November 16th, 2007 : UpdateI'm in the process of moving this project to SourceForge. It is now called Benkyou and can be found here. I am in the process of adding new features to the program as well as creating a web based version that I will be hosting on my website. The web based version will allow you to create custom vocabulary files and download them for use with the stand-alone application, as well as allow you to practice your vocabulary in a web browser if you prefer. Please check the new SourceForge site for updates.

OverviewJapanese Vocabulary is, not surprisingly, an application for studying Japanese vocabulary. It consists of a set of cards, each with 3 pieces of information on them. The 3 pieces of information are the kanji spelling, kana reading, and English (or other language) meaning. It uses the Leitner system for managing the cards, which means that you see the cards you know well less often than you see the ones that you don't know very well. This allows you to focus on learning those words which you are having trouble with. The kanji representation of a word (or the kana representation if there is no corresponding kanji for that word) is shown first, and then the user can choose to show the kana and meaning for the word if he/she wants to. The user then decides if he/she got the word right or not, and the card is either moved into a higher deck (where it will be seen less often) or a lower deck (where it will be seen more often.)

HistoryThis application is my solution to the fact that general flashcard programs don't work very well for Japanese because sometimes two sides just aren't enough. The program will eventually come with flashcards for all of the vocabulary needed for all levels of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). I am also planning to add databases for several popular Japanese textbooks, beginning with the Yookoso series which is used at the University of Texas at Austin. After that I will probably add cards for the Genki series. The program will eventually let you add your own cards as well.

How Do I Get It?You need to download two files from this website.

The application itself. (Either the Windows, Linux, or Mac OSX version.) The vocabulary file. (You only need to download this once.)

StatusThis program is still beta, but is very usable as it is. I have loaded the JLPT level 2, 3, and 4 vocabulary for now. When downloading the application, make sure you also download the jlpt.vocab file or there won't be any cards for you to view.

Technical DescriptionThe program is written in C++/QT4 and only uses the QT4 libraries. Therefore it should run under Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX 10.3.9+.

The vocabulary databases are really SQLite databases. They can be accessed by using the SQLite v3 client if you wish. However, the schema isn't finalized yet, so it probably isn't a good idea to muck with stuff yet. I will be adding a nice user interface to manage the database in the future that will allow for, among other things, importing of cards from various formats.

About The AuthorMy name is Andrew Young. I'm an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, where I am majoring in Linguistics and Japanese. I work full-time as a software engineer for ARM. Before working at ARM I worked at IBM, where I was in charge of internationalization of our support website into several languages, including Japanese. I've always been a big anime fan but I hadn't considered learning Japanese until I began working closely with my Japanese colleagues at IBM. I've been programming professionally since 2000 (although I started programming around 1990), and I began learning Japanese at UT in 2004 (although I've been taking a break from my Japanese studies for about a year and have forgotten quite a bit! ^^;). I've been happily married since 2001, and I have a 4 year old daughter.