IPad program for annotating Japanese text in a particular way
October 22, 2020 11:20 AM Subscribe
I'm studying Japanese, and I haven't had luck in finding an iPad program that can do what I want. I'm also interested in alternative methods of going about what I'm doing. Google Docs is the closest to where I've gotten where I want to be. Here's an example. I want to write down Japanese text I am reading, and I want to be able to highlight each part of the text and make notes: this is the word's meaning, this is the word's reading, etc. etc. This way, I can read a text without distracting annotations, but can make reference to my notes on the text whenever I need or want by clicking on the part of the text I'm interested in.
In Google Docs, I do this through the comment feature. Microsoft Word on the Ipad and Apple Pages also have a comment feature, but it doesn't work with Japanese text. If I have two words I want to comment on, but they are not separated by anything, Word and Pages will force me to comment on both words at the same time.
The problem with Google Docs is that it's pretty basic. I don't seem to really have access to different Japanese fonts. It's also not like Notability where I can have the text appear on yellow, ruled paper. I like the organizational features of Notability too. The problem with Notability and GoodNotes however is that I haven't found a way to add comments like I can in a word processor. I've tried alternatives. For instance, Notability lets you split view different documents. I tried having a separate document that hosts my notes on the text, but it's just not as effective as being able to tap the word I'm interested in and see only what I want.
Another thought I had, is about how the program would display that there is a comment. If the program is going to yellow highlight every thing I comment on, it would be good to be able to hide comments at times. Or, it might be nice if the program let me or automatically applied different colors to the highlighting so I didn't just have a continuous span of yellow highlighting comprising multiple different words and comments.
Additionally, while a very minor thing, I can't help but feel like I'm using the comment feature in a way it's not intended in Google Docs or Word or Pages. As you can see in the image, the comment window is visually busy, full of unused space and unnecessary features. I don't need to see the time I made the comment. I don't need to resolve or reply to the comment. And I don't need all that extra white space. Ideally, I could find a program where just resting my finger on the particular text would pop up a very minimal bubble with solely the information I inputted.
In Google Docs, I do this through the comment feature. Microsoft Word on the Ipad and Apple Pages also have a comment feature, but it doesn't work with Japanese text. If I have two words I want to comment on, but they are not separated by anything, Word and Pages will force me to comment on both words at the same time.
The problem with Google Docs is that it's pretty basic. I don't seem to really have access to different Japanese fonts. It's also not like Notability where I can have the text appear on yellow, ruled paper. I like the organizational features of Notability too. The problem with Notability and GoodNotes however is that I haven't found a way to add comments like I can in a word processor. I've tried alternatives. For instance, Notability lets you split view different documents. I tried having a separate document that hosts my notes on the text, but it's just not as effective as being able to tap the word I'm interested in and see only what I want.
Another thought I had, is about how the program would display that there is a comment. If the program is going to yellow highlight every thing I comment on, it would be good to be able to hide comments at times. Or, it might be nice if the program let me or automatically applied different colors to the highlighting so I didn't just have a continuous span of yellow highlighting comprising multiple different words and comments.
Additionally, while a very minor thing, I can't help but feel like I'm using the comment feature in a way it's not intended in Google Docs or Word or Pages. As you can see in the image, the comment window is visually busy, full of unused space and unnecessary features. I don't need to see the time I made the comment. I don't need to resolve or reply to the comment. And I don't need all that extra white space. Ideally, I could find a program where just resting my finger on the particular text would pop up a very minimal bubble with solely the information I inputted.
This is not a super-satisfying approach, but what about writing in HTML? HTML has the
posted by adamrice at 12:25 PM on October 22, 2020
<dfn> element that would do what you want. If you found a Markdown editor (and there are tons for the iPad), you could write in a mixture of Markdown and HTML; these often have side-by-side views showing the raw code and the rendered output, or give you the option to view just one or the other, and should interpret your HTML correctly.posted by adamrice at 12:25 PM on October 22, 2020
Coming at this from the other direction, the app Manabi Reader appears to have this as built-in functionality. You can import text through copy and paste. You decide what JLPT levels you'd like to have furigana show for above the text, and when you tap on the words you can see the definition and pronunciation as well as designate vocabulary to be added to a flashcard list. As a fellow Japanese learner, I haven't played with it much myself but it seems promising.
There is another app out there, Jareads, but I have not downloaded it to try it out. Also, in looking I see that the delightful TangoRisto, shut down this spring. Tragic!
posted by past unusual at 2:17 PM on October 22, 2020
There is another app out there, Jareads, but I have not downloaded it to try it out. Also, in looking I see that the delightful TangoRisto, shut down this spring. Tragic!
posted by past unusual at 2:17 PM on October 22, 2020
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It might all be a bit overwhelming though. I'd go to their contact page and ask a question. I did this recently and the response was prompt.
posted by BrStekker at 12:06 PM on October 22, 2020