Introduction
Notation Used
1.1 Before we get started with the actual manual, here are some terms used throughout this manual:
Windows Refers to all versions of Windows after 95 (this currently includes 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, CE, CE Pro, and PocketPC). Windows 95 Refers to Windows 95 or higher (currently 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP), not CE. Windows CE Refers to all variants of the Windows CE operating system (CE, CE Pro, and PocketPC).
What is JFC and what can it do for me?
JFC is a freeware Japanese flash card program, available free to anyone under the terms of the GNU General Public License. You are welcome to make a copy of JFC for your own use, as well as to distribute it to other people. The GNU General Public License binds you to the agreement that you always distribute full copies of the program, and that you may charge a distribution fee for distributing it. However, no part(s) of JFC may be included in any commercial product, nor may any commercial product include portion(s) derived from part(s) of JFC, without the explicit permission of the respective copyright holder(s).
JFC is a basic Japanese flash card program designed to aid students learning Japanese. Much of JFC is designed to basically mimic what one would normally do with paper flash cards, except on a computer. There are a number of potential advantages to using a computer flash card program over a normal paper system:
- One does not need a big stack of paper cards to keep track of. The disadvantage is that one needs to have access to a computer, but since JFC runs on Windows CE systems this is not a significant limitation.
- JFC is integration with JWPce, allowing sharing of files and resources.
- Because JFC is integrated with JFC it can use your color-kanji list from JWPce to determine what kanji you know and adjust the flash cards automatically for known kianji.
- JFC can also use dictionary files to automatically supply kanji reading, kanji meanings and definitions of words.
- The computer flash card system can keep track of cards that you frequently miss and adjust the flash card list automatically to emphasize words/kanji that are often missed.
Why this Program got Written
I used flash cards heavily when I began learning Japanese. These provided a simple way to keep track of vocabulary, kanji, and grammar points to be learned, could be taken anywhere, and allowed for easy randomization (lists don't work well for me, since I tend to simply memorize the order of things in the list).
One problem with flash cards is that one tends to accumulate a large number of them, and although the actual making of the card is a good exercise for the student, storing them can be a problem. Additionally, they weight a lot, so they can be a problem to carry around. Further, if you review your old flash cards, one often finds that they need to be updated to match your current knowledge.
Out of curiosity I looked at some Japanese flash card software for computers, and found that there were a number of programs, but all of the programs were somewhat limited. Few or none of the programs support Windows CE (flash cards are really useful when standing in line at the DMV, and carrying a full Windows machine can be somewhat limiting). Further, none of the programs supported a particular philosophy for learning kanji that I have.
Having already written JWPce, and somewhat on a whim, I decided to see what I could come up with for a Japanese flash card program. The result is JFC.
The GNU General Public License
A description of the GNU General Public License is shown below, taken directly from the license document. Your distribution kit should contain a copy of GNU General Public License in the file: GNUGPL.TXT (straight text).The license agreements of most software companies try to keep users at the mercy of those companies. By contrast, our General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software - to make sure the software is free for all its users. The General Public License applies to the Free Software Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it. You can use it for your programs, too.All this basically means that you are free to get a copy of the program if you want, including the full source code.When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Specifically, the General Public License is designed to make sure that you have the freedom to give away or sell copies of free software, that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.
To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.
For example, if you distribute copies of a such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must tell them their rights.
We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the software.
Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free software. If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original authors' reputations.
Whenever a specific copyright notice conflicts with the GNU General Public License, the specific copyright provision(s) will take precedence over the GNU General Public License.
No part(s) of JFC may be included in any commercial product, nor may any commercial product include portion(s) derived from part(s) of JFC, without the explicit permission of the respective copyright holder(s).
Disclaimers
Because this program is free software, it is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. This means that if you lose millions of dollars because you used the program, tough. So there!
If you encounter any bugs, have suggestions, or want to make a comment, you should e-mail the information to me and I will attempt to respond.
Acknowledgments
The creation of JFC is based heavily on the code developed for JWPce. JWPce development was directly or indirectly the result of a several people. I would like to take the time to thank them for their effort, because without such effort JWPce and JFC would never have been created!
- The development team that led to JWP and the databases used in JWPce include:
- Stephen Chung Who performed a wonderful job in creating JWP, and whom I have shamelessly borrowed from, including the basic layout of this manual.
- Jim Breen (jwb@csse.monash.edu.au) of Australia supplied the Japanese-English dictionary used in JWPce. He also completed the 'Kanji Info' database by putting together the works of several people, including his own. This forms the basis of JWPce's character Information feature.
- Mike Erickson (mikee@gr.hp.com) of HP supplied the original 'Kanji Info' database.
- Ken Lunde (lunde@adobe.com) of Adobe supplied the routines to read and write Japanese text files in EUC, JIS, and shift-JIS formats.
- Michael Raine and Derc Yamasaki (michael-raine@uiowa.edu) provided the original radical lookup tables that JWPce uses.
- Wnn consortium: Kyoto University Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, OMRON Corp. and ASTEC, Inc. provided the kana-to-kanji conversion database.
- Izumi Ozawa (izumi@violet.berkeley.edu) of Berkeley donated the font lookup and index translation routines.
- Kevin Ortman ortman@unomaha.edu) programmed the Input Line Editor (not available in JWPce).
- William Heintzelman and Harvey Turnbull Who helped with proofreading the manual.
- The professors and staff at UCLA whom I learned Japanese from:
- Professors Masako Ogawa-Douglas, Shoichi Iwasaki, Seiji Lippit, and Michele Marra.
- Teaching Assistants: B. Baird, Michael Dankert, J. Essertier, Tetsuo Harada, Kyoko Ito, Masako Tamanaha, Hidemi Sugi, and Rinko Shibuya.
- Special thanks to Dr. Masako Ogawa-Douglas, who encouraged me to release JWPce in its early stages.
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Copyrights and Trademarks
The following is copyright information for code and data files contained in the JFC distribution:
JFC Program and Documentation
All files distributed with the JFC package with exceptions as stated below.
Copyright (c) glenn rosenthal, 1999, 2000, 2001. All rights reserved.
No part(s) of JFC may be included in any commercial product, nor may any commercial product include portion(s) derived from part(s) of JFC, without the explicit permission of the respective copyright holder(s).
Distributed under the GNU General Public License. Please read GNUGPL.TXT for copyright details.
Whenever a specific copyright notice conflicts with the GNU General Public License, the specific copyright provision(s) will take precedence over the GNU General Public License.
Japanese-English Dictionary
File Names: EDICT, EDICT.JDX, KANJIDIC (used to generate kanjinfo.dat)
Copyright (c) 1994 James William Breen
This license statement and copyright notice applies to the EDICT Japanese/English dictionary file, the associated documentation file EDICT.DOC, and any data files which are derived from them.
COPYING AND DISTRIBUTION
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of these files provided this copyright notice and permission notice is distributed with all copies. Any distribution of the files must take place without a financial return, except a charge to cover the cost of the distribution medium.
Permission is granted to make and distribute extracts or subsets of the EDICT file under the same conditions applying to verbatim copies.
Permission is granted to translate the English elements of the EDICT file into other languages, and to make and distribute copies of those translations under the same conditions applying to verbatim copies.
USAGE
These files may be freely used by individuals, and may be accessed by software belonging to, or operated by, such individuals.
The files, extracts from the files, and translations of the files must not be sold as part of any commercial software package, nor must they be incorporated in any published dictionary or other printed document without the specific permission of the copyright holder.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright over the documents covered by this statement is held by James William Breen.
Other Related Copyrights
Copyright over the documents covered by this statement is held by James William BREEN, subject to the exceptions outlined below.
The following people have granted permission for material for which they hold copyright to be included in the files, and distributed under the above conditions, while retaining their copyright over that material:
Jack HALPERN: The SKIP codes and Frequency codes in the KANJIDIC package.
With regard to the SKIP and Frequency codes, Mr Halpern stated as follows:
"The commercial utilization of the frequency numbers is prohibited without written permission from Jack Halpern. Use by individuals and small groups for reference and research purposes is permitted, on condition that acknowledgment of the source and this notice are included."Christian WITTERN: The PinYin information in the KANJIDIC file."SKIP is protected by copyright, copyleft and patent laws. The commercial utilization of SKIP in any form is strictly forbidden without the written permission of Jack Halpern, the copyright holder."
Urs APP: The Four Corner codes and the Morohashi information in the KANJIDIC package.
Trademarks
The following trademarks are used within this document or within the JWPce distribution:
Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows CE, Microsoft Word, Notepad, and Internet Explorer are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Netscape is a trademark of Netscape Corporation.
Velo is a trademark of Phillips Electronics Incorporated.
Freestyle is a trademark of Everex Corporation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the answers to some of the most common questions people ask.
- Will JFC work on a PocketPC? Yes. The PocketPC operating system is really just Windows CE version 3.0. JFC will run fine under this system.
- Will JFC work on under Japanese versions of Windows? Yes. I personally use a Japanese Windows CE machine (although I also have a western one for testing). JFC has been tested using both western and Japanese versions of Windows and works correctly under either.
- Will JFC work on a Mac? Not really. There is not a Mac version of JFC. You should be able to run JFC under SoftPC on the Mac, but I have not tried to do so.
- When will JFC be ported to the Mac? Unknown? I would not be opposed to porting JFC to the Mac, but I do not have a Mac for testing or a development system for the Mac and am unlikely to spend the money necessary to purchase either of these things. If someone else wants to port JFC to the Mac, I will offer all the help I can, but at the moment there are no plans to generate a Mac version.
- Will JFC work on my Palm? No! The Palms use a different operating system and JFC does not work under Palm OS.
- Will JFC work on my Handspring? No! The Handspring is just a Palm clone. JFC does not work under the Palm OS.
- When will JFC be ported to the Palm? Unknown? I would not be opposed to porting JFC to the Palm, but I do not have a Palm system for testing or a development system for the Palm and am unlikely to spend the money necessary to purchase either of these things. If someone else wants to port JFC to the Palm, I will offer all the help I can, but at the moment there are no plans to generate a Mac version.
- Is there going to be a romaji only version of JFC? Probably not! I personally hate romaji and find it difficult to read. I currently have no intention of generating a romaji version of JFC.
- I get an error like "Unable to Initialize Fonts," what should I do? This error is generated during startup when JFC cannot find the startup font (usually k16x16.f00). Generally this is caused by an incomplete installation. For Windows 95 users, this usually means you have installed the update when you cannot. For Windows CE users, this usually means you have only installed the files specific to your processor and not the common files.
JFC Features
JFC has a large number of special features. This is a list of some of the highlights.
- Automatic kanji readings and meanings: JFC can automatically supply readings (on-yomi and kun-yomi) for kanji using the kanji information files and lookup rotuines from JWPce (based on Jim Breen's KANJIDIC database).
- Automatic definitions: JFC can automatically supply definitions for words using Jim Breen's EDICT Japanese-English dictionary and JWPce's dictionary search rotuines.
- Adjusts for learned kanji: JFC can use the color-kanji list to automatically adjust the flash cards generated to match the kanji you know.
- Review mode: In review mode, JFC will emphasize flash cards that are frequently missed, and de-emphasize cards that you usually get correct.
- European character support: JFC supports European characters sets.
- Kanji cards with samples: JFC supports generation of kanji flash cards that contain a number of sample words using the kanji. This supports a philosophy of learning kanji where the kanji is learned through multiple examples of usage.
- Highly Configurable: JFC operation is very configurable.
- Timed Flash Cards: JFC can be set to allow a specific time for each card.
Next Chapter: Installation