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I don’t have a smartphone.
Is the IPod Touch a worthwhile investment ($235-$300) as a language-learning tool?
I think the Anki app would be awesome to have anywhere with me, and I hear midori is good as well?
And can these apps mainly be used without a wifi network? Of course I need to sync Anki with ankiweb, but once that’s done, I can be anywhere (bus, school, post office) and be doing reps? What about Midori, Imiwa, and Skritter (I only know about them because they have reviews on Tofugu)?
Just trying to figure out if it’s worthwhile for me to drop $200-$300 on a device if I just want to mainly use it for language learning.
Heheh, you wont just use it for language learning. I used to be fine with my £10 ‘dumb’ phone, then I thought about buying an iphone for the language support, basically I wanted to text in kana. Don’t think I could go back… they’re amazing.
Anyway, I can vouch for iAnki, Tae Kim’s app, Kotoba (a dictionary), kaomo…nary (a live feed emoji dictionary), and Japanese verb conjugator. They all work offline (whether wifi or 3g), updating and synchronizing are done when you have a connection.
But far be it from me to say what’s worth it for you. If you really do just want to use a couple of apps, you could probably find something much cheaper than an ipad.
Psst, Astralfox: Kotoba = Imiwa. It had a name change. =) Also, it does verb conjugations, so I’m not sure why you’d need a separate app.
Anyway, are we considering “iPod versus iPhone” or “iPod versus not getting anything?”?
He’s considering the latter. They only come in the 32 GB model now. That means not 200-300 dollars. The base is 300. Are you going to get 300 dollars worth of use out of it? If you will, get it. If you don’t think you will, don’t. A lot of those applications can be used without a wifi network. And I am able to be out of wifi on Ankidroid after I sync, so you should be fine in that regard. Now, if only they fixed some of the syncing issues I have with it, I would probably use it more often… but that’s not speaking for the iOS version of Anki. If you think it’s worth it, go for it. If not… don’t.
@ Joel Oh yeah!.. how long have I not bothered with updates now? XD
As for the cheaper options mentioned, I was thinking along the lines of a secondhand something running Android.
Didn’t know there were syncing issues with Ankidroid though…
AnonymousI think you should get an iPad.
For clarification, this is for Ipod Touch vs Nothing.
Yes, the new ones are base $300, but you can get the previous generation ones on Amazon for $235.
I don’t care about an iPad. It’s way more expensive and too big to take with me everywhere.
I think ipad mini is what you want. It’s fast, it’s light, it’s <$300, but it doesn’t have retina display.
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This reply was modified 12 years ago by
mtb812.
Yes, get an iPod Touch! Those apps would surely help you with your learning, plus I’m sure you would eventually love it to play games and such as well!
However I must point out your ($235-$300) range is a bit ridiculous… 8gb would do fine for your purposes and is only 200$.
Edit: The new ones apparently start at 32 -.-… You could buy a 4th gen model?(:
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This reply was modified 12 years ago by
Mike. Reason: Fact Check
With an ipod you can listen to podcast in Japanese. The problem is you WILL get distracting apps that focus your attention elsewhere.
"Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses." ~George Washington Carver -
This reply was modified 12 years ago by
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