JSQ, LLC

DianHua Dictionary v3.0.2 is now available through the iTunes App Store.  With this release, DianHua Dictionary now includes Study Tools to help you take advantage of entries you have been tracking in the Bookmarks function introduced in v2.0.  While DianHuaDictionary.com allows you to export Bookmarks for use in other software packages, it became apparent in my own studies that the easier it is to go from Bookmarking words in a dictionary to studying them, the better progress you can make in your Chinese studies.  

DianHua Dictionary v3.0.2 includes two study tools, Flashcards and Writing.  

The Flashcard Study Tool allows you to select any combination of Traditional, Simplified, Pinyin, and English on both the front and back of the Flashcards so you can study any direction or combination you prefer.  The 3 self-assessment options (correct, unsure, incorrect) are tracked to inform the Difficulty sorting algorithm what order to present the cards to better emphasize more challenging or new words.  

The Writing Study Tool allows you to use any of the iPhone's Chinese keyboards (Simplified, Traditional, Handwriting, or Pinyin) to test your ability to enter the Simplified or Traditional text of an entry based on the Pinyin and/or English.  Like Flashcards, correct and incorrect answers are tracked to provide information to the Difficulty sorting algorithm.  

Beyond the new Study Tools, several bug fixes are also included:

• Longer timeouts in the Sync service to help devices running on slower connections like EDGE.
• Removal of the 250 bookmark display limit.
• Various memory management corrections.
• Corrections to problems with attempting to create duplicate Bookmark folders and a fix for systems stuck with a corrupted folder leading to an inability to Sync.

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.

DianHua Dictionary v3.0.1 BETA for iPhone OS 3.0 is now available to registered users.  If you have received a Provisioning Profile from me and have iPhone OS 3.0 installed on your iPhone or iPod touch, you should be able to download and install the upgrade.  Please Sync your Bookmarks prior to installing the update in case your data is lost.  Once the new version is installed, you will be able to Sync from the server to your device to restore the data.  Updates in this BETA release include:

• Lengthened timeouts for Synchronization to help devices running on slower connections like EDGE.
• Removed the 250 bookmark display limit.
• Corrected a variety of memory management problems.
• Fixed problems with attempting to create a duplicate folder.  If your bookmarks were damaged by this bug, this release will correct the damage without losing any data.
• Changed the Add Bookmark interface so that new folders are created at the root level by default.
• Added Flashcard and Writing study tools.

If you would like to BETA test and have not previously contacted me, please let me know.  I can always use more eyes reviewing our new releases.

During the past couple of months, I have received a great deal of constructive feedback on DianHua Dictionary v2.0.  Several users have helped me identify some bugs in some of the newer functionality.  I also performed a thorough code review to try to clean up some memory management issues.  As a result, the following issues have been identified and corrected for an upcoming release:

  

• The number of bookmarks displayed in a folder is limited to 250.  If you create more than 250, they are stored successfully and can be accessed and exported from DianHuaDictionary.com, but you will only see the first 250 in the application.
• Attempting to create duplicate folders can lead to the duplicated folder acting as a virtual root which also breaks synchronization with DianHuaDictionary.com.
• Cleanup up a variety of memory leaks.
• Corrected a memory management error that could lead to an application crash.

Beyond these bug fixes, I decided to go ahead and add some study tools to the dictionary to take better advantage of bookmark data.  My patience with some of the study tools I had been using was exhausted as of last week so I was ready for something that better met my own needs.  I'm hopeful the resulting tools will help you with your Chinese studies as well.  

As you might have guessed, one of the tools I created is Flashcards.  

One of the things that has most frustrated me about other tools I have used is that if you are studying characters, it isn't always easy to show the character on the back of the card.  It didn't take much character studying for me to realize I retain the characters much better if I see them right next to the Pinyin. Consequently, DianHua Dictionary's Flashcards allow you to select exactly what you want to see on the front and back of the cards.

As you can see from the images, all fields are available on both the front and the back of the cards.  These images also show the two options for ordering Flashcards.  The first is Random which is self-explanatory.  The second is titled Difficulty, and it is my attempt at creating a study algorithm that emphasizes Flashcards you have identified as a problem.  This is an algorithm I will fine-tune as I do more research on learning algorithms, but I am optimistic that it is a reasonable starting point.

The other study tool I created came at the suggestion of one of DianHua Dictionary's users.  It presents you with the Pinyin and/or English of a bookmark entry and asks you to type either the Traditional or Simplified characters.  It works off of the same metrics as the Flashcards so words you struggle with in one tool will be emphasized under the Difficulty ordering in the other.  Screen shots of the Writing Settings and study screen follow.

Like the other portions of DianHua Dictionary, these study tools pick up right where you left off if you get a phone call or other interruption.  The only caveat is I don't attempt to track exactly which bookmarks have been studied in a session which means you might repeat some bookmarks upon re-entering the program, but the settings you have chosen and the number correct will be retained.  

If you have any questions, comments, or recommendations, please let me know.