By James Booth
Konnichiha (ko-NEE-chee-wa). Hello/Good Afternoon/Good Day.
Are you planning a trip to Japan or Okinawa? Maybe you, or someone you know, is in the military and will be stationed there.
Perhaps your company will be sending you to Japan, or you will be dealing with Japanese-speaking associates in the course of your job.
Whatever the reason, you obviously have some interest in the Japanese language; otherwise you wouldn't be reading this. The English-Japanese Talking Phrasebook from Beiks may very well suit your needs.
What it is
The English-Japanese Talking Phrasebook is a dictionary lexicon for Beiks' Palm OS BDicty dictionary. Rather than a traditional word/definition-type dictionary, it's a compilation of frequently used words and phrases, in English, with the corresponding Japanese pronunciation.
In addition, the phrasebook comes with an audio lexicon, giving you an actual spoken recording, in Japanese, of each word or phrase.
I should probably mention that the Beiks' BDicty dictionary application is required in order for the phrasebook to work.
What I think
The Beiks English-Japanese Talking Phrasebook would be a wonderful tool for anyone who isn't fluent in Japanese, but has need for limited communication in the language.
The phrases are broken into categories, such as Greetings, Questions, etc., and include those most commonly used by travelers. Figure A shows a sampling of some of the categories in the phrasebook.
FIGURE A
The phrasebook covers a lot of situations. (click for larger image)
In Figure B, you can see some of the words and phrases in the Greetings category. Tapping on the little speaker icon in the top right of the screen will make BDicty speak the word or phrase in Japanese.
FIGURE B
Beiks' Talking Phrasebook offers the most commonly used phrases. (click for larger image)
I think that Beiks did a great job including the words and phrases that travelers would most commonly use. They cover a wide variety of situations that are useful in both travel and business.
The talking pronunciations sound as if a native Japanese speaker was used to do the recording, which may explain why some of them seemed to be spoken a little fast.
This phrasebook probably wasn't intended as a teaching tool, but it wouldn't hurt to learn a few frequently used words or phrases. This may be a bit difficult with the speed at which some of the words and phrases are spoken.
Japanese is a very complex language, with single words having multiple meanings according to the context. Konnichiha, the word I used at the beginning of this article, is a prime example. There are also multiple ways of saying the same phrase. In addition, there are "traditional" and "modern" pronunciations.
I have a limited passing acquaintance with the language and was surprised that the phrase for "Pleased to meet you," wasn't the same as the one I knew. The phrase that Beiks chose to include is, in all likelihood, the more commonly used, and mine probably the more "traditional." This was just an observation, and in reality, the more "modern" pronunciations would be best for the average user.
