This software provides reinforcement for Japanese and Chinese characters, assisting in learning the written languages.
Characterizer is an incredible Firefox extension designed to help users learn the meaning of Chinese or Japanese characters while reading English or other languages. With this software, you can easily learn the meaning of individual characters by replacing the first letter of a word with a character of similar meaning. This add-on was sponsored by eduFire, which is a great way to support language learning.
One of the most significant strengths of this software is that it allows you to practice Chinese or Japanese characters while doing something you would have to do anyhow - reading in your own language! The default installation of Characterizer includes five different profiles: Heisig RTK in both English and Spanish, Kanji In Context, Kanjidic, and Heisig Remembering the Hanzi. The program replaces the first letter of words defined in the profile with the corresponding character. If one word corresponds to multiple characters, then the program will select one character at random.
Additionally, you can quickly create your own profiles or modify the existing ones and add them through the options menu. For example, you could easily create a Spanish version of the Heisig file. One user has already created a French version, and you can find more information about this on the homepage.
However, Characterizer does have some limitations. It doesn't have any artificial intelligence in selecting word definitions, so it can't tell the difference between all of the different forms of a word like "bow." As a result, it's only accurate on a per-word level and not a per-sentence level. Additionally, when browsing AJAX intensive websites, you may need to manually re-enable the add-on, which can be frustrating.
Even though Characterizer is optimized for speed, it can take a while to execute on pages that are very long. Nevertheless, this program will help you learn the English meaning of characters, which is helpful in recognizing Chinese and Japanese characters. It's a great tool for practicing the characters while doing something you would already be doing - reading in your own language.
Overall, Characterizer is an outstanding software that's incredibly helpful to anyone seeking to master Japanese or Chinese.
One of the most significant strengths of this software is that it allows you to practice Chinese or Japanese characters while doing something you would have to do anyhow - reading in your own language! The default installation of Characterizer includes five different profiles: Heisig RTK in both English and Spanish, Kanji In Context, Kanjidic, and Heisig Remembering the Hanzi. The program replaces the first letter of words defined in the profile with the corresponding character. If one word corresponds to multiple characters, then the program will select one character at random.
Additionally, you can quickly create your own profiles or modify the existing ones and add them through the options menu. For example, you could easily create a Spanish version of the Heisig file. One user has already created a French version, and you can find more information about this on the homepage.
However, Characterizer does have some limitations. It doesn't have any artificial intelligence in selecting word definitions, so it can't tell the difference between all of the different forms of a word like "bow." As a result, it's only accurate on a per-word level and not a per-sentence level. Additionally, when browsing AJAX intensive websites, you may need to manually re-enable the add-on, which can be frustrating.
Even though Characterizer is optimized for speed, it can take a while to execute on pages that are very long. Nevertheless, this program will help you learn the English meaning of characters, which is helpful in recognizing Chinese and Japanese characters. It's a great tool for practicing the characters while doing something you would already be doing - reading in your own language.
Overall, Characterizer is an outstanding software that's incredibly helpful to anyone seeking to master Japanese or Chinese.
What's New
Version 1.01: N/A