Canon Wordtank (v80, v90)

[chuchichan2524]

Hi,

I'm in the market for a Japanese dictionary. I'm an intermediate learner and I heard that the Canon Wordtanks are easier for foreigners to use. Does anyone have experience with them? It looks like the v80 and v90 allow you to enter Kanji with a stylus.

Is it easier to lookup words on the Wordtanks? I've been using a Seiko and find that when I enter an English word I get Japanese words with many kanjis. I was hoping that maybe the Wordtanks made it easier.

If anyone has experience with them, please let me know.

Thanks.

[harubaru123]

I'm using a wordtank G55 myself, and its still perfectly good even though its starting to get a bit old. A friend of mine bought one of the new ones where you can write on that little pad, but the way I see it its not really that useful for the added price. For a foreigner especially, the wordtank is probably your best bet, sharp also has some ok products.

[SDGundamX]

The dictionaries that let you input kanji are a godsend if you're doing a lot of reading (say newspapers) and come across kanji whose readings you're unsure of. No more looking up radicals or counting strokes. I've been using the Nintendo DS dictionary for a year now and I can't figure out how I ever lived without it. I keep it near me whenever I'm reading the newspaper. I'm pretty impressed with its word-base. Nearly all the definitions have usage example sentences. Also, it's E-J, J-E, and J-J, which is great for learners (cross-referencing definitions to examine subtle differences).

On the other hand, if you're going to coming up against a lot of technical words (think sciences or finance) you definitely want to invest in something beefier than the DS dictionary. I've only used the G55 though, so I don't know how how well the new models process written input.

[Dualta]

Amazon are currently selling the Canon Wordtank G90 for just under ￥19,000 (30/01/2008). I just bought one. They usually sell for over ￥40,000, so it's a bargain. It has the kanji recognition pad for writing the kanji onto the screen. It also comes with a short English manual. I spent the last week looking at what was on the market and this was the best dictionary at the best deal I could find by far.

Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/CANON-wordta...0643974&sr=8-1

It's cheaper than buying a DS with the software. It also has an English/Chinese Japanese/Chinese facility.

Originally Posted by Dualta

Amazon are currently selling the Canon Wordtank G90 for just under ￥19,000 (30/01/2008). I just bought one. They usually sell for over ￥40,000, so it's a bargain. It has the kanji recognition pad for writing the kanji onto the screen. It also comes with a short English manual. I spent the last week looking at what was on the market and this was the best dictionary at the best deal I could find by far.

Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/CANON-wordta...0643974&sr=8-1

It's cheaper than buying a DS with the software. It also has an English/Chinese Japanese/Chinese facility.

I have a wordtank C35 for those moments I don't have a paper dictionary at hand..such as on the train. Good investment, enjoy it. I bought mine for its size not its functionality for ENG-___ translation.

[Dualta]

Just an update. The Worktank G90 was delivered two days ago and I've had a fair amount of time to find my way around it. It really is fantastic. It is primarily designed for Japanese learners of Chinese and English, but it has a basic menu option in English and it is perfect for my needs as an upper-beginner/lower intermediate learner of Japanese.

You can jump around from dictionary to dictionary very simply using the touch screen, so if you have a word on the screen you don't understand you can highlight it and select the appropraite dictionary option from a menu on the right hand side of the screen.

You can draw kanji on the screen and it will show a host of possible kanji for your written character and you can select the one you want form the list by touching the screen. Then a full list of the kanji and its uses will appear. You can select the one you want, highlight the hiragana meaning and select an English translation.

I spent a fair amount of time in Eiden and other places checking out models and their prices. Eiden primarily dealt with the Casio Ex-word range with very few wordtanks. The Ex-words look pretty sweet, but the prices were really prohibitive for me.

I have 3-kyuu of the JLPT and I want to move on to have a go at 2-kyuu. I have been using Minna No Nihongo and the Kanzen Master books, with the Kodansha's Furigana Japanese/English dictionary. Specifically with the Kanzen Master book for 3 kyuu (which is truly excellent for 3-kyuu grammar), the Kodansha's dictionary was limited insofar as it doesn't carry a comprehensive array of vocabulary. It truly is a beginners' book. Being able to search words using hiragana is a must for me.

Also, searching a English/Japanese dictionary which will give you a hiragana pronuniation for the word is also necessary. No dictionaries I found were good enough for me. Using this Wordtank, I can input the kanji, select the hiragana definition and then select the English translation. It's not always that straight forward and having a Japanese speaker to help you understand which information in the definitions is relevant to you and which is not would be a major bonus as the G90 and the other high-end Wordtanks have large Chinese dictionaries and are designed for Japanese learners of Chinese and English.

Anyway, I hope this helps. If anyone else reading this has any tips on using the G90 I'd appreciate it as there seems to be a lot of functionality on them.

sharp pw AT770 is the way to go, 14,800yen
cheap as chips and great. for another 9000 you can get the readers dictionary add on for it.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/Papyrus-PW-A...05SJ66NVZHPYMA


http://www.amazon.co.jp/SHARP-%E3%82...0797594&sr=1-1