掲示板 Forums - Favorite online Japanese/English translator and dictionary?

Does a reliable (free) Japanese/English translator exist? I only know google's and DeepL, and am sometimes shocked by the very different translations given. JapanDict seems like a good beginner-friendly dictionary. Any other recommendations?

My most favourite dictionary - besides here on Renshuu - is Japanese Kanji Study by Chase Colburn.

I will try it out, it looks like it has several interesting options, including katakana and kanji. Thank you! =D

Oh, I don't have apple. But yeah, I decided to ask for people's favorites bc I got some strange words and translations. Japanese seems to be difficult to translate... The tokenizer? Thank you!

Super sweet with the links! I think I'll have to wait to use the ones in Japanese, but the JDIC looks interesting, if somewhat technical. ははは。

Yeah, I've been using those 3 translators, and what do you do when there's such a big difference btwn the results? And that's from Japanese to English, but vice versa...? I'm used to small differences in French and Spanish, but you can kind of figure those out. But a total beginner of Japanese... Yikes.

Yeah, I look forward to trying Reverso for Japanese. I used it before for Fr and Sp and the context examples do really help! Oh, that just reminded me of Linguee that also gives examples.

アルゼン は 05月17日, 17:13に

My favorites online dictionaries are:

Jisho, Kotobank and Weblio. I have also been using WWWJDIC for many years, in fact was the first dictionary I used, I think Jisho, Renshuu and many dictionary apps are based on the "JMdict-EDICT Dictionary Project".

For sentences translation I use:

Google translate, Reverso and DeepL. Reverso has a grammar check and a context search for words and expressions with some examples, very useful.

と言いました。

Super sweet with the links! I think I'll have to wait to use the ones in Japanese, but the JDIC looks interesting, if somewhat technical.

ははは。

Yeah, I've been using those 3 translators, and what do you do when there's such a big difference btwn the results? And that's from Japanese to English, but vice versa...? I'm used to small differences in French and Spanish, but you can kind of figure those out. But a total beginner of Japanese... Yikes.

Yeah, I look forward to trying Reverso for Japanese. I used it before for Fr and Sp and the context examples do really help! Oh, that just reminded me of Linguee that also gives examples.

I understand your problem. Despite the great development of AIs, they still cannot make 100% correct translations... yet? Fortunately for human translators... I don't see an "easy" solution to the problem other than improving language proficiency. What I do is compare translations from different translators and then try to figure it out on my own. Obviously the main thing is to learn the language, so I just use online translators as tools and first try to improve my knowledge of Japanese to improve my translations.

I use most of the above and https://papago.naver.com/ .

Using more than one is a good idea, because it should not be about "How exactly should I translate this?" but more like "What is the overall meaning?".
If you just want to know (only works...not always) one Japanese word, just put it into Google/images and "try to figure it out" by looking at the pictures.

Because translating seems to be a thing that schools try to focus on a lot, but as you know, many people do not learn languages in school, right?

You are welcome.

If you still do not understand a word, there is another way to find out its meaning. Put it into a Japanese dictionary, copy the Japanese description, and translate the description instead of the word.

I did not try it by myself yet, but someone else did.

Another good idea. I hope I'll be that motivated. :) Aside from "meanings" though, I'm pretty nervous about grammar.

I really need to start writing some sentences, just copycat ones to start...I saw you're studying Korean, too?! Wow, very ambitious.

I considered it myself, since I watch kdramas, too, but I've always wondered about Japan, and idk if I could handle 2 languages. Korean does seem endearing somehow, though.

As long as you have fun with the language, you will stay motivated. Listen to music, watch shows, and read stuff you like.

Do not turn it into a chore-never. Like looking into a boring textbook. I do not want to say that books are boring. Just do various things to learn.

Writing is a good way of output. If you want, you can upload your own texts to language learning platforms.

Speak to natives or yourself.

Do not worry too much about grammar as a beginner. Over time, you will get an idea of how to use grammar (and do it automatically).

You could use https://guidetojapanese.org/le... or a teacher like I do.

I divide my grammar into different phases.

For example:

• familiarization phase (seeing it for the first time, try to understand),
• forgetting phase (did not use it...maybe because of the lack of vocabulary),
• remembering phase (how do you say it again?),
• reacquaintance phase (Ah, I studied it already in the past; how does it work? look at it again),
• application phase (practice it by talking to myself, my husband or my teacher),
• consolidation phase (use it automatically without thinking about it).

I like both cultures and both languages (sound and the other way of thinking). Also, it is good for my brain health.

If you also like both try it, but do not overdo it (burn out yourself).

Yes, I do mix it up, and it's nice when I hear/understand something I learned here on renshuu in a song, etc., or vice versa.

It seems like my brain has been going thru those phases all on it's on, thinking I know something, then go totally blank... ははは

Oh, I've heard Tae Kim mentioned here and there, so I look forward to checking out the website!

Great, keep it up. At the beginning, a new language feels like a big "blob of gibberish" and then you start to hear individual words until you understand more and more.

Good luck with your language study. You can do it.