The Edict PlaySay Audio Companion

Three great resources:

Edict is the flagship project and intellectual property of the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, under the fearless leadership of Prof. Jim Breen, at Monash University in Australia (copyright and license terms). It's a Japanese-to-English dictionary with about 125,000 entries, as of mid-2008. And I've edited to work far better than the original (especially in English-to-Japanese searches) than the original.

PlaySay's Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 1-4 Vocabulary mp3 set is a fantastic way to learn Japanese by listening and speaking; it's also the best guide to proper Japanese pronunciation, with 8,054 English to Japanese and 8,054 Japanese to English audio files, each spoken by a professional voice actor and carefully recorded. The words are pronounced clearly, with the proper intonation and rhythm--far better than any other audio pronunciation guide I've heard.

Japanese Language Tools--well, that's me. I'm committed to bringing you the best dictionary system and tools you can find. And I've brought Edict and PlaySay together.

The Edict PlaySay Audio Companion puts them all together. It's got all the advantages of my custom version of Edict (see my Edict page) plus a very special feature. The entries for all 8,054 Japanese words on all four levels of the JLPT contain links to PlaySay's JLPT vocabulary mp3 files--tap a link, hear the word pronounced! No other system has as many words pronounced by a real human being, and no other system gives you such top quality audio. Here's what you'll see when you look up a word that's among those 8,054 words (actually, with variations on how the words are written, there are quite a few more).

Simply tap the green link and hear the word. Easy as pie! The Edict PlaySay Audio Companion runs on any Windows computer and on any PDA or SmartPhone running the Japanese version of the Windows Mobile OS, versions WM2003SE, WM5, and WM6 (SmartPhones without touchscreens are not compatible). It may also run on some PDAs and SmartPhones running the English version of Windows Mobile, if they've had Japanese support added (they run perfectly on the English-language Axims from JLT, for example). If you buy the Edict PlaySay Audio Companion as an accessory with a Complete System from JLT, it'll be installed, tested, and ready to use as soon as you open the box.

Audio Flashcards

PlaySay originally created the audio files used in the Edict PlaySay Audio Companion to be audio flashcards to be used in studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Tests. Purchase of the Edict PlaySay Audio Companion includes the entire set of Audio Flashcard files from PlaySay. Moreover, if you buy a JLT Complete System with the Edict PlaySay Audio Companion option, your system will come all set up and ready to use as audio flashcard study system as well as a dictionary. The JLT pronounces an English word, then pauses to give you time to say the Japanese. Then the system pronounces the English word so you can confirm that you were correct. And of course it goes the other way, too, pronouncing and showing a Japanese word, then pausing for you to say the English. The system works beautifully on an iPod or a computer running iTunes, too. Many people find this kind of spoken learning a highly effective complement to the visual learning of most typical study methods.

Getting the Edict PlaySay Audio Companion

There are two ways to get the Edict PlaySay Audio Companion. All of them include all of PlaySay's JLPT Levels 1-4 Vocabulary Audio Flashcard files, which you can use as audio flashcards on your JLT system, Windows Mobile PDA, iPOD or a computer running iTunes.

You can add the Edict PlaySay Audio Companion as an option when you order the JLT Complete System. The Complete System is a high-end PDA all set up as a portable electronic dictionary system, all set up and ready to use right out of the box. Not only is it easier to use than any regular electronic dictionary (because it was designed for non-Japanese learning Japanese, not for Japanese learning English), but it's also more powerful: it has more words and more and better ways to find them than anything else you can buy. And now, with the Edict PlaySay Audio Companion, it'll tell you how to pronounce over 8000 of the most essential words. You'll also be able to add the Edict PlaySay Audio Companion to your regular Windows computer, too.
You can buy the Edict PlaySay Audio Companion from me, either on a memory card or by download--see my order form for the prices for these options. You can use the free EBWin software on your Windows computer; to use the Edict PlaySay Audio Companion on a Windows Mobile device, you'll need to buy (1155 yen) EB Pocket Professional program. Installation is simple and quick if your system's file handling settings are still at factory default (changes you've made and other software you've installed could have changed those settings, and, of course, as with all the dictionaries, use on Windows Mobile depends on your device having Japanese support compatible with the EB Pocket Professional program--so I recommend installing the free trial version and testing it out with one of my free dictionaries, such as the small version of Kanjidic, to be sure there are no compatibility problems. See here for instructions on installing EBPocket and a dictionary.)
If you already have a PlaySay membership, you used to be able to download the files you'd need through your PlaySay account. PlaySay has disabled that, and I currently have no way to verify that someone has purchased the correct PlaySay membership, so I can't distribute those files to anyone who hasn't purchased a PlaySay membership through me unless you have PlaySay management contact me directly (they know me) to verify that you have purchased a membership from them. Then I'll be happy to send you the files you need.

The Edict PlaySay Audio Companion

Audio Flashcards

Getting the Edict PlaySay Audio Companion

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