English -> Romaji translator...
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TwistedMac
後輩
- 4 Mar 2004
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nope... I don't think there is one... (and it's "romaji")
- Thread starter
- #3
oops... spelling (sorry)
I found one "kind of" like what I'm looking for
But it always comes up with too much information or errors out.
I found one "kind of" like what I'm looking for
But it always comes up with too much information or errors out.
Lina Inverse
後輩
- 29 Apr 2004
- 1,700
- 49
Yes, there is one right here: wwwjdic (Monash University)Jr- said:
Most times you have the option to have romaji as input/output.
)tha_rippa1be
後輩
- 26 Jul 2004
- 101
- 2
This one is a really good one:
Free Online English to Japanese to English Dictionary
Online English to Japanese to English Dictionary
www.freedict.com
I really don't recommend it. It's obviously using an old version of EDICT - I don't know how old, possibly even the 1997 EDICT-R that Jim officially withdrew.tha_rippa1be said:
See what it was like for the first word I tried.
E -> J 'school'
First entry : (English) a school (Japanese) ippa
Now the 'ippa' entry in the current EDICT is ...
一派 【いっぱ】
school; sect; party; (P)The Jref one is much better (it appears to use WWWJDIC, if via a rather different front-end)
willuknight
先輩
- 16 Jun 2004
- 38
- 0
Here you go, this is the one you're looking for 
it's excellent.
http://kanjidict.stc.cx/dict
it's excellent.
http://kanjidict.stc.cx/dict
husslar_65
後輩
- 25 Jan 2009
- 1
- 0
What I think you guys should do is post links to TRANSLATORS and not dictionaries that don't really give any help at all. So please post out links to TRANSLATORS not DICTIONARIES!!!
Glenn
一切皆苦
- 8 Jan 2004
- 7,842
- 200
Translators cost money, unless you're talking about the machine translators, but those are pretty awful at getting anything mildly beyond simple right. Besides, if someone's learning the language, they're better off knowing how to look up the words on their own, not having other people what things mean all the time.
Besides, what's the point in digging up a 5-year-old thread to chastise people who don't even post here anymore?
Besides, what's the point in digging up a 5-year-old thread to chastise people who don't even post here anymore?
- 11 Mar 2010
- 6
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umm.... Yeah... Google Translate has an English-Japanese Translator with a Romanized option that shows it in Romaji. So there is your theoretical "English-Romaji" Translator. Unfortunately, the poor design does not allow you to translate Romaji BACK into English. This should be fixed.... But you can still translate the English to Japanese Kanji which in effect allows you to translate English to Romaji, English to Kanji, OR of course, Kanji to Romaji. Only disappointing problem is it does not translate Romaji to English or Japanese, only one way translation, so sorry.
- 22 Feb 2008
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That's because of the difficulty/impossibility of "romaji --> kanji," or in other words, the difficulty/impossibility of "kana --> kanji."
well-known examples
きしゃのきしゃがきしゃできしゃした。
Kisha no kisha ga kisha de kisha shita.
にわにはにわうらにわにはにわにわとりがいる。
Niwa niwa niwa uraniwa niwa niwa niwatori ga iru.
I'm very curious how machine translators interepret these.
Besides, I have same question of Glenn-san's; a 1-year-old post...
well-known examples
きしゃのきしゃがきしゃできしゃした。
Kisha no kisha ga kisha de kisha shita.
にわにはにわうらにわにはにわにわとりがいる。
Niwa niwa niwa uraniwa niwa niwa niwatori ga iru.
I'm very curious how machine translators interepret these.
Besides, I have same question of Glenn-san's; a 1-year-old post...
Last edited:
- 11 Mar 2010
- 6
- 0
I don't know how they translate it either... Makes no sense to me lol.
- 22 Feb 2008
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As you might know, we need to choose the correct kanji or the correct meaning BY OURSELVES when type words on a word processor, since there are quite so many homophones/homonyms in Japanese... (Of course machines can do it to some degree, though.)
- 11 Mar 2010
- 6
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Japanese would be A LOT easier if they had just started with Romaji in the first place... *sigh*
epigene
相変わらず不束者です
- 10 Nov 2004
- 4,354
- 179
Many beginner learners feel that way. We've seen quite a few like you post the same here.
However, Japanese is a "kanji"+"hiragana" combination language.
This is MUCH, MUCH EASIER in reading comprehension for Japanese native speakers (as Toritoribe-san explained), as well as for advanced learners of Japanese.
Ben Bullock
Fried Egg
- 9 Jan 2010
- 83
- 0
I'm not a very advanced learner, but I don't have any problems at all with romanized Japanese. Seems just as easy for reading comprehension as kanji plus kana to me. Whenever someone says they can't understand romanized Japanese, I wonder how they manage to understand spoken Japanese. Do they make the speakers hold up kanji placards while they are talking?
:atsui:
- 22 Feb 2008
- 18,266
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Do you mean just pronouncing without understanding?:?
As for hearing, written kana/romaji doesn't have pitch accents or intonations.
epigene
相変わらず不束者です
- 10 Nov 2004
- 4,354
- 179
When people say they can't understand romanized Japanese, it doesn't mean they can't understand TOTALLY. Romanization makes the language slower to understand and removes all (explicit and implicit) nuances of kanji use.
Native speakers want to read rapidly, and romaji doesn't help but only beginner learners and people who can't read the language at all.
This, though not exactly about kanji use, explains how mental imagery is important in native-speaker comprehension.
http://www2.humnet.ucla.edu/jk17/images/stories/abstracts/manami_satofx074.pdf
This one refers to the imagery element in learning Japanese.
Learning strategies and language outcomes - an article by Tim Newfields
An article contrasting various foreign language learning strategies
Chidoriashi
In imagination land
- 2 Feb 2007
- 824
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Whenpeoplesaytheycan'tunderstandromanizedJapanese,itdoesn'tmeantheycan'tunderstandTOTALLY.Romanizationmakesthelanguageslowertounderstandandremovesall(explicitandimplict)nuancesofkanjiuse.
To me romanizing Japanese kind of has the same effect as doing this to English. I am sure it sounds just the same out loud, but it is clearly quite annoying to read.
Ben Bullock
Fried Egg
- 9 Jan 2010
- 83
- 0
I don't have much of a problem reading the above, even without the spaces. Actually, generally I find broken or ungrammatical English, or English written in an unnatural style, very much more painful to read than misspelt or unpunctuated English.
Chidoriashi
In imagination land
- 2 Feb 2007
- 824
- 63
Well, to each his own I guess then. I would take a spaced English novel, or a Japanese one filled with Kanji over the mentioned alternatives any day.
I don't have any data, but it would be my guess that the number of people preferring the languages in their proper forms would greatly out number those wanting alternatives.
