Seems to me if you're reading short stories, you probably shouldn't be translating words to English.
Definitely, Japanese that is as nuanced as in these stories does not translate very well. To try to overcome that, the definitions are always shown right in the context of the text and each definition includes all alternative meanings of that word so that puns and nuances are preserved as much as possible. This seems, for the moment, the best compromise between accessibility to English speakers and honoring the Japanese text. However, if you have any better ideas of how to approach this I'd be grateful for your input!
However, I must ask, is there an option to display the definitions in simple Japanese/use the app entirely in Japanese?
Right now there is no option to use the app entirely in Japanese or to display definitions in Japanese. That is something I had not thought of, so thanks for the suggestion! To begin with, I’m going to work on refining it as it is in English since I figured that what keeps people from breaking into Japanese literature is largely the intimidation of a page of completely Japanese text (e.g. navigating Aozora Bunko for the first time).
Also, do you explain the nuances of the kanji themselves? There is a lot of connotation(?) not provided by the definition.
Right now there is no explanation of nuances of the kanji themselves (only the words). That is another idea I had not thought much of! Thanks. I’m hoping to get more feedback from users and to find out how they use it and what they might find lacking. This could be one of those lacking features.
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Very cool project. I've been thinking about doing something like this for years.
However, I must ask, is there an option to display the definitions in simple Japanese/use the app entirely in Japanese?
Seems to me if you're reading short stories, you probably shouldn't be translating words to English.
Also, do you explain the nuances of the kanji themselves? There is a lot of connotation(?) not provided by the definition.
Thank you very much for the input!
Definitely, Japanese that is as nuanced as in these stories does not translate very well. To try to overcome that, the definitions are always shown right in the context of the text and each definition includes all alternative meanings of that word so that puns and nuances are preserved as much as possible. This seems, for the moment, the best compromise between accessibility to English speakers and honoring the Japanese text. However, if you have any better ideas of how to approach this I'd be grateful for your input!
Right now there is no option to use the app entirely in Japanese or to display definitions in Japanese. That is something I had not thought of, so thanks for the suggestion! To begin with, I’m going to work on refining it as it is in English since I figured that what keeps people from breaking into Japanese literature is largely the intimidation of a page of completely Japanese text (e.g. navigating Aozora Bunko for the first time).
Right now there is no explanation of nuances of the kanji themselves (only the words). That is another idea I had not thought much of! Thanks. I’m hoping to get more feedback from users and to find out how they use it and what they might find lacking. This could be one of those lacking features.