Chapter 5

Using Flashcards

You can use Dokusha as a study aid with its Flashcard mode. Two separate flashcard lists are maintained: Word Flashcards and Kanji Flashcards.

Word Flashcards

Word flashcards contain words from the Japanese-English dictionary. They can be created by looking up words with the dictionary lookup commands, then selecting the Flashcard menu option or tapping in the upper right corner of the screen. When you want to quiz yourself on your flashcard list, use the Tools/Word Quiz menu option from the main reader screen (or write a Z character in the Graffiti area). You will be taken to the Word Quiz screen.

You can use the Flashcard Set drop down list to select which set of flashcards to be quizzed on. Dokusha comes with 3 built in flashcard sets as well as 5 "Custom" sets containing flashcards you have added manually.

Important Note: If you select a Custom flashcard set here, all flashcards you add later will go into that set (until you select a new one). If you have one of the built-in sets selected (All Words, Katakana Words, or Non-Katakana), all flashcards you add will go into Custom Set 1 instead.

In the flashcard screen, a word is displayed; you should mentally guess its pronunciation and/or meaning. To check your answer, either press the Info button or the Up hardware button, and you will be taken to the dictionary information for the flashcard. From there, either press the Done button or the Down hardware button to return to the flashcard screen.

To go on to the next flashcard, either tap the displayed flashcard or press the Down hardware button. Flashcards are cycled through in a random order. The current number of flashcards is displayed in the upper-right corner.

When you feel you have mastered a particular flashcard, it can be deleted by pressing the Delete button. Note that you can only delete flashcards in the Custom sets; the built-in sets are fixed and cannot be changed.

The Auto button in the lower right corner can be used to turn "Auto Mode" on or off. When selected, flashcards are cycled through at regular intervals without any intervention from you. You can set the amount of time per flashcard in the Preferences.

The available menu options in the Flashcard screen are as follows:

Kanji Flashcards

Kanji flashcards can be created by looking up Kanji characters, then selecting the Flashcard menu option. When you want to quiz yourself on your flashcard list, use the Tools/Kanji Quiz menu option from the main reader screen. You will be taken to the Kanji Quiz screen.

The Kanji Quiz screen is esentially the same as the Word Quiz screen, except that single Kanji characters are displayed. You should look at each presented flashcard, and try to remember the Kanji's meanings, readings, and/or compounds (depending on what you are trying to learn). Use the Info button or the Up hardware button to look up the kanji's details, then use the Done button or Down hardware button to return to the flashcard screen.

As with word flashcards, Dokusha provides several built-in kanji flashcard sets as well as a custom set.

As with word flashcards, any kanji flashcards you add go into your currently selected custom flashcard set, or into Custom Set 1 if you have selected one of the built-in flashcard sets.

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