent)
Conjugated pitch that may be better with particles than OJAD:
A fun story to test your pitch accent comprehension:
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354055082401955/episodes/1177354055082468405
Hey, I will tell you 2 methods, other's use different methods like audio cards using ShareX where you can make a screenshot and record the audio and add it to the cards, but I don't think that is good if you are not good with computers. I think the methods I give you are pretty easy without good computer skills.
If you need help with card design just ask or look for card design specific posts, I'm not going to focus on that right now.
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subs2srs it, or just download premade ones. Add definitions from MIA dictionary or wherever you like.
In subs2srs you need the subtitles and video files and then the program makes the cards for you, you can import to anki and copy the media into anki and you have your cards.
With subs2srs you have a sentence, audio, picture and translated sentence if you want.
If subs2srs is too difficult for you use this addon (he explains how to add the media programs to the path):
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/939347702
You can quickly make cards with Akebi, even with your custom card design. You just set the card type and choose the fields where the information goes in. I would always add the example sentence and if you don't like it, look for a new one on http://yourei.jp/ or somewhere else.
There is a new addon called Forivy to bulk add audio to cards, or you use MIA dictionary and search. For pictures there is this handy addon to bulk generate. Use a TTS if you want sentence audio. (You can also record it with ShareX, but more work.)
You can then during review edit the cards if necessary.
Cards
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.craxic.akebifree&hl=en_US
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/939347702
Audio
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/327282518
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1655992655
also a TTS addon
Pictures
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/561924305
Definitions
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1655992655
Or quolibri
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.craxic.akebifree&hl=en_US
I use akebi the most frequently
I'm using Akebi app on android and it's very useful. It has the same functionality, works as dictionary too and it can create your flashcards from kanji or words (it also have examples, conjugations and many other features). I can pretty much draw kanji by finger and find it pretty quickly.
Or I search by radicals, on webs like Romajidesu or Kanshudo. All are worth trying and very convenient, it's only depends what suits you the most.
I wish one could limit zhongwen's "endpoints" to common kanji rather than having the hànzì as well, then it would be fairly trivial to just color them and cycle through the radicals – any points between those and the "ends" will be the components. Then again, that as an added filter shouldn't be that hard, maybe I'll write a script; thanks for the pointer. Still can't believe nobody has created such a list already, though.
edit: Come to think of it, similar should be possible with the CJK Decomposition Data or the Wikimedia one.
Anyway, I'm mostly using the English Wiktionary for single character lookups, it's gotten surprisingly good in recent years. Other good (but by far not as often as detailed) ones include the neat decomposition trees by Kanshūdō or (on Android, has a much more recent beta version) Akebi.
I'm using Akebi
You just gave me an idea! I'll update it up top ^