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How the DianHua Dictionary Audio Module is Different

How the DianHua Dictionary Audio Module is Different

Wednesday, 08 July 2009 16:01

I finally took some time to read through the word-wide reviews of JSQ's iPhone applications for the first time in a few months and noticed a few users taking issue with the number of entries in the DianHua Dictionary Audio Module. My main goal in the initial release was to cover as much common language as I could given practical constraints with accurate pronunciations of words in Mandarin. Each word you hear in the Audio Module was recorded by my friend Noah the way you might hear it in normal conversation.

During the time I was developing the Audio Module, several other developers released applications with Mandarin audio. Of those I've seen, excluding ChinesePod's new application, they use individual syllables to cover the entire dictionary. Not only does this not let you hear words at a normal speaking pace, but some of these products are not applying basic pronunciation rules. For instance, "yi1ban4" should be pronounced as "yi2ban4", "ni3 hao3" should be pronounced as "ni2 hao3". With the DianHua Dictionary Audio Module, not only are all of the available words recorded as full words, but the tone change rules are honored.

Admittedly, when you see products touting audio for the full CC-CEDICT (or other) dictionary for $3 or $4, I can see how you would feel like you wasted money by buying the DianHua Dictionary Audio Module. However, this is my starting point. I am going to continue recording audio for the Audio Module now that it has shown some potential, and as an owner, you will continue to receive free updates for the life of the product. I can also easily write the code to let the software combine syllables like other products. In fact, I may do that in the interim while we keep recording audio, but my goal will be to cover as much of CC-CEDICT as possible without resorting to software solutions.

As always, if you have any comments, positive or negative, please feel free to contact me. I love hearing from users so I know if what I'm doing is beneficial to you. And keep posting those reviews. I enjoy reading and learning from them.

Comments

Inoh Choe - Student

|2009-07-31 17:14:14

I love dianhua, but I tend to use KT Dict (Klaus Thurl) free version much more -
primarily because that version allows you to "look up character" of
individual characters quickly and conveniently.

For instance, if I want to
know what "Li" means in the word "Li bai" I can just press
"look up character" for "li" on KT Dict. In contrast, in
Dianhua, I have to retype the word to look up the meaning. That's too much work
for a student looking for quick access.

Great job with the folders list. I
love using it. Keep it up!

Jason

|2009-07-31 18:37:39

Thanks for the feedback, and you are correct. That feature is one I should have
added long ago. I will make sure it gets into the next version.

Linde

|2009-09-20 17:40:19

Love DianHua! Friends bought iPhones just to use it. I agree with previous
poster that a link from composite words to single characters would be very
useful. Another thing that would help learning a lot is to be able to link from
a character to other characters that differ only by the radical (e.g.
分，份，纷). http://us.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=radi cals seems
to have the data. http://interstitiality.net/hanziData.html links to
"parts", but I was unable to access.

Thanks!

PS: looking forward to
what you're doing with the audio side.

Shi Aili

|2009-09-29 18:32:43

I too love Dianhua. Currently doing a study abroad in Taiwan, and it's a life
saver (literally, been to the hospital twice). Also, of all the dicitonary apps,
this by far has the best study tools.

However, regarding the audio module, I
wish there were a way to link it to your excellent flash card system as a prompt
for character input. I could see how it might be difficult for the UI, but the
coding itself should be pretty easy. The day this happens, I'll buy the audio
module.

Best,
-史愛理

Jason

|2009-09-30 15:01:47

Just between the two of us, I'm sure you'll see what you want before the end of
the year, but it will likely come in a slightly different form from our current
offerings.

Wesley Wong - Photographer

|2009-10-01 00:36:05

After trying 4 Chinese dictionaries this one seems to be the best. My only
problem as with all of the other dictionaries is the lack of information
regarding how to use it.......I wish you had so kind of instructional reference
guide that was installed with the dictionary. Non technical people such as
myself need such things.....ha ha ha. Anyways initially I was attracted to the
fact that I could easily access the different dictionaries. But now I can't even
find where that is in the dictionary. When ever I open up the dictionary it just
automatically opens up to the English - Chinese Pinyin. How do I change that ?
Sorry for such a dumb question........

Jason

|2009-10-01 02:43:05

I'm a little confused as to what you mean by different dictionaries. Were you a
user of DianHua several months ago when we still had two search screens, one
Chinese and one English? In the last 3 versions, all searches are done from the
same screen.

As to what screen is shown when DianHua opens, the application
will always attempt to return to the screen where you left off. That way, if
you're drawing characters into the search field when you receive a call, they're
still there when you complete your call.

Let me know if there is anything
else I can do to help.

Vince

|2009-10-07 08:57:21

Hey Jason,
I'd just like to say that I'll be eternally thankful to you releasing
this app. Im a BA Chinese student, my class mates just bought 3000yuan expensive
digitial dictionaries while this simple app has the whole package plus more for
me for free.
You're app becomes better and better and the flashcard function is
what I study most of my vocab with (so I basically use DianHua several hours/day
:))
Anyways, since I know as a creator we love feedback, I'd also have some
suggestions for improvement.

1. The folders for the bookmarks should be
re-arrangeable (at least online, we could always sync it back to the iPhone I
guess).
2. Another suggestions that still keeps me from having another app
installed at the same time is the individual character break-up that Inoh-Choe
talked about.
3. MDBG has this very convenient addition of stroke orders for
each character. I think it's open source so maybe you could link characters to

Jason

|2009-10-20 22:57:06

Vince,

Glad to hear you're enjoying the application and thanks for the
excellent recommendations.

On item 1, I will be working on providing the
ability to arrange folders in the application, but I might do it online first as
a stop-gap (it's easier for a variety of reasons).

On item 2, the feature is in
my current development version. It will make it into the next major
release.

On item 3, I reviewed what I thought was the source of MDBG's stroke
order animations and wasn't satisfied that the license was compatible. If
online is alright, though, I might check with MDBG's maintainer to see if he
would mind me sending that traffic his way unless/until I find an offline
alternative.

Again, thanks for the feedback. It is sincerely appreciated.

jb - mr

|2009-12-06 19:11:16

hey,

just want to thank you for developing dianhua dictionary - it's a great
product! I was wondering if there were any updates coming for the dictionary -
here are some suggestions I had:

a) update the database? I'm not sure if there
is a more expansive version of the CC-CEDICT available since the last one
incorporated, but there are times when some words I look up don't yield
anything.

b) is there any way to change the chinese font used in the program?
Often characters are misrepresented using the current font, but other computer
fonts show the characters properly when I sync to my computer and change the
font. So, this seems like something that might not be too hard to change -
unless this has to do with the Ipod/Iphone firmware and Apple has to change
it.

Thanks for such a great and useful program! Please let me know about the
suggestions I Had!

Regards

JB

Jason

|2009-12-08 21:20:58

It's been a while since I updated to the most recent CC-CEDICT version so I'll
try to get that in the next version.

Right now, my code is selecting the
default system fonts. I will review what other options are available. iPhones
have more fonts, but I haven't looked closely at support for simplified or
traditional character sets.

I'll post a blog entry soon about the updates that
are currently in progress.

jb	\|2009-12-06 19:12:57

Hi again,

I forgot to mention one more suggestion: Is there any database with
CC-CEDICT with sample sentences to add? This would really blow away the
competing programs, though I must say that the flashcard program already is a
huge advantage!

Thanks

Josh

Jason

|2009-12-08 21:22:31

Just between the two of us (and the Internet), I have a set of sample sentences
that I hope to work into this release.

Rob	\|2010-03-19 02:41:23

Hi, I'm an Australian studying mandarin in China at the moment, and I was
looking for an electronic dictionary of some sort to aid me. This seems like a
pretty straightforward app.

after using for 10minutes I decided to buy the
audio add. I like how you seem to be active with ur application, and that you
seem to be updating it which helped me make the decision to press buy.

Clean
interface and slick, I like it.. (so far)

Jason

|2010-03-23 13:18:34

I'm pleased to hear you're enjoying the dictionary and audio add-on. I have a
major change in the works for the audio that I think you will enjoy. I'm hoping
to get it to Apple today or tomorrow for approval.

Keith

|2010-05-05 13:44:08

i have a iPhone 3G and I can hear the audio with the numbers but I can't hear
any audio with the words.

Jason

|2010-05-17 16:03:27

When you can hear numbers but not words, it typically means your device is in
silent mode (the switch on the side). Right now, DianHua uses two different
modes for audio so you can get different results. In the next version, I will
change all of the audio to use the same delivery mechanism.

Eric Peterson

|2010-10-16 01:28:54

I like the dictionary, I really like it and I would like to buy the Audio. Are
there any extra things that add onto the dictionary? or is the Audio the one
thing?
If you add words to the search data base, could you put in the
option for beginner or intermediate? If you just add to the data base, the
search returns will just overwelm a beginner who just needs a simple feedback.
I have just started to learn and it is easy to get too much info when many
times, all I want is a simple answer.
I will buy the Audio after I hear back
from you. Great product, so many different branches one can take from within
the one program.

Jason

|2010-10-18 21:06:19

Currently, the audio is the only additional part of the dictionary, but I
eventually plan to add more study tools to the paid version of the dictionary.
Unless something drastic changes, though, there will only be two versions, free
and paid.

The search results are definitely an issue, and it's one that is
challenging to address. HSK entries currently take precedence over non-HSK
entries, but it would be beneficial to differentiate between HSK levels to help
with beginner and intermediate users. I'm also hoping to do some character
frequency studies to further tweak the results in future versions.

Let me know
if you have any other questions or recommendations.

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 08 July 2009 21:53