Learn new Japanese words with Rikaichan

Normally I will surf Japanese sites to get information. But I have a problem here: those sites contains a lot of words that I can’t figure it out what it means (thanks to my low level of Japanese language knowledge). But with the help of Polarcloud’s Rikaichan, I am now able to learn new words and understand what the word means!

Rikaichan is a great Firefox extension that can help users to learn new Japanese words. Just click on this link or this to download the extension. Then you have to download one of the Japanese dictionary shown in picture below. Download them and restart browser to activate them.

Well now in your browser’s Tools menu, it should have “Rikaichan” and “Rikaichan Lookupbar” there. Well there is a quick “Rikaichan” link at right click menu too. To use it, just simply activate it by selecting “Rikaichan” and then rollover on the Japanese words. A popup explanation appears below the word you rollover. The closest meaning will normally appears at the top position. To deactivate Rikaichan, just select Rikaichan again at the Tools menu or right click menu.

For more detail explanation, you can use Rikaichan Lookupbar. When pasting text into the toolbar, it will popup the word’s explanation as well as individual kanji (Chinese character) break down, like in picture below. I think it’s a great way to learn kanji. Plus, you can also refer this page to learn how to use Rikaichan.

Overall, I think Rikaichan is a great tool to learn new Japanese words, and I’m really recommend this tool to all Japanese learners.

Related Post

• 3 smart tools to translate Japanese sites & words
• How to turn Hiragana word to cute Kaomoji
• Sites to learn and test Japanese Kanji for free
• 12 Japanese Handwriting Style Fonts. Free download!
• 本當超面白! Lets talk Nihongo influences