How to Choose a Japanese Dictionary
September 5, 2008 – 5:26 amOne of the things foreign language learners do not pay enough attention to is the quality or type of foreign language dictionary they purchase. I think this is simply because people don’t know what they should be looking for in a dictionary. This problem is inherent to any reference work because the reader is buying the book to gain information from it. You wouldn’t buy the dictionary if you already knew all the words it contained, and so it seems like it would be impossible to really know how good a dictionary is without using for a long time.
In a certain sense, this is true. However, there are a few simple steps you can take before leaving the store to ensure that you’ve chosen the right dictionary.
Tips for Choosing a Dictionary
- What do you want to use it for? It’s a simple, but important, question. If you’re looking for help with grammar, most dictionaries not labeled grammar or 文法 are not going to satisfy you.
- How heavy is the dictionary? Be honest about what you’re comfortable lugging with you. The biggest dictionary isn’t the best if it never leaves the spot propping up that nightstand with the leg that was broken on your last moving day.
- Try to look up a few words you already know. If you have trouble finding the word you’re looking for, it could be that the dictionary uses an unintuitive layout or requires a learning period. This isn’t always a bad thing, but you’ll definitely want to check to see if there aren’t better, more convenient, options available.
- Are the definitions brief, accurate, and understandable? While looking up words you already know, look for points that might be misleading. Did they choose to use, in a definition, a word that has too many meanings?
- Are there usage examples? Example sentences are key for learning foreign languages. Word choice is a very contextual thing, and most words that you can think of are only used in certain contexts. It’s helpful to know those contexts because otherwise, it could be that you create a grammatically and logically sound sentence that absolutely nobody understands the meaning of. Example sentences help you avoid this by providing you with information about the word beyond its meaning.
- How much is it? A dictionary shouldn’t break your bank, especially one suitable for a beginner. Larger, more technical dictionaries, later on will cost a bit more, but there is no reason to spend more than you have to. Also, there’s no reason you couldn’t buy a used dictionary if it’s available. Places like Amazon make buying cheap used books very simple.
Tips for Electronic Dictionaries
There are a few more tips when buying electronic foreign language dictionaries.
- Use it before you buy it. Don’t buy a dictionary you haven’t futzed around with. Some dictionaries can be absolutely nightmarish, and there is no reason you have to buy one that is that way. While it’s difficult, at least in the United States, to find a place that has display dictionaries set up, your instructor should be able to point you to an advanced student or exchange student that owns an electronic dictionary. Ask them if you can use theirs for 5 minutes. They’ll be nice. I promise.
- Understand the pricing structure. Electronic dictionaries, unlike other consumer electronics, are not usually sold based on their feature set. They are sold on the amount and quality of content they contain. The difference between the $600 version and the $250 version of most dictionaries is that the $600 one will contain a whole bunch of reference materials that you’re not likely to ever need. How often do you need a Japanese medical dictionary?
- Look for these features:
- Auto-off. Battery life on electronic dictionaries is outstanding, but can be annoying if the dictionary doesn’t have the ability to put itself to sleep in short order.
- Kanji recognition. This will come in very handy when you don’t know readings for a lot of kanji yet, but you still want to look them up. Dictionaries with this feature will be slightly more expensive, but the feature is too useful to pass up.
- Backlight. The screens on these dictionaries don’t have the best contrast ratio. They’re built more like calculators than iPods, and even just a dim backlight can improve the readability of the display substantially.
- Instant-on. The dictionary shouldn’t have to boot up. If it has to then you’ll never use it. You should be able to use it as fast as someone can pull out and start using a regular dictionary.
- QWERTY keyboard. You won’t want to look anything up if you can’t do it as fast as possible. A familiar keyboard layout means less features to get used to.
- Heft. This thing is going in your bag and will be lugged with you. It has to be sturdy and not cheaply built. Like fruit, it should feel heavy for its size. All plastic on it should be flush with no edges that could be pried or broken off.
- Expandability. Electronic dictionaries have standard file formats. This means there are dictionaries from other companies that you can buy separately. If you plan to have this for a few years, it might be important to you to be able to update the contents with new words. Japanese, all the time, has a plethora of new katakana words. Most good electronic dictionaries, like cameras, have flash memory slots to load new content through.
- Price. Don’t be cheap, but don’t be foolish. Don’t expect to get a good new electronic dictionary for $80. The prices on these things are generally not artificially inflated. The unit itself costs money, of course, but you have to take into account the licensing fees involved with selling a product that includes content from many different companies. As with all electronics, do some shopping around to get a fair price.
An Overview of Japanese Dictionaries
Those tips out of the way, there is another helpful thing to know about the world of Japanese dictionaries. It is a small one. There aren’t really very many options, and so I’ve compiled a helpful list of the most common ones with their pros and cons.
- EDict
- Pros: Free. Reasonably accurate.
- Cons: Zero example sentences. Limited numbers of idiomatic phrasings. No grammar. Sometimes unclear.
- Genius
- Pros: Lots of example sentences. Lots of definitions. Very accurate.
- Cons: Mildly expensive. Very large(unless electronic). Examples can be mundane.
- Eijiro
- Pros: Tons and tons of interesting example sentences. Lots of grammar examples. Lots of new words.
- Cons: Basic definitions are very sparse. Little hiragana. Only electronic. Usually not available with an electronic dictionary, but it’s only $20.
- Shogakukan Progressive
- Pros: Comes with lots of electronic dictionaries. Free with Mac OS X.
- Cons: Middle of the road. Okay number of examples. Okay definitions.
Take care when trying to look up words in multiple dictionaries that you don’t accidently look up a word in two of the same dictionaries. This could happen if don’t check a dictionary website to see where its content is coming from. Because EDict is widely distributed and freely available, most Japanese dictionary sites use it. EDict is a fine dictionary, but there are other ones that can be more helpful if you know where to find them. That is why I have compiled this list.
This is not a comprehensive list, but these are the dictionaries you’ll most commonly run into. The best part about this list is that 3 out of 4 of these can be used for free. EDict can be used through Kantango or WWWJDIC. Eijiro can be used for free at Space ALC. Shogakukan Progressive can be used for free on OS X through the Dictionary program(look for the option in Preferences).
What I Use
My favorite setup is to use EDict supplemented with Eijiro through ALC. If a word is missing or unclear in EDict then I can just go look up the usage in Eijiro on ALC. That’s usually more than sufficient for anything I might need. For grammar, I use one of the many permuatations of the どんな時どう使う日本語 series. It has minimal explanation in English with further explanation in Japanese. My electronic dictionary is a Casio XD-SP6600.
