FileMaker Kanji Project – Progress 3

May 31st, 2010

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Coming soon. I had hoped to release v0.3 of Kanji Sieve in May, but it will now be mid-June. It required a lot of work. I’ve been cleaning up the behind the scenes scripting etc. and learning a lot as I go along. All the features I want for v0.3 are in place and working (hopefully without any bugs). What I am now mostly doing is sorting out the fonts on Windows. I also have to make some decisions about Kanji Notebook. I am using some data from it but there’s at least a month’s worth of work before the file is usable as a notebook. It possibly needs to be truncated and definitely needs to be locked away from the user in this release.

Some screen shots after the jump.
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Leaving Certificate Japanese

May 31st, 2010

Amy Murphy has started a web site guide to Leaving Certificate Japanese. Having taught herself Japanese successfully for the 2009 Leaving, she is now passing on her enthusiasm and insights to other candidates.
If you live in Ireland, Leaving Cert Japanese is worth a look.
Self-motivated and self-led learning is a completely different experience to the rigidity of most secondary school language programs.


Kanji Toy

May 14th, 2010

Short post and link.
I’ll be on the lookout for these the next time I’m in Japan. Kanji Transformers from Bandai!
The site I found it on, Pink Tentacle, is a mine of weird interesting Japanese art and design.
Another one from them is spot the kanji in town logos.


FileMaker Kanji Project – progress 2

May 11th, 2010

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Now with added Kanji Sieve. Or rather the way Kanji Sieve has evolved means I’ll be incorporating my Kanji NoteBook project with it.
Unfortunately I think the direction I’m heading in means an awful lot of work on the interface. And a lot of time I don’t have to spare at the moment, but I am working on it and am excited about the way it’s progressing.
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Japanese on an iPod Touch

May 2nd, 2010

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I finally bought myself an iPod Touch about a month ago. I wanted something to allow me to use electronic flashcards on the move. On the train I can use my DS and Kakitorikun but it’s impossible to use pen input properly on the bounce around tube journey. With the Touch I’ve more than doubled the amount of time I can study on the otherwise mostly unproductive daily commute, although I read a bit less as a consequence. I also find myself using it at other spare moments, a couple of minutes here and there going through flashcards. Read the rest of this entry »


Kanji Sieve v0.2

April 10th, 2010

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It has taken me a little longer than I thought to get to version 0.2 of Kanji Sieve. Mainly due to getting it to look better cross platform and avoiding problems for a user that wouldn’t be an issue for me as the developer.
However, as someone actually downloaded, looked at and commented on my initial little solution I looked at Kanji Sieve again. A little encouragement will always prompt me to continue projects. Read the rest of this entry »