no furigana please

[spidey]

Belton has some good ideas about how to use furigana!

I just don't want to see it on the kanji side of the text. If it replaced the Kana side that'd be great.

[jkid]

I respectfully disagree. On the first instance of encountering a new character furigana can be very, very helpful. Subsequent use of the Kanji perhaps should not include it. However, I don't feel removing it completely is sensible.

[Javizy]

Where has it been used? I think that it would make a good replacement for the kana transcript. Replacing the kanji transcript with it would be a tragedy though.

This debate started well over a year ago anyway; even if there were technical difficulties, if it was any sort of priority I'm sure it would be in use by now.

[sodapple]

皆さん、こんにちは

I disagree with spidey-san, I don't think the Furigana is useless. because the japanese use it in manga, specially shounen. Surely could be very helpful to learn more fast the Kanjis.

またね、がんばれえ！

[torerling]

I'm not that against furigana as far as we don't get it instead of the kanjitexts now, that said I don't think it's necessary, I think it is good as it is now, and it's a lot of less work

[Fedgrub]

I think we are falling back into another debate sounding familiar to the romaji one... haha.

I believe furigana is useful, and can see the need for it. For learners like me who don't know many kanji, its fantastic. It saves me all the time! haha

[Javizy]

It saves me all the time! haha

I think that's the main advantage of furigana: it's convenient. That doesn't go to say it's the most effective way to learn to read. It's very easy to just cruise through without even looking at the kanji, even kanji that I can already read, and this is basically what happens when I read manga.

The PDF's are quite unique since you can learn to read the kanji transcript without any help. I start of trying to read what I can while highlighting readings I don't know in the kana transcript, and after going through it a few times, I can read the kanji straight through. When I review it a few weeks later, I usually remember all of it, so it must be a pretty effective method.

Like Jason said in the other thread, furigana can become a crutch, so if that's all you ever read, how are you going to know if it's 'good for learning kanji'?

[JonB]

Even the Japanese use furigana as there are continued complaints here about Japanese not understanding kanji so much these days.

Whilst learning if it the same kanji is repeated many times in an article it is good for me to see the first one with furigana and then I pick it up as I progress through the article.

[spidey]

Furigana is helpful, but it won't be on the JLPT level 2 or 1.

Having the kanji broken on the kana side leaves the challenge for those students aiming at the JLPT.

Adding furigana to the kanji side makes it more convenient to read, but removes the challenge higher level students need.

If you want to advance you need the challenge.

[Kare]

Well, and some of us, like me for example, are beginners or newbies even who won't take JLPT in the forseeable future.
So we have a conflict of interests here...

[kitty-chan]

I don't plan to take the JLPT
I'm just studying for fun

[sashimidimsum7250]

I have nothing againsts furigana, as long as it doesn't replace the Kanji-only texts.

[Belton]

well, if jPod would set the furigana underneath the kanji or to the left of the kanji in traditionally set paragraphs, you could then place a sheet of paper over the furigana and remove it as you go down or across the printed page to reveal the furigana.

On a screen the ideal solution is pop-ups in a html page.

In a pdf I guess you could adjust the window as you scroll.

Or they could add the furigana version to the mix.