Is the Monolingual dictionary transition supposed to be like this?

Japanese
#1

Hello. I recently decided to go all in on from english definitions to the monolingual dictionary switch for my anki cards/lookups of words in general considering its much more accurate.
However I’ve noticed something kinda strange and hopefully can explain it properly with it making sense lol.

Basically, whenever I used to use English definitions for my word definitions it felt easy to just put in my head that for example, ‘林檎 = apple’. So whenever I looked at this word I would see the definition as apple- I would review this until it became second nature and it was fairly easy to memorise.

However, when I switched to monolingual definitions I seem to be struggling to know if I’ve actually memorised the word or not. This is because instead of a single word definition/simile to the word, you get a more detailed description/sentence for a single word. And unlike when I used to look at 林檎 (NOT talking about this word specificlly since nouns like this are easy to remember) and think to myself…‘ah, apple!’ (etc) now when I look at a word I added with a monolingual definition, I can’t recall the full sentence as the definition and the meaning is very vague in my mind.

Kinda unsure what to do to fix this problem? Is it as simple as try memorise the exact sentence and repeat it in my head every time I see the word that I added with a monolingual definition?

Hope this makes sense aha

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#2

Well…think about the word ‘apple’ in English. If you look it up in a dictionary, it’s going to have a whole sentence. Did you memorize the dictionary definition and do you repeat it when you see an apple? Or have you become so familiar with the word apple you just…kinda know what it is?

At some point you’re not supposed to translate anymore. A 林檎 is just a 林檎.

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#3

i wasnt talking about the word ‘apple’ specifically since thats easy to remember with a picture, more about other words that express ideas etc and are defined with long sentences (sorry for the misunderstanding, I’ll try edit the post to make it more clear)

#4

I think what chicky said applies to “ideas” as well. E.g 違和感, it likely has a long definition in a dictionary, but the idea is that when you hear/see the word contextually repeatedly then you don’t need to remember the definition, you’d just know instinctively what it means and don’t have to translate it or imagine something in particular

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#5

Some nouns, especially concrete nouns, are more easily defined with a single English word (although some aren’t). My suggestion is to have a bilingual dictionary ranked 2nd or 3rd on yomitan and scroll down to it in the case of those kinds of nouns (disease names and sruff are a good usecase, for example). If you really don’t want a bilingual dictionary in your list then you can set up a second yomitan profile that triggers when you do nested lookups and have a bilingual dictionary only in that profile.

As for anki, I use the Jp mining note template (Google it) and set my cards to monolingual but I can easily check the bilingual definition with one click.

E.g.,

1000087009
10000870091440×3088 195 KB

1000087010
10000870101440×3088 247 KB

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#6

I also wasn’t specifically talking about the word apple. Do you memorize the dictionary definitions of all the concepts you know in English?

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#7

I’ve tried to go full monolingual a couple times and have even stuck with it for a few months, but now do a mix of the two.

I don’t know if theres a right or wrong way to approach this, but I saved myself a lot of time by just looking up the English definition when I couldn’t figure it out through the Japanese definition. I would highly recommend doing this, especially for more complicated grammar whose concept you already know in English. I also use ChatGPT to help me further understand the usage and context of new words.

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#8

thats true, maybe I’m over thinking it too much

#9

I think that language learning is all about making mental connections. “林檎 means apple” is very easy because your brain has a familiar frame of reference. As is the same with something like “召し上がる is 食べる”. Your brain is familiar with 食べる so no problem.
When you start trying to memorize words by matching them to definitions I can see where there would be a problem. Even if you can easily understand the definition your brain needs processing time to break it down. I think you would have similar problems even in English. “林檎 is the round fruit of a tree of the rose family, which typically has thin green or red skin and crisp” is much harder to clearly memorize.

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