Japanese Content 2 Md And Anki

Overview

This Python script automates the creation of Japanese language learning notes, focusing on sentences, words, and kanji. It utilizes various APIs and markdown files for organizing and managing the notes.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following dependencies installed:

• Python (version 3.6 or later)
• pip

Installation

1. Python Installation:

   • Download and install Python from Python's official website.
   • During installation, make sure to check the option that adds Python to your system's PATH.

2. pip Installation:

   • For Windows, pip comes included with Python installation. No additional steps are needed.
   • For other systems, follow the instructions on pip's installation page.

3. Install Dependencies:

   • Open a terminal or command prompt.
   • Navigate to the project directory.
   • Run the following command to install project dependencies:

• jisho_api
• MeCab
• googletrans==4.0.0-rc1
• concurrent.futures

You can install the required packages using:

pip install jisho-api-python MeCab googletrans==4.0.0-rc1

Usage

1. Prepare New Content:

- Place `.txt` files containing new content in the `./New Content` directory.

2. Run the Script:

- Open a terminal or command prompt.

- Navigate to the project directory.

- Run the following command to execute the script:

python main.py

3. Review Output:

The script will generate markdown notes and organize content in the specified directories. You can designate whether or not you want to choose making markdown notes, .csv files or both

4. Anki Flashcards (Optional):

If you want to use Anki for flashcards, import the generated .csv files into Anki.

• _cloze.csv files are meant to be imported with a cloze note type.

• _.csv are meant to be imported with a special note type that takes a front, back, and optional typing for a better reviewing experience, but the basic note types should do just fine.

Use the .csv files in the Notes\Japanese Notes\CSV directory.

Why Use This?

Dogma

Before I can explain why I believe this tool is valuable, I must explain my beliefs about the language learning process. I believe that due to the low inherit reward of the process of learning a language, we must find a highly motivating source. Whether it is love, cultural appreciation, a favorite book, or the allure of the end goal, whatever motivates us must be enough to endure a long and arduous process that delays gratification. I also believe that we learn languages best from the language itself out in its natural habitat. Music, movies, books, comics, animations, social media, articles etc. all the different sources that contain the very language we wish to speak. For natives of the Latin alphabet, reading another language with the latin alphabet is rather easy, often a beginner can get most of the sounds correct and remembering words isn't that much of an issue. With Kanji, hiragana, and katakana, the aspiring Japanese learner has a lot to hold in working memory for each sentence. Also, Kanji having many meanings and pronunciations means that evenatually this learner will have to expand upon their previous notes with new information. Beyond the belief of motivation and the belief that regular language is the best source to learn from, I'd rather not have much more dogma about language learning.

So I wanted something that:

1. Allows the learner to be motivated by their biggest motivating factor
2. Facillitates and encourages engagement with the language
3. Lowers the time it takes to gather data that one needs on any given kanji, word or sentence
4. Allows for expansion with the knowledge of the language learner.

A solution for 2 is a solution for 1, this is why the input is .txt files of user selected Japanese content.

Automation of gathering data using APIs and creating Flashcards with csvs is the solution for 3.

Markdown is the answer for 4.

And thus Japanese Content 2 Md And Anki was born.

Learning Japanese can be a challenging yet rewarding journey, and effective study tools can significantly enhance the learning experience. Japanese Notes Automation was created with the following goals in mind:

Personal tips

1. Mind Maps:

• As the Markdown was made with obsidian in mind, you can easily use its graph view to generate a mind map based on the inner links of all the notes files. This showss you all the connections for any given kanji, word, sentence, or piece of content.

2. Customize Translations and Definitions:

• As this project is meant to be open source, I couldn't use anything other than google translate for the translations. It also naively takes only the first translation from jisho and sometimes the parser will incorrectly parse words. This is not a 0 effort program but one that makes the effort easier. Customize the definitions and translations as it makes sense. I suggest doing this BEFORE studying flashcards.

3. Use pictures for objects:

• Unless you need to practice typing because a picture is worth a thousand words. These are markdown files, they're meant for you to put images or anything else you can get working in them. Use this to your advantage.

4. Use content you love:

• As I mentioned motivation before, content that you love is going to be a much better use of your learning hours than something you don't.
• My suggestion for learning from sources you don't love is to study desirable content first and see what from the undesirable content you already know. If you already know most of it, it might be highly motivating to go through the process of learning that little extra bit!

How to Study with Japanese Content 2 Md And Anki

After running the script and generating your Japanese language learning notes, you can optimize your study process using the generated content. Here's a suggested study approach:

1. Review Content Markdown Files:

• These are lists for finding something specific

  • Content.md
  • Kanji.md
  • Words.md:
  • Sentences.md:

• I suggest going through content from Content.md and scrollign down to the Sentence links and opening the first one you don't understand

• From there I suggest studying in this manner, assuming you have no knowledge:

  • Sentence => ...Kanji => Word=> Next Kanji => Word => ... => Sentence
  • You may or may not have to adjust the words as the parser is usually right but sometimes it's wrong
  • You may also have to adjust the links as sometimes a word will link to itself instead of its kanji
  • The translation of the sentence might not be suitable for the Content or for your mind, use translation services DeepL, Jisho, Google Translate, (it's on'y bad in isolation), ChatGPT
  • Typically at this point, it'd be clear if there was a weird word translation. More than 80% of the time the word translation will be accurate but 80% is not 100%. If there's an oddity check secondary definitions in Jisho.
  • Continue doing this until the end of your study session or until you've done every sentence.

2. Create Anki Flashcards (Optional):

• You 'know' and remember the content that you've studied. Now's the time you'd want to make flashcards especially since you've corrected the sentences.
• If you haven't corrected the markdown notes, now's the time also now's the time to customize the markdown notes as they dictate what goes on the cards
• Currently, the 3rd line is the start of the front card as the format was meant to be kept in line with Obsidian to Anki, becareful
• If you're using Anki for flashcards, import the generated .csv files from the Notes\Japanese Notes\CSV directory
• Use the flashcards to reinforce your memory

4. Consistent Practice:

• Either use the flashcards or the content itself to remember everything you've learned before

File Structure

Directories

• Notes\Japanese Notes\Content: Directory for individual content markdown files.
• Notes\Japanese Notes\Kanji: Directory for individual kanji markdown files.
• Notes\Japanese Notes\Sentences: Directory for individual sentences markdown files.
• Notes\Japanese Notes\Words: Directory for individual words markdown files.
• Notes\Japanese Notes\CSV: Directory for generated CSV files.

Markdown Files

• Notes\Japanese Notes\Content.md: Main content markdown file.
• Notes\Japanese Notes\Kanji.md: Kanji notes markdown file.
• Notes\Japanese Notes\Sentences.md: Sentences notes markdown file.
• Notes\Japanese Notes\Words.md: Words notes markdown file.

How to Contribute

All pull requests are welcome :)