Even though I have spent a great deal of my life bopping back and forth between America and Japan, I had never gone past paperback dictionaries to help me in tough conversations. Little did I know that electronic dictionaries existed! Until I discovered their existence at the beginning of fall semester, I was looking things up like a sucker. With an electronic dictionary, I just type the words in and get the definitions by magic.

Unfortunately it is hard to obtain one of these in the states–I heard they only sell them in Asian markets/towns, so they are hard to come by. But for anybody who is in the market, one equaling to about $200~$250 will get you a really decent model, that will most likely include a touch pad plus speaking capability. (Mine is a Casio ExWord brand.) They also come with little ear buds and a cable so that you can download dictionaries from online. For those learning another language, I highly suggest checking into see if there is an electronic dictionary for your language.

(For those who are interested in Japanese but don’t want to shell out that much money, consider purchasing a game for your DS that will help you learn kanji. It is not as comprehensive but it will help your writing and recognition abilities, and there are a ton of games out there for it.)

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[...] Dictionaries If you are lucky enough to find one, invest in an electronic dictionary and make it a habit to carry it around with you. They are lifesavers when a word you just [...]

Pingback by Learning a Foreign Language for Beginners pt. 2: Dictionaries | Paperfoxes Run Run | March 10, 2008 @ 12:05 am

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