About
Hi! I'm Takafumi, a Japanese guy who has been deveploping this web service.
Imagict is a free picture dictionary service which enables you to look up words with their associated images. You can use 3 kinds of dictionaries, English to Japanese, Japanese to English, and English to English dictionaries.
And besides, you can save words to your brushup list, learn words by heart with the efficient study schedule based on the forgetting curve, take some vocabulary tests and save the results, check out the graphs of your vocabulary test results, and so on.
I'm learning English as a second language. First of all, I myself want to memorize English words more easily and speedily. Furthermore, I want to help people who are struggling with English or Japanese as a second language like me, in order to memorize words easily and speedily. That's why I developed this service.
Please use Imagict to look up English or Japanese words and to learn them by heart! Here is a sign up form. If you have a facebook or twitter account, you can immediately sign in this service with it. Thank you so much for visitting here and reading this.
How to use this service
・Look up words in the Dictionary
・Look up words by the Dictionary Bookmarklet
・Add words to your Brushup (※)
・Add "Bingo!" to an image associated with a word (※)
・My Page (※)
・Today's Brushup (※)
・History of Vocabulary test results (※)
(※) marks are functions only for registered users.
Concepts and Stories
・Development Stories of the how and why
・About data used in this service
How to use this service
Look up words in the Dictionary
You can look up both English and Japanese word in the dictionary from a search box on the header of each page. The following example is an English-English dictionary page of a word "dredge". You can check it out with the definition and the associated images.
How about taking a look at word's meanings explained by text and also with the associated images? I think that's very lucid and memorable even if the word is unfamiliar to you. You can use the dictinary search function without registration.
Look up words by the Dictionary Bookmarklet
Looking up words in the dictionary is available from the following bookmarklet.
Imagict Dictionary Bookmarklet
Please add the bookmarklet link to your browser's bookmarks toolbar by drag-and-drop. Here is a manual of how to use it.
1. First, when you find a word you want to look up during web surfing, please select the word and highlight it.
2. Next, please click the "Imagict Dictionary Bookmarklet" on your browser's bookmarks toolbar.
3. And then, you can see a Imagict dictionary page for the word on a new browser window.
How to see a Dictionary page
The following is the explanations for symbols used in each dictionary page.
[ verb ]
[ adjective ]
[ adverb ]
■
e.g. )
→
verb
adjective
adverb
definitions
example sentences
synonyms
Add words to your Brushup (※ for registered users)
After sign-in, you can add a word to your Today's Brushup list by clicking an "Add to Brushup" button under the word on a dictionary page. You can review the added word on the day, on the next day, on a week later and on a month later.
Add "Bingo!" to an image associated with a word (※ for registered users)
Images associated with a word you look up render on the right half on the dictionary page for the word. When you mouse over an image, a "Bingo!" button shows up. If you find an image matching the word precisely, please click the "Bingo!" button. (You need to sign in to add "Bingo!".)
After you click a "Bingo!" button of an image, the image shows up on the upper section as recommended images by users.
The more associated images show on the upper section by you clicking "Bingo!" buttons, the better accuracy of the associated images is improving. In order to make Imagict grow up to become a better dectionary, please, please click a "Bingo!" button after you look up a word.
My Page (※ for registered users)
You can use your "My Page" after you create your account and sign in.
"My Page" is your own page. You can see your brushup words, results of vocabulary tests and so forth.
Today's Brushup (※ for registered users)
You can save words to your Today's Brushup, and then you can learn and memorize them with an efficient schedule. It's said that Ebbinghaus's Forgetting curve (Wikipedia) helps us to memorize things efficiently, and the schedule is based on the Forgetting curve. You can review your brushup words on the day, on the next day, on a week later and on a month later.
Every day, you're supposed to learn words added to your brushup on the day, on the previous day, on a week ago and on a month ago. You can go over the brushup words at a glance on the one-page.
Vocabulary tests
You can take Vocabulary tests. There are 3 kinds of tests, English to Japanese, Japanese to Engllish, and English to English by synonyms. Each vocabulary test coveres about 20000 high frequecy words in order, so you can learn the most important words efficiently and speedily.
Vocabulary tests are available without sign-in, but you need to sign in if you want to save the results.
History of Vocabulary test results (※ for registered users)
You can see saved-results of vocabulary tests on your "History of vocabulary test results" page. It shows graphs and lists of your estimatid vocabulary's transition.
You can check out your progress of word retention here any time.
Mobile use
All functions of this service are available from smart phones like iPhone and Android, tablet computers like iPad, cell-phones/feature-phones and all other mobile devices. You can see and use this service with the design optimized for each mobile device. It's easy to use this service from each mobile device.
Recommended usage
1. Check Words of Today on the top page.
2. Look up words that you don't know and add the words to your Brushup.
3. Review Today's Brushup every day and learn them by heart naturally.
Or…
1. Take a vocabulary test once a day every day.
2. Look up words that you can't answer correctly and add the words to your Brushup.
3. Review Today's Brushup every day and learn them by heart naturally.
Or…
1. When you find a word you don't know, look up words by the Dictionary Bookmarklet or from a search box on the header of each page.
2. Add the word to your Brushup.
3. Review Today's Brushup every day and learn them by heart naturally.
Using the three ways is the best!
Concepts and Stories
Three fundamental Concepts
I developed this service "Imagict" based on the following three fundamental concepts.
・Amusing Dictionary
・Instinctive Dictionary
・Memorable Dictionary
Amusing Dictionary
Normal dictionaries only have explanations by text, so you will not have fun if you're not good at reading text. In order to lower a hurdle to study and to heighten your motivation for learning, it's the most important thing that you can enjoy learning and have interests in learning.
Imagict shows you not only text explanations but also associated images with a word, so you can keep on looking up words pleasantly. For me myself, attractive images fascinate me and sometimes I keep on watching only images one after another. I want to use a never-tiring dictionary, I want to look up a next word one after another. I developed Imagict thinking that way.
Instinctive Dictionary
When you look up a foreign language word in a dictionary, it's indispensable that you can check out the explanation by text like definitions, meanings, grammatical usage, example sentences and so on. They are what's called basic functions in a dictionary. But it takes time to read explanations by text. In addition, it's not instinctive.
It's often said that you can memorize a word easily if you picture visual scenes associated with the word in your mind vividly. This way to memorize things is just like what's called Episodic memory (Wikipedia). This is a way to memorize things as a part of stories including visual scenes, places, experiences, emotions, impressions, images and so on.
Images or photos are very convenient to visualize scenes and emotions vividly. I realize that it's much easier to memorize a word with the associated scenes. I can memorize a word used in a impressive scene in a movie at first encounter.
Taking a look at images associated with a word gives a vivid first impression to you about the word. Your memory retention must be mutch better than usual. For example, if you look up a word "furtive" with associated images like a sneaky squirrel or a peeping kid, probably you can memorize the meanings of "furtive" easily.
Sometimes, just one picture tells a story much more than a sentence composed of one thousand characters.
Memorable Dictionary
Word meanings with the associated images leaves a vivid first impression. Moreover, you can learn and memorize words easily with an efficient schedule, if you save words to your brushup list.
It's said that Ebbinghaus's Forgetting curve (Wikipedia) helps us to memorize things efficiently, and the schedule is based on the Forgetting curve. You can review your brushup words on the day, on the next day, on a week later and on a month later.
This schedule makes it possible to review words 4 times in total, so you can avoid just looking up a word and forgetting it after a while. If you keep on reviewing your brushup words every day, you can learn them by heart naturally.
In addition, each vocabulary test coveres about 20000 high frequecy words in order, so you can learn the most important words efficiently and speedily. "History of vocabulary test results" shows you graphs and lists of your estimatid vocabulary's transition. You can check out your progress of word retention here any time.
Japanese to the World!
After searching a Japanese word in the English Dictionary, the dictionary page shows explanations written only in English. This is a function for people who are learning Japanese language by using English. See the following example.
After I started to tweet in English on Twitter three years ago and communicated with foreign people, happily, I found that many people in the world are learning Japanese in earnest. But normal Japanese-English dictionaries use many Japanese words for explaining difinitions, meanings or grammatical usage of a Japanese word. It's not easy to use for Japanese-learners basically using English.
That's why I implemented a function that you can read all explanations of a Japanese word only in English. I'm a Japanese and I do love Japanese language, so I also want more people to use Japanese language. In order to save Japanese language in the future while the population of Japan is decreasing, I really hope that Japanese language spreads around more all over the world.
Development Stories of the how and why
When I encounter an unfamiliar English word, I often search images associated with the word on image search engines in addition to looking it up in a dictionary. And then, I came up with an idea of a dictionary which enables you to check out both text explanations and associated images of a word simultaneously.
And besides, I often just looked up words and forgot all the words after a while in a normal dictinary so far. That's nothing but wasting time for looking up words. I've also tried to use a service like flash cards, but tons of words are piling up before I know it. They don't work well and just overwhelm me. So I decided to adopt a schedule based on the forgetting curve to learn words by heart.
This schedule way makes it possible to review words 4 times in total on the day, on the next day, on a week later and on a month later. If you keep on reviewing your brushup words every day, you can learn them by heart naturally.
If you add 0 ~ 10 words to your brushup every day, the number of words you have to review each day is 40 at a maximum. You're not overwelmed by tons of words and Today's Brushup will work well. You can work on learning words by heart at ease, as thought it's just a 40 words notebook.
Anyway, I have trouble building my English vocabulary and I really want to increase my vocabulary easily. That's the biggest trigger to develop this web service. So first of all, I implemented all functions I need.
I also want my children to use this service in the future. I wish at heart that children can learn languages like English or Japanese in an enjoyful way and I've been working on this development thinking about that. What's more, I'm very happy if this service helps people to learn English, Japanese and foreign languages!
Dream big. The biggest mission of Imagict is to leave out trouble to memorize words from people learning foreign languages all over the world!
Thank you so much for reading this long text written in my clumsy English.
Developer: Takafumi Yamano → Feel free to contact me!
About data used in this service
This service is using the following data.
Dictionary data
WordNet - Princeton University
Japanese WordNet
Dejizo Web Service
The CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
Web Services by Yahoo! JAPAN
Image data
Flickr Services
Openclipart - Developer Documention, API Support
About Flickr, this service is only using images licensed by Creative Commons from Flickr API.
That's all. Thank you for providing these useful data.