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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! In this News episode we’ll talk about 3 exciting pieces of news for Japanese language learners. 1. Expansion Questions - the learning center has just become more comprehensive and easier to use with new expansion questions! 2. PDF improvements - upgrade to the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader and enjoy searching the PDF and cutting a pasting, one of the most requested features. 3. 2 new iPhone Applications! In addition to the popular MyWords - Japanese, get 2 more applications! WordPower - Japanese: 2,000 of the most frequently used Japanese words, complete with audio and a built in voice recorder. WordPower Lite - Japanese: 1 new word a day, complete with audio and a built in voice recorder.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 at 6:30 pm and is filed under News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

34 Responses to “News #65 - New Features and iPhone Applications”

JapanesePod101.com says:

Mina-san, what do you think of the new PDFs?

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Enrico says:

Unfortunately there is no Acrobat Reader 9.0 for Linux. So IMHO the old version was better

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Eran says:

Enrico-san,

Please download the Adobe Reader version 8. It also supports the Japanese Language Fonts and will properly render the PDF. You can get Reader 8 for Linux here:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2_allversions.html

If you’re still having problems and need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to email us.

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Sean Somers says:

Now, with the new one (which is bug ridden - google it), I have no printing capabilities at all.

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Sean Somers says:

Eran,

Hate to sound petulant — but I’ve requested assistance several times. It’s very kind of you to offer, but if none is forthcoming, then what’s the point of making the overture?

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Jon says:

With the new acrobat 9 I can copy and paste new documents, but I am still unable to copy and paste from earlier beginner documents (ex. http://www.japanesepod101.com/pdfs/005_B4_122205_jpod101.pdf). Are you going to update these earlier documents to allow this?

Also a review application for the iphone would be great, assuming it would allow me to sync my review words with this website.

Thank you,

Jon

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プチクレア says:

I’m sorry to add to the list, but I too don’t think the new PDFs are good news… ok, cut-and-paste is nice, but only being able to use Acrobat is really bad (I always used Preview on Mac, Acrobat is buggy, and computers in libraries, hotels, at work, etc… usually aren’t upgraded and can’t be upgraded by most users).

And worst of all, the new PDFs can’t be read on the iphone !!!! Releasing applications is fine, but I wish I could simply access the site’s features …

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トム says:

Thank you for enabling copy+paste in the PDFs. It works great. Now I can use Rikaichan on those more difficult passages and also put some text on my 携帯電話 for offline practice. (Sorry, I have no interest in the iPhone though. いやあぁ~!)

I appreciate all of the work that goes into creating these PDFs! ありがとうございました。

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Liz21 says:

Please help me! :dogeza: I can’t access the new pdf formats. I am using a Mac G5 and Firefox. I have downloaded Acrobat Reader 9. I have used Preferences in Firefox to say, “Open pdf files with Acrobat Reader”, but it still insists on opening them in Preview. Preview doesn’t show anything.

I think I am on some kind of elementary tech level. There must be a few others like me. I need some kind of simple directions or a check list. Could someone please help me? :dogeza:

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maxiewawa says:

Liz21-san, right click on a PDF, then select “Open With…”. Adobe Reader should be an option. If you can’t right click, try ctrl + click.

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Avlor says:

Personally, I love the new pdfs!!!!! It’s made creating my flashcards so much easier! Thank you! :kokoro:

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Phil says:

How is this new iPhone app different from My Words? They seem pretty similar…

What I’d like is a kanji training app, which will let me draw kanji and will tell if if I’m right, with all the associated review type stuff there as well. Plus an app which will interface with my JPod My Words and My Kanji set-up, so I can test myself on the go.

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Liz21 says:

Max-san,
Thanks so much! That worked. :dogeza:
And, I also found something under “Tools” in Firefox: PDF download options. I worked with those and then it updated and installed Japanese fonts. Now everything works!! :wink: WHEW!!!

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Yasmin says:

The iphone applications sound really useful, but can I find the same information available to those who don’t have iphones?

I think the interactive flashcards are great, but I’d like something printable so I could take it with me (i like to study on the bus, etc)

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David Carlton says:

The new PDFs are awful; I far preferred having a choice of PDF readers.

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Daynah says:

I can’t wait to try out WordPower Lite - Japanese :)

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Eric says:

the new PDFs are great ! now I can steal the contents ! :dogeza:

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Jon says:

Stealing content isn’t my interest here. JapanesePod101 has done an awesome job with their content. But I have a different flash card program that I use, and would like to move stuff into that more easily. I appreciate the upgrades you are all working on.

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Klaus says:

I use mostly itunes for the files on my mac. Opening a pdf has now become quite tedious - with preview it was always very easy!

Cheers
Klaus

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Lior Gradstein says:

I’m also using Linux, and, like Mac users, being forced to use Acrobat is really a pain. It’s not the default (Evince for most Linux distributions), and seems to be the only application that manages to display the pdf now :-(

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テッド says:

Do the new applications work only with the iPhone or will they also work with an iTouch? (I am in the US not an AT&T subscriber)

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Charles says:

>> With the new acrobat 9 I can copy and paste new documents, but I am still unable to copy and paste from earlier beginner documents

Jon-san -we do not have intentions of updating the older lesson PDFs at this time. We may decide to do that at a later date.

>>but I’ve requested assistance several times

Sean-san - I’m sorry if your requests have not been answered. Did you email to support@japanesepod101.com? If so, I will review and reply personally. If you posted requests elsewhere, please provide a link. Thank you.

>>>Acrobat … seems to be the only application that manages to display the pdf now

Lior-san - We are working on a compatible version that will be accessible by other PDF readers. Thanks for your patience.

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Zoran says:

My Operation System is outdated long ago but I easy can read and write 日本語
I have only Japanese and English, but outlook my keyboard is for my native language. But after one year I know use my PC in all tree language. And not need additional software.Maybe additional skills. But for learning it is ok.

ゾラン

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Sophie says:

Well, I’m among people who prefer to use Preview to read pdfs and have strong feelings against Adobe Reader.
I can wait, I’m pretty sure that before one year Apple will have updated Preview to catch up with the new proprietary Adobe format (if patents allow it). If it isn’t updated, I will not renew my Jpod subscription as pdfs will be useless.
Sorry that you are among casualties in a patent war, adding copy/paste was really answering to public demand… :(

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バロン says:

頑張ってください。

Being a software engineer, I know how it is when the hard work you are doing to make things better for your users are under-appreciated. I’m glad to see you are trying to get things as compatible as possible. Sometimes it’s easier doing rocket science than trying to figure out what users really need and want.

It would be ideal to at least be compatible with the Preview tool on Apple. Thanks to your new apps (and some I want to write), I’ve been seriously considering buying an iTouch. I’ll hold off until the PDFs work with that again.

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トム says:

Sophie, you are wrong. PDF 1.7 (the version used by the new PDFs on this site) is an open standard: ISO 32000. Adobe holds patents related to PDF but licenses them royalty free, so that’s no excuse for Apple to not update their implementation. On Windows I’ve tested both Acrobat Reader (8.1) and Foxit Reader (free, and not based on Adobe libraries) with the new PDFs and they both work fine. Also, PDF 1.7 has been out since 2006, when the previous version of Acrobat Reader was released (8).

Please get your facts straight.

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Eran says:

>> I can’t wait to try out WordPower Lite - Japanese

Daynah-san - WordPower Lite - Japanese finally showed up in the AppStore.

Click here to open it in the iTunes AppStore

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Eve Kushner says:

Phil:

I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Eve, and I blog about kanji in another part of the JPod site.
I might have a deal for you!

>What I’d like is a kanji training app, which will let me draw kanji and will tell if if I’m right, with all the associated review type stuff there as well. Plus an app which will interface with my JPod My Words and My Kanji set-up, so I can test myself on the go.

I have a list of links to info about new electronic or online kanji-study aids, and I’m happy to share the list with you to see if any fit your needs. I’m hoping you (or someone else out there) can help me in return.

In my forthcoming book, Crazy for Kanji, I have a very small section on electronic kanji-study aids. But I wrote that section 2.5 years ago. Publication has been delayed and delayed, and now, before the book finally comes out, I would like to update that section. I’m not familiar with the world of electronic kanji-study tools, and I actually can’t motivate myself to research the issue, beyond having collected the list of links. Another problem I face is that even if I do update the section, it’s sure to go out of date quite quickly. But maybe people who like this sort of thing develop a knack for knowing which tools are here to stay, and which ones will fade away soon.

If you feel like evaluating the links and letting me know if any seem worthwhile and useful for the long-term, then I can send you a free copy of the book when it comes out (in Dec., I hope). I would need the answers back in 2 weeks.

Interested? If so, please contact me: evekushner at yahoo.com (of course not really using “at”). Hope to hear from Phil (or someone curious about kanji-related technology) soon!

Thanks!
Eve

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Jon says:

The only thing I would suggest for the WordPower apps, is example sentences. I understand the word standing by itself, but am unsure of how to use it sometimes.

Great app!


Jon

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Sophie says:

トム, please chill out. I didn’t say there was a patent war, I said I hoped there wasn’t. I stated that I hoped Apple would update Preview, which, given the time they’ve had, is a pretty legitimate concern.
Pdf is a weird beast, it is proprietary, has existed since 1993, and is only an open standard since 2008 (the 1.7 version was updated then too, without changing the version number). You might call it a ‘de facto’ standard before that, as it is easy to generate simple pdf documents without proprietary software, so it has been widely adopted both in proprietary and open communities. Should be best of both worlds.

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Mike_in_Nano says:

So I’ll try here. I have a Mac at home running 10.3X . It does not permit me to update to Adobe 8.0. Am I wrong about this? When I go to the Adobe web site it is very clear when you state your OS. I tried saying I had an upgrded OS downloaded 8.0 but it will not install.

What am I doing wrong? At work I have a PC and yes it works but it would be nice to “see’ the PDF’s at home. I am killing a lot of trees by printing everything out at work.

Advice accurate or not would be appreciated.

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katafei says:

Hi, I think the cut and past option of the new PDF is great!
That will save a lot of paper, which is a priority for me ^_^

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Salivia Baker says:

scientific backup for Peter-san:
The brain selects from all the information it gets every day what to remember. Some information make it into short term and some even into long term memory. If you test yourself your brain noticed that the information is required and so put it from short into long term. Or if you can’t remember it when you test yourself, the next time you try to put the information into your brain you have a greater chance of remembering it because in the selection process (what to dismiss as junk and what to put into your memory banks) the brain remembers that this information was required in the past hence could be required in the future. Just like muscles build up. They see they needed to be stronger the last time and so they build up for the next time. The brain is a muscle too.
That’s also why short but more often is better then few times long. And different ways are also good because the brain doesn’t stick to one way to remember the word (no associate for remembrance) but go directly to the information you seek.

It’s said that only listening makes you remember 20%, only seeing 30%, both together 50%, see + hear + discuss 70% and see + hear + discuss + do it yourself 90%
(that are general numbers, every person is different and some learn more and some less with one of those methods)

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Torsten says:

If you want to use Preview on the Mac with the new PDFs, you need the arialuni.ttf font. When you install it everything works fine again.

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