Hi everyone! I recently started using Yomichan to mine vocab that I encounter “in the wild”, usually from anime that I’m watching on Animelon. (I’m currently rewatching 僕のヒーロー!) I used the deck and instructions from this topic:
The deck is a modified version of Hinekidori’s deck and I have in turn modified it even more. I found that a few things didn’t work quite right/how I wanted it to, so I tried to fix the code. This is the way I had to set up the card fields, and I’ll explain it because it’s a little confusing:
1: Kanji = Kanji +furigana OR kana only vocab word. This is the field that I use to sort by in the browser.
2: Kanji no Kana = Kanji and NO furigana vocab word. If the vocab word is kana only, leave this field blank (more on this later).
3: Raw Kanji = Kanji and NO furigana OR kana only vocab word. The same as the above field if the vocab word contains kanji, but not left blank if vocab word is kana only.
The above 3 fields would look like this for a vocab word containing kanji:
And like this for a vocab word that contains kana only:
4: Meaning and 5: Alternative Meaning = Take a look at the topic I linked to because I set it up the same way. Yomichan leaves these fields blank for you to fill in later. If you leave the meaning fields blank, you’ll get an error message and won’t be able to type your answer in when you review the card.
6: Definition = Dictionary definition. Yomichan fills this in so you can go through it later and pick the meaning(s) you think fit the vocab word best to put in the meaning and alternative meaning fields.
7: Reading = Reading of the vocab word with the kana in brackets for vocab words that contain kanji OR the kana only vocab word. Don’t forget to put a space after the brackets so the furigana doesn’t get messed up! (See picture below)
8: Kana reading = Reading of the vocab word with kana only for vocab words that contain kanji. If the vocab word is kana only, leave this field blank (more on this later).
The above 2 fields would look this for a vocab word that contains kanji:
And like this for a vocab word that is kana only:
(The kana reading field is left blank)
9: Sentence = Context sentence for the vocab word. It might be necessary to edit the sentence because it might be too long or Yomichan might have cut part of it out.
10: Source = Where the vocab word was encountered. Must be written in parentheses since the source is added after the context sentence on the card. I tried to fix the code to add the parentheses and it would format really weirdly, like this:
Sentence:
Your sentence here… bla bla bla
(
Source
)
The easiest solution I found is to just go ahead and add the parentheses to the field instead of to the code:
It depends on how long your sentence is, but this is how it should show up on the card:
Sentence:
Your short sentence here…bla bla bla (Source)
OR
Sentence:
Your much much much much longer sentence here…bla bla bla bla bla
(Source)
11: Audio = Audio reading of the vocab word. Sometimes Yomichan doesn’t pick the best recordings, so for a few vocab words I had to manually input the audio. I recommend locating the Anki collection.media folder and favoriting it so you can easily save audio files there for adding to your cards. You format it like this in the field: [sound:AudioFileName.mp3]
12: Subtitle = Any extra notes that you might want to add. For example, for the AudioToMeaning card of two homonyms, maybe you could add a little note about which one the card is asking for. The subtitles would appear on the front of the card below the kanji/kana vocab word or meaning depending on the card type.
Here is how I set up the fields in Yomichan:
I changed the card types up a bit too. There are 4, and their names are pretty self explanatory:
VocabToMeaning (Recall the English for a Japanese word)
VocabToReading
MeaningToReading (Recall the Japanese for an English word)
AudioToMeaning
We would obviously want to eliminate the VocabToReading card type for kana only vocab because the answer you type in would be the same as what’s shown on the front of the card. This is why we left the “Kanji no Kana” and “Kana reading” fields blank. Then, while reviewing your cards, you’ll encounter this message:
Leaving the fields blank cause the front of the VocabToReading cards to be empty so you can use Tools>Empty cards to delete the VocabToReading cards for kana only vocab!
So to sum up:
- After adding a card to Anki via Yomichan, don’t forget to fill in the meaning and alternative meaning fields yourself.
- For vocab words that contain kanji, leave all the fields filled in.
- For vocab words that contain kana only, delete anything in the “Kanji no Kana” and “Kana reading” fields and leave them blank. Use Tools>Empty Cards to delete the VocabToReading card.
Here’s an example of how the cards look:
I changed the colors of the buttons and added a button on the card to link to Wanikani too! That way, you can see if a vocab word is on Wanikani. Wanikani also has a funny little message if you click the button for a vocab that isn’t in their system, so try that out! I kept the font for the front of the card pretty large, I find that it looks better and is easier to read as a bonus.
Finally, here is a link to my Anki deck for download on Mediafire:
[日本語単語 Anki Deck]
(日本語単語)
I named the note type “WK Style Vocabulary”.
I think I covered everything! I’m sorry if this was a little confusing to read, but hopefully it’s useful! I’ve found Yomichan to be a really great tool and I hope you all enjoy using it! 