The Kanji Sketch Pad - Part Three, Mnemonic Buttons

The full version of the Kanji Sketch Pad provides a mechanism for editing mnemonics or keeping notes about individual kanji. Just press the pen symbol and the mnemonic window turns into a specialised text editor. The revised mnemonic text will be saved automatically when you close the window. (The editor offers a number of other handy features, discussed here.) Several other features are also located in the same button panel, and are described below in order from left to right.


Import
Import more vocabulary from a list file.
List files are plain text files, saved in unicode format (UTF-16) so that they can include Japanese characters. The basic format is to have a single item per line, defined as: kanji, colon, keyword. Mnemonics can be added by typing "(||" and then the mnemonic text before the final closing ")". (This syntax is required to preserve cross-compatibility with standard Cerebware list files.) Optionally, a mnemonic image can be added to the list file by putting the name of the file between the two uprights, like this:
う : u ( | hiragana_u_mnemonic.gif | Picture a rock landing on your back, making you say ''uugh'')


Export
Export the entire vocablary list as a text file.
This button creates a plain text file from the current vocabulary. The result is a new list file ready for someone else to import. This is the best way to share mnemonics, but it also allows you to print out your list so you can study it away from the computer. (You will be asked if you want to export other features, such as audio tags and so forth; this is for people who also use the Cerebware vocaulary trainer.)


Search
Search for an item.
This is identical to the search feature provided on the main window.


Internet
Look up kanji or kana on the internet.
Your browser (Firefox, etc) will load the relevant pages from jisho.org so you can see the kanji's readings and examples of usage. Let Cerebware know if you would like additional sites added.(For kana, wikipedia and a couple of other sites are loaded instead.)


Delete
Delete an item.
Get rid of duplcates, or kanji that are not appropriate for your list at the moment.


List
Review a list of items.
Loads a new window offering a list view of your entire vocabulary. Scroll up and down until you see the kanji you want, then click Edit to return to the Mnemonic window.


Edit Mnemonic
Edit the mnemonic text for an item, or add study notes.
Your text will be saved when you close the mnemonic window. For more special features, look here.


Keyword
Change the item's keyword.
You might prefer a specific keyword that matches your study text, or simply want to fix a typo. You can enter multiple keywords if you separate them with semicolons.


Target
Adjust your learning target.
Set or modify your learning target. Conider how far you want to take your kanji learning, and how quickly you want to get there. For instance, if you want to learn 2000 kanji in two years, thats 1000 per year, or 20 per week with two weeks off each year for good behaviour. Your score, relative to your target, will be shown every time you start up the Kanji Sketch Pad, and the pad's background will go red if you are behind target (or purple if an item is 'stale'). This is a great motivator. For more details on how this works, look here.

Note that the text window above this panel is more than a plain text editor. Some of its extra features are described in the next section.

Index
Part One - Overview
Part Two - The Main Buttons
Part Three - The Mnemonic Buttons
Part Four - The Text Editor
Part Five - The Pad's Hot Zones
Part Six - Learning Targets
Part Seven - Usage and Readings