Flash Card Program For Testing Vocabulary?

[Frederic Bergeron]

I have tried it and love it. Awesome. This is a major new release! Hotkeys are great.

I know it's been a while you asked for this feature.  I'm glad you like it.  Credit must be given to ZBEDic's authors as I borrowed most of the code for the implementation of shortcuts and the new FileDialog.

[kurochka]

Here is one quirk that I have noticed.  It seems you have added the scrollbar to the Examples/Comments window.  It only appears when the text is too large for the window.  When the scrollbar appears it takes space "eating"/covering one or two characters of text on the right.  

Edit: Strange, after I open the card again, it reflows the text, and the problem disappears.

A suggestion: Now that we have hotkeys, the buttons at the bottom are optional.  Would it be possible to have them disappear (in the preferences, or as a hotkey)  or have a switch between big/small buttons leaving more space for comments/examples window?   It would also be great if you could maximize the comments window similar to how Zdict and Zten (variant) do it with their windows.

I realize that this probably requires significant coding.  

Zten/Ztenv is open source.  Even Zdict should be open source (with some encryption module).  Maybe their code could be useful.

http://ebsnap.lkj.jp/zaurus/
http://cvs.sourceforge.jp/cgi-bin/viewcvs....kages-ja/ztenv/
http://www.gohome.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/zten/

[Frederic Bergeron]

Here is one quirk that I have noticed.  It seems you have added the scrollbar to the Examples/Comments window.  It only appears when the text is too large for the window.  When the scrollbar appears it takes space "eating"/covering one or two characters of text on the right.  

Edit: Strange, after I open the card again, it reflows the text, and the problem disappears.

This problem has been there since the very first version of toMOTko.  It doesn't happen very often fortunately.  And when it does, it only does it once.  I think it's a bug in Qt API but I'm not sure.  When it happens, it seems that the scrollbar needs about 3 seconds to paint itself, after the text field has been rendered.  Because of that, the text is laid out as if there was no scrollbar.  I've tried many things to fix the problem but hasn't found a solution yet.  I have some other ideas to try though.  It was not my priority but I could take another look at it.

A suggestion: Now that we have hotkeys, the buttons at the bottom are optional.  Would it be possible to have them disappear (in the preferences, or as a hotkey)  or have a switch between big/small buttons leaving more space for comments/examples window?   It would also be great if you could maximize the comments window similar to how Zdict and Zten (variant) do it with their windows.

I realize that this probably requires significant coding.  

Zten/Ztenv is open source.  Even Zdict should be open source (with some encryption module).  Maybe their code could be useful.

http://ebsnap.lkj.jp/zaurus/
http://cvs.sourceforge.jp/cgi-bin/viewcvs....kages-ja/ztenv/
http://www.gohome.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/zten/

I think a preference option to show/hide the buttons would be easy to do.  About the comments window maximizing feature, I will have to check zdict as I don't know what you're talking about.  The version of zten I'm using doesn't have such a feature.

For the next release, here is what I plan to do :

- Compress data files (zlib);  (already done)
- Metadata for glossaries and folders;
- Separate digraphs definition into a text file;
- Save xml data files in binary;
- Finish Copy/Cut/Paste (this one is overdue);
- Bug fixes

[kurochka]

1.  Huh, if the bug has been there all along, and I have just noticed it (and it corrected itself), then it's not a priority.  Nobody else complained.

2.  Here is what I mean.  In zten variant (or zdict), when you perform search, you see a search results window on the left and the entry window on the right.  If you press the right arrow key (on your joystick), then the entry window maximizes almost fullscreen to take over the space from the results window (the left button does the same but for the search results window).  If you press the OK button it also switches the views.  In zdict there is an icon for the same function (the OK key also works but not as well as in ztenv).

This option could make the examples window even more useful.  Currently, if there is lots of text in there it's hard to scroll up and down and we can only see two or three lines of text at a time.  With that option we could maximize the window (it would take over the Entry Word and Translation Word windows to examine the examples/comments window by using the joystick and then return back to the regular view.

By the way, what is the limit for the examples/comments field?  I presume there must be some sort of limit, right?


Hm.  I have not asked for images and sounds thinking that it would complicate the program but I see that Frederic is actually thinking about it:

The idea to add images (and why not, sounds) is good. Thanks! It's not my priority but I may implement it eventually.

Maybe do that when implementing support for images/sounds as packaging will be needed.

This will open some new opportunities.  For me, I will be able to insert stroke order charts in the example window (that's when we will need an option to maximize the example/comment window.  However, it would complicate the simple file format for the study lists (I presume xml would include links and images/sounds would be kept in a container file separately.

Once's this is all done there will be nothing else left but to add a search functionality to make it a dictionary in itself


Here are some ideas from my brainstorming:

1. the tomotko could keep track of the progress (number of errors for each word) for each session;
2. based on this progress report, the user could have tomotko unselect all the words with 0 (or 1, 2 ... set by the user) errors, and run the test again only with cards that have generated 1 (or 2, 3, ...) errors.  Alternatively, the tomotko could automatically create a new study lists containing words with 1 (or 2, 3, 4...) errors.

[kurochka]

I'm going through JLPT4 and entering words as I go. Will make my glossary available when it's done.

Hi, koan.  Have you had a chance to compile a JLPT4 study list?  We have not forgotten

[Frederic Bergeron]

I'm going through JLPT4 and entering words as I go. Will make my glossary available when it's done.

Hi, koan.  Have you had a chance to compile a JLPT4 study list?  We have not forgotten

Maybe you don't know but there are already some glossaries available containing the words of the JLPT on toMOTko's website in the Glossaries section.

Also, thanks again for the clarifications and suggestions.  This motivates me to keep working on the application and improve it.

[Frederic Bergeron]

Here is what I mean.  In zten variant (or zdict), when you perform search, you see a search results window on the left and the entry window on the right.  If you press the right arrow key (on your joystick), then the entry window maximizes almost fullscreen to take over the space from the results window (the left button does the same but for the search results window).  If you press the OK button it also switches the views.  In zdict there is an icon for the same function (the OK key also works but not as well as in ztenv).

This option could make the examples window even more useful.  Currently, if there is lots of text in there it's hard to scroll up and down and we can only see two or three lines of text at a time.  With that option we could maximize the window (it would take over the Entry Word and Translation Word windows to examine the examples/comments window by using the joystick and then return back to the regular view.

Got it.  I put it on the to-do.  I will try to implement something similar.

EDIT: I implemented it today [Sunday]. Indeed, it was a good idea.  I really like it.    I also added a preference option option to hide the buttons in the quiz, even though it's not that much useful now that the comment field can be maximized.

By the way, what is the limit for the examples/comments field?  I presume there must be some sort of limit, right?

Yes, there is a limit.  If you put too much text, an infinite loop will occur.  The last time I checked that however, the field capacity was large enough that I didn't care so much about it.  This too, is on the to-do for quite a while but it's low priority.

Hm.  I have not asked for images and sounds thinking that it would complicate the program but I see that Frederic is actually thinking about it:

The idea to add images (and why not, sounds) is good. Thanks! It's not my priority but I may implement it eventually.

Maybe do that when implementing support for images/sounds as packaging will be needed.

This will open some new opportunities.  For me, I will be able to insert stroke order charts in the example window (that's when we will need an option to maximize the example/comment window.  However, it would complicate the simple file format for the study lists (I presume xml would include links and images/sounds would be kept in a container file separately.

Most probably that when you will export a glossary with references to external resources (like images and sounds), the result file will be an archive containing the xml glossary file (with links to resources) and referred resources.  This way, someone importing the glossary will also be able to import the referred resources.  That's also because of this that I have recently introduced zlib library.  With zlib, I'm able to compress the data files and I think I should also be able to package a group of files into an archive.

So far, using zlib to compress the data is worth it.  To give you an idea : before zlib, launching toMOTko was taking 16 seconds and the data were taking 2.6 MB.  After using zlib, it takes 12 seconds to start toMOTko and 1.0 MB for data.

Once's this is all done there will be nothing else left but to add a search functionality to make it a dictionary in itself

1. the tomotko could keep track of the progress (number of errors for each word) for each session;
2. based on this progress report, the user could have tomotko unselect all the words with 0 (or 1, 2 ... set by the user) errors, and run the test again only with cards that have generated 1 (or 2, 3, ...) errors.  Alternatively, the tomotko could automatically create a new study lists containing words with 1 (or 2, 3, 4...) errors.

These features are on the to-do as well.

[koan]

Hi, koan.  Have you had a chance to compile a JLPT4 study list?  We have not forgotten

Damn! I've been side tracked by a lot of other stuff: I realised that vocabulary was my priority not kanji.

As Frederic says, there are JLPT lists for toMOTko, but IMHO not very specific - just big lists. I have the Unicom level 4 preparatory book and I've been noting all the kanji that are "more than very basic". Therefore my list is not very specific either.

By the way, adding stroke order diagrams sounds very specific to learning Kanji. Sure other languages have stroke order but most other languages don't have several thousand characters.

[kurochka]

I implemented it today [Sunday]. Indeed, it was a good idea.  I really like it.    I also added a preference option option to hide the buttons in the quiz, even though it's not that much useful now that the comment field can be maximized.

Once's this is all done there will be nothing else left but to add a search functionality to make it a dictionary in itself

1. the tomotko could keep track of the progress (number of errors for each word) for each session;
2. based on this progress report, the user could have tomotko unselect all the words with 0 (or 1, 2 ... set by the user) errors, and run the test again only with cards that have generated 1 (or 2, 3, ...) errors.  Alternatively, the tomotko could automatically create a new study lists containing words with 1 (or 2, 3, 4...) errors.

These features are on the to-do as well.

You are da man!


I am attaching study lists for the first three lessons of Nihongo Shoho (Basic Course in Japanese) textbook.  They contain Japanese words and English translations (plus Spanish translation in the comment section).  There are 34 lessons.  If I have time I will make them all some time.

The info is coming from two websites:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/M...bio/ns01jis.htm
http://www.kahome.co.uk/japa/tango.pl?mo=0...fm=01&to=21

[Frederic Bergeron]

I am attaching study lists for the first three lessons of Nihongo Shoho (Basic Course in Japanese) textbook.  They contain Japanese words and English translations (plus Spanish translation in the comment section).  There are 34 lessons.  If I have time I will make them all some time.

The info is coming from two websites:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/M...bio/ns01jis.htm
http://www.kahome.co.uk/japa/tango.pl?mo=0...fm=01&to=21

Thanks again Kurochka.  

I think it would be "cleaner" to move the comments in Spanish translations in the XML format.  This way, it would allow 2 things :

1) People who don't care about Spanish translations will have the choice to skip this data when importing the glossary file.  More than that, it allows users to pick either English and Japanese or English and Spanish or Japanese and Spanish or all of them.

2) Prevent a display problem related to font.  You may have not noticed but depending of your font preferences in toMOTko the problem occurs.  What happens is that the application tries to pick the best font according to the selected languages (in this case : English and Japanese).  The application has no way  of knowing that the comments are written in Spanish.  Because of that, the chosen font may be good to display Japanese and English but not Spanish.  In my case, the Spanish accents are displayed as squares.  Of course, I could change my font preferences to use unifont, for example, as a workaround but I don't really like it.

I think I could easily make a script to do that.  I will send you the transformed scripts and you can tell me what you think.

[kurochka]

Please send me an example so I could understand what you mean.  I am using the MioFlash->toMOTko converter because it's the easiest way for me to create toMOTko vocabulary lists (remember, I am not a programmer), and I don't think it supports the thing you are describing.  Right now, the input for that converter is

買う/かう/ to buy/comment

Maybe you could add an optional field after the comment, say "otherlang".  Later all I would have to do is to replace "otherlang" with the tag for the proper language.

Or maybe we could come up with a similar simple format that could be easily converted to proper toMOTko XML.  Working on XML with a simple text editor is difficult for me.

[Frederic Bergeron]

Please send me an example so I could understand what you mean.  I am using the MioFlash->toMOTko converter because it's the easiest way for me to create toMOTko vocabulary lists (remember, I am not a programmer), and I don't think it supports the thing you are describing.  Right now, the input for that converter is

買う/かう/ to buy/comment

Maybe you could add an optional field after the comment, say "otherlang".  Later all I would have to do is to replace "otherlang" with the tag for the proper language.

Or maybe we could come up with a similar simple format that could be easily converted to proper toMOTko XML.  Working on XML with a simple text editor is difficult for me.

No hay problema.  I understand that very well.  That's why I offered to do the script myself.   When it's done I will send you the converted files.  I don't think it's necessary to modify the MioFlash->toMOTko tool just for that.  This case is an exception and it's probably not worth it, I think.  Of course, if I'm wrong, I may add an additional tool later to easily perform this transformation.

Your contribution is very appreciated even though you're not a programmer

[Frederic Bergeron]

@Kurochka:

Here is the transformation script (written in Ruby) :

Code: [Select]

#!/usr/bin/ruby -KU

#
# Usage : bin/convertComments2OtherLanguage.rb NihongoShoho01.xml > NihongoShoho01v2.xml
#

require 'rexml/document'
include REXML

filename = ARGV[ 0 ]
otherLang = ARGV[ 1 ]

xml = REXML::Document.new( File.open( filename ) )
xml.elements.each( '//term' ) do
    | term |
    comment = term.elements[ 'comment' ]
    if( comment )
        commentText = comment.text
        if( commentText.length > 0 )
            # Make new trans element.
            trans = Element.new( 'trans' )
            trans.attributes[ 'lang' ] = otherLang
            word = Element.new( 'word' )
            word.text = commentText
            trans.elements[ 1 ] = word

            # Remove obsolete comment element.
            term.delete_element term.elements[ 'comment' ]

            # Add new trans element.
            term.elements[ 3 ] = trans
        end
    end
end

xml.write( STDOUT, 0 )
exit
I've not decided yet if I will make a web interface similar to MioFlash converter.  I'm not sure other people will use it.  If someone else is interested, please let me know.

The attached file is an archive containing the transformed glossaries.

Make a new folder and import the new glossary files into toMOTko.  For each file, a dialog should appear warning you that the imported glossary contains translations in more than 2 languages.  You can choose the languages that you have an interest into.  For example, if you don't care about Spanish, you're free to uncheck it.  In my case, I checked all the languages and clicked Ok.  Once the import is done, you should be able to select Japanese, English and Spanish in the language selectors (at the top of the Glossary Manager).  If you want to practice Spanish, you choose English and Spanish and start a quiz (of course, you need to check some words to study, first).  

I think it's more convenient like that.  Your glossary files become interesting even for someone who doesn't care about Japanese.  Also, someone who is learning only Japanese doesn't have to import the Spanish translations that are useless for him/her.

What do you think?

EDIT: I took a look at those two websites you mentioned before.  They contain a lot of interesting data and in a very consistent way.  I think I will write a script to extract all the data and automatically make toMOTko's glossary files from it.

[kurochka]

Thank you.  

Here are the remaining lessons (4 and 5 are in the same form as were 1 and 2, the other ones are just in Japanese/Spanish txt files plus there is a separate file for English translations).  The websites that I gave have English translations for lessons 1-15.  The file in the archive includes English for other lessons as well.  This is all in raw form.  Maybe it will be easier for you to convert into toMOTko because I do it manually.

Look at the program on that site http://www.kahome.co.uk/nip30.exe ?
I think it is drawing kanji from scratch by getting coordinates from files ending in .sym.  A very interesting approach in 1999.

There are some other interesting things on that site:

http://www.kahome.co.uk/japa/ibtango.htm

http://www.kahome.co.uk/japa/ibkanji.htm

http://www.kahome.co.uk/japa/ibbumpoo.htm

[Frederic Bergeron]

Thank you.  

Here are the remaining lessons (4 and 5 are in the same form as were 1 and 2, the other ones are just in Japanese/Spanish txt files plus there is a separate file for English translations).  The websites that I gave have English translations for lessons 1-15.  The file in the archive includes English for other lessons as well.  This is all in raw form.  Maybe it will be easier for you to convert into toMOTko because I do it manually.

I think so too.  Thanks for extracting the data.  That should ease the script development to generate the toMOTko files.  I will let you know as soon as I'm done.

Look at the program on that site http://www.kahome.co.uk/nip30.exe ?
I think it is drawing kanji from scratch by getting coordinates from files ending in .sym.  A very interesting approach in 1999.

Interesting indeed.  The application is not bad at all and works flawlessly.

There are some other interesting things on that site:

http://www.kahome.co.uk/japa/ibtango.htm
http://www.kahome.co.uk/japa/ibkanji.htm
http://www.kahome.co.uk/japa/ibbumpoo.htm

Thanks again!  You're very resourceful.