When you start to learn Japanese, choosing the right kind of dictionary is an important decision which can have far reaching consequences. There are so many dictionaries to choose from; online or off-line, hard-copy or electronic, monolingual or bilingual, furigana or romanised, it goes on. Sometimes it seems like a far-fetched dream that you might ever be able to read kanji.

I've used quite a few different Japanese dictionaries and I've found some that work for me and then others that I'll never use again. Hopefully by sharing my experience of learning Japanese as a second language with you, that dream will come a little closer.

If you've been studying Japanese a little while, you may have seen some of these kinds of dictionaries before. Please let us know in the comments how you found them, and how you used them, so we can all benefit.  Let's look at some of the choices you have, and some of the best recommendations I can give you in each category.

A Book or Electronic Dictionary?

This question was asked only recently in the eduFire forums, and the overwhelming consensus was that books still have a lot going for them in comparison with electronic dictionaries.

As I suggested in the forum, a soft cover dictionary like Kodansha’s Furigana Japanese-English dictionary, and its companion the English-Japanese dictionary, is a good place to start. Kodansha's Furigana dictionaries are specifically made for non-native learners of Japanese and adapted from a dictionary for Japanese junior-high-school students. The definitions are written for English speaking users and contain thousands of sample sentences in natural Japanese.

The books force you to start working with the language as soon as you open them. The pages are tabbed in hiragana, so you need to use it to find the words you want. You also discover other words that you wouldn’t in an electronic dictionary. The books will encourage you to use your short term memory more often, and teach you not to rely too heavily on an immediate machine generated answer.

I have an electronic dictionary, the Sono Mama Rakubiki Jiten for Nintendo DS, but I don't use it nearly as much as the learners dictionaries I have. Many electronic dictionaries are made for people wanting to speak English, so the definitions are in Kanji, which is hard to read unless you have studied a lot. Some electronic dictionaries have touchpads, which allow you type in the kanji you want to know the meaning of, assuming you know how to write kanji.

Offline or Online?

I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel as though I'm chained to my desk, and to relax  I need to get away from the screen and catch some rays. When I take a book outside with me, I usually have a much more satisfying experience than lugging a laptop, or keying words into a tiny key pad with my thumbs.

Sure, there are times when using an online resource, is going to be convenient and useful, but I appreciate the tactile and familiar nature of a well thumbed book.

Don't get me wrong, I use online dictionaries a lot, and I'll share some of them with you in another post on my blog soon, but for heavy study sessions, I use pen and paper. I find it much less distracting to have a single good dictionary with me while I study.

Furigana or Romanised?

Romanisation is the use of the English alphabet to represent Japanese words, and while it may seem a tempting way to get started, the latest schools of thought emphasise mastering each kana syllabary from the outset. Very few textbooks or Japanese language programs these days use romanisation as it is seen as an unnecessary crutch which hinders you from learning authentic Japanese.

For this reason, steer clear of any text that uses romanisation. My experience and observation of others learning Japanese tell me that as soon as you learn kana, all of your romanised texts will become worthless. You'll become hungry for authentic Japanese texts, and wonder why you ever bought that "handy reference".

The sooner you get started using hiragana and katakana the better. It will open up so many more avenues to learning Japanese, like manga!

Kodansha's Furigana dictionaries that I mentioned before, are actually the full kana version of a romanised dictionary published first in 1992. Furigana, makes it possible for anyone that has learnt kana to read any kanji. The publishing house Kodansha realised almost 20years ago that romanisation was old fashioned, it's time to move on in 2009.

Monolingual or Bilingual?

Monolingual is just another way of saying a Japanese-Japanese dictionary. As you progress with your Japanese, you'll soon want to move away from the word-list mentality by avoiding the constant temptation to check a Japanese word against the English equivalent.

Knowing what useful definitions Japanese people have for their own words will become a priority. For this purpose a monolingual dictionary is a must, the benefits are two-fold. First, you'll be using a knowledge of Japanese to understand new Japanese words, which can only reinforce your understanding of the language; and Second, you'll gain the dictionary-like power of using complete sentences to describe something you don't know the name of, rather than reaching for an English word in the hope that your listener will understand.

You won't need one of these right away, if your vocabulary is too low you won't understand the definitions, and even if you choose a Japanese dictionary designed for school children, you'll still need to know a lot of kanji. Which brings me to the final point, deciding when to invest in a Kanji dictionary, and what kind to get.

Choosing a Kanji Dictionary

For a moment let's assume that the primary reason you are buying a dictionary is to know the meanings of words. That point that would normally be self evident except for the nature of the Japanese writing system. A kanji dictionary contains a lot more information than just the meaning of a particular word, or character. You'll find they usually include guides to numerous readings, stroke order, etymology, common compounds, and references to entries in other dictionaries.

Kanji is such an integral part of the Japanese language that it is going to be difficult to ignore if you really want to become fluent. But since any word in Japanese can be written in hiragana or katakana, finding an unknown word's meaning is possible with the aid of a good furigana dictionary.

Most introductory texts, like Japanese for Busy People have kana versions. These books are designed to help you master the kana, and will not only improve your pronunciation but will help smooth the transition to learning kanji. Learning kanji is something that takes time, but a lack of knowledge in this area shouldn't stop you from becoming conversational and expanding your vocabulary.

Matching your Choice of Dictionary to the Learning Curve

Touching on some key points:

• The main priority for any beginner in Japanese is to learn enough vocabulary to make basic statements about everyday things.
• It's quite possible to get a good understanding of the Japanese grammar, without knowing any kanji.
• The best pronunciation comes from reading out loud words, phrases and sentences in natural Japanese.
• There is no need to rely on romanisation if you get started early on the kana.
• Books are less tiring on the eyes, more portable and easier to open in an instant than electronic or online dictionaries.
• Mastering the kana doesn't take that long if you commit to it, and it opens up pathways to authentic Japanese.

For all of these reasons the first kind of dictionary you should by is a Japanese learners dictionary like Kodansha's Furigana. Steer clear of ay text with romanisation, no matter how tempting it may be, except that frustratingly some of the best kanji learners dictionaries use romanisation. As your knowledge of Japanese increases, and you begin to learn kanji, invest in a kanji dictionary or workbook that many alternatives for searching for characters. Once you have mastered several hundred kanji then and only then should you seek out monolingual or electronic dictionaries.

Bring that Dream into Focus

Learning to read a completely foreign language is, if you'll excuse the pun, an eye opening experience. You'll start to see things from a completely different perspective. Think about some of the reasons you want to learn Japanese, and don't put off learning to read for a second longer.

Why do you want to read Japanese? How do you pick up new phrases and expressions? If you've mastered the kana, how long did it really take? What difference has it made to your Japanese?

[image source: Yume - (夢) - Dream by YGC Photo on Flickr]