Kotoba! (Japanese dictionary) – Review

I’m an employee at a Japanese company specializing in automotive electronics and software development. As such, I, along with my co-workers, am required to be able to read, speak and write basic Nihongo as well as to recognize a good many technical terms written in either of the three primary ways of writing in Nihongo: hiragana, katakana, romaji, and kanji. It is in this simple respect that I consider the free Japanese dictionary iPhone app called Kotoba! of great use.

Kotoba!, which takes its name from the Nihongo word for ‘language,’ is arguably the best Japanese dictionary available in the App Store. The neatest thing about it, aside from its being free, of course, is that all dictionary files are stored in the application upon download and is therefore available anytime, doing away with the need for an Internet connection to use it. The downside of this set-up is that the app tends to lean toward the heavy side, tipping the balance at at least 100 MB, and requires a strong Wi-Fi connection to download it in a matter of minutes. But it’s actually a rather small price to pay, considering that the long wait will yield an app that is useful and feature-rich.

Entering search terms in Kotoba! works by using either the default keyword to enter words in English or romaji or the Japanese keyboard to enter hiragana, katakana, or kanji characters. For example, if I enter either ‘language’ in English or ‘kotoba’ in hiragana, katakana or kanji, one of the top results will include the dictionary entry for ‘kotoba.’ I can then tap on this entry to view its reading, meaning, usage examples, and kanji decomposition, which shows an animation of how the kanji characters are written stroke by stroke.

Aside from the main Dictionary tab, other tabs on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen include Kanji, Examples and Lists. The Kanji tab has a variety of kanji-related resources such as text-based search, Halpern’s System of Kanji Indexing by Patterns (SKIP), kanji identification by composing radicals, and kanji grouped according to JLPT levels. The Examples tab enables searching for example sentences for any valid search term you specify. The Lists tab shows you a list of your favorites (which you can add to by tapping on the star on a dictionary entry) and past searches.

If you’re involved, however remotely or intensively, in learning or working with the Japanese language, Kotoba! will prove to be a great utility indeed.

Quick Take

Value: Very high.
Would I Buy Again: Yes! It’s free even if it should cost a lot more than a dollar.
Learning Curve: Low to medium.
Who Is It For: iPhone users who want to learn or work on a regular basis with the Japanese language.
What I Like: Offline access to every aspect of its database.
What I Don’t: The hefty size of the application, though I reckon it’s to be forgiven if the app is to be used without an Internet connection.
Final Statement: Kotoba! is, quite simply, subarashii (magnificent).