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3. Getting Started
This page is under construction. Certain sections are yet to be finalized and supplementary images are not yet included.
This section details the very basics of setting up the application for use.
In order to use jidoujisho, you will need a device with Android 7.0 or above.
You will need to download an application package or APK to install the app. You may get the latest release from GitHub. At the end of the release notes, you will find a list of APK files to choose from. Download the APK appropriate for your device's architecture. If a file does not work, try another.
As a rule of thumb, arm64 should work for most modern mobile devices. armeabi should work on older devices. Generally, desktops and emulators should use x86_64. Depending on which device you are using, download the appropriate APK by expanding the Assets drop-down and install on your mobile phone by launching the APK with your file explorer.
You will also need AnkiDroid alongside the application.
Upon installation of the app, you will be asked to grant file storage permissions, as well as permissions for the app to interact with AnkiDroid.
Upon launching the app for the first time, you will be greeted by a menu that asks you to select your desired target language and app locale.
- Target language refers to the language that you are learning.
- App locale refers to the language that the application will display.
When you have made your selection, close this window. You may always change these settings by selecting the three dot button on the upper right corner of the main menu and selecting Language settings.
A tip when navigating the entire app is that you may find out exactly what the purpose of a button is by holding it down. This action often reveals a tooltip explaining what the button does.
The main menu consists of as follows.
- The app logo, name and version.
- The Card Creator button.
- Three dot menu which reveals more options,
- Leading icon which allows switching the current media source for the selected tab, or if using the Dictionary tab, opens the Dictionary Menu.
- Trailing icons for actions specific to the currently selected media source, which can be used to change settings or launch media.
- Body content with history items or content relevant to the selected media source.
- Bottom bar which allows switching between the Player, Reader and Dictionary tabs.
When opening the three dot menu, more options are shown:
- Use light/dark theme: Toggle the current theme. The app defaults to the system theme.
- Manage dictionaries: Opens the Dictionary Menu, which allows the user to import and manage dictionaries.
- User enhancements: Allows a user to customize card creator fields, enhancements and quick actions.
- Language settings: Allows a user to change their target language and app locale.
- Export profiles: Allows a user to select and customize how to export to their Anki card type.
- View repository on GitHub: Launches the web browser to open to this repository.
- Licenses and attribution: Shows open source licenses for dependencies used by the application.
The tabs are as follows: The Player tab is for media sources that involve video and audio playback.
You may get more information on the media sources for each tab and how to use them in the Viewing Media section.
You can't search with the application if you haven't imported any dictionaries, and the application does not bundle with or include any dictionary data.
At the time being, the app supports Yomichan, Migaku and ABBYY Lingvo (DSL) format dictionaries. Users may source dictionaries from community sources that have processed data into dictionary formats that the application supports.
Yomichan dictionaries are common within the Japanese language learning community. Open DSL dictionaries can also be imported for other languages.
Once you have sourced your dictionaries, you may open the Dictionary Menu by selecting the three dot button on the upper-right of the main menu and choosing Manage dictionaries.
You may use the drop-down to select the dictionary format you want to import. If you do not select the right format, dictionary import will fail. Select the IMPORT button and pick the dictionary file you want to import. You may also select multiple files. This will take a while.
When the import is successful, the new dictionary will be listed in the menu. You may reorder dictionaries when you have multiple dictionaries by holding a dictionary and dragging it to the new position you desire. The ordering of the dictionaries in this menu affects the order of dictionary entries when you perform a dictionary search.
Upon selecting a dictionary item in your list of dictionaries, you may click on the three drop down button on the right of the item to show more options.
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Collapse: This will make dictionary entries for this dictionary collapsed by default. You will need to tap on its header to reveal its definition. -
Expand: This will revert collapse and show dictionary entries again by default. -
Clear: Delete this selected dictionary.
Collapsing and expanding dictionaries is useful if you are undergoing a monolingual transition, or want to separate between monolingual and bilingual dictionaries in card export. For more information, see the relevant section in Tips and Tricks.
When you're done, you can close this menu.
Now that you have a dictionary, you may perform your first dictionary search. Select the Dictionary tab, and tap on the field that says Search.... You may perform searches by entering a search term in this field. Note that the dictionary search algorithm depends on your selected target language.
Go back and deselect the field and you will find that the search results for your first search are shown as history. The app will show results up to 10 of your last dictionary searches. This includes searches that were performed within a media source. Searching will also save search terms which will appear when you have the search field selected.
When selecting the Dictionary Menu, the bar below the top bar will show the following actions:
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Dictionary Menu: You can use this as an alternative to using the top-right button and picking
Manage dictionaries. - Search: You can tap on this to search.
- Dictionary Settings: You can use this to customize search preferences to your liking.
- Clear Button: If searching, this button will clear search term history. If not searching, this will clear dictionary result history.
- Search To Clear: This turns into a clear button when the search field is selected.
You may notice that each dictionary entry has a list of options on the upper right. These are Quick Actions, and you may use them to export a flashcard for a selected word.
Once you have imported the dictionaries that you wish to use, you are now ready to use the rest of the application.
You can move on to the next section on Flashcard Creation to learn more about Anki, and how to export your first card. Additionally, you may check out Viewing Media if you want to go ahead and watch videos, read books and more.