• autokana – jQuery plugin
    02Oct '12

    autokana – jQuery plugin

    In: programming/By: /4 Comments/

    Autokana is a jQuery plugin that automatically converts latin (roumaji) to kana (hiragana / katakana) using the auto-correct principle (keep in mind that it’s not suitable for converting copy/pasted but only typed-in text). You can check out how it works at autokana example page.

    You can also download the plugin (including a simple usage example) from github and use it for free.

    To use it, you will have to add the following somewhere at the beginning of your body tag:

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    <script type="text/javascript">
       // bind events when document is ready
       $(document).ready(function() {
          // attach auto-kana plugin with default options
          $("#kana_text_box").autokana();
       });
    </script>

    After that add the input box itself wherever you need it (make sure to use the same ID in the above part and in the input field itself):

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    <input id="kana_text_box" type="text" />
    <script type="text/javascript">
       // this part will clear and set focus on the input field on refresh
       // feel free to remove that part if you don't need it
       document.getElementById("kana_text_box").value="";
       document.getElementById("kana_text_box").focus();
    </script>

    If you have any suggestions or bug reports, feel free to leave a comment.

  • Mapping Japanese kana characters (hiragana/katakana) for use in programming
    08Sep '12

    Mapping Japanese kana characters (hiragana/katakana) for use in programming

    In: programming, tips & tricks/By: /2 Comments/

    When I started working on Zanzou, I had to find a way to somehow map the whole kana so I could later use it in my webapp. I simply used 2D array to accomplish this. It’s no nuclear science but to save you the trouble of copying and pasting all the symbols into a single file yourself (I think it actually took me around an hour to do it :D), here is my kana.js file (note that if if you open the file itself in the browser, it will most probably display some strange characters instead of proper UTF-8 encoded kana symbols but when you open the file in your text editor, it should be usable and displayed just fine).

    I divided it into 4 major groups (arrays): monographs, digraphs, monographs with diacritics and digraphs with diacritics. Each array element (representing sound) consists of 3 subelements (roumaji record, and hiragana and katakana symbols).

    With some minor modifications, this could easily be used in any other programming language. Just make sure if you edit the file to save it in UTF-8.

    Hope it helps, がんばって!

  • 残像 – Zanzou
    08Sep '12

    残像 – Zanzou

    In: web.log/By: /0 Comment/

    Zanzou is alive. =)

    Zanzou an e-learning tool I made as my computer science master’s degree thesis project at the Faculty of electrical engineering, Osijek, Croatia. Its goal is to help people memorize kana using flashcards. Based on unsuccessful answering, Zanzou will repeat certain symbols more frequently and (depending on the chosen difficulty level) it will group and present some of the similar symbols together to make it harder to “guess the answer”. Global user success statistics are also available.

    Features

    • memorize hiragana and katakana using flashcards
    • three difficulty levels
    • three types of exercises
      • kana to roumaji
      • roumaji to kana
      • voice to kana
    • customize your kana practice set
    • flashcard frequency based on correct answers
    • free

    Thanks to

    For any feedback or bug reports, feel free to contact me through email or just drop a comment bellow. =)

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