F**K YES! Supermemo 2.0 for Palm

Language Learning Chinese
#1

I’ve been waiting a long time for this and it’s finally here. I will be converting all of my old databases (if I even have to do any converting) and I’ll be making some new and exciting ones (based on comics and new language books.)

The old databases are:

Shida Book 1, Book 2 and the 3000 most frequently used characters grouped in 200s.

As far as miltownkid is concerned Supermemo is the hottest shit for learning characters. If someone can check to see if the HighRes works for Chinese before I can and post about it please do (I’m looking for my Palm CD now :P)

mapletop.com/supermemo/new.html

I’ll post about upgrading to 2.0 when I’m all done. (I’m too excited to wait until I find out if everything works, hope I don’t post again all sad.)

#2

Downloading the palm desktop software… (I’m so hype, pardon me for my hypeness.)

#3

Now that I have your attention, do you know why I can’t get chinese characters to display in my palm? I have supermemo and CJKOS installed.

#4

Which model Palm? Is the a version of CJKOS that came with your Palm or one you bought separately?

The first thing that comes to mind is you might not have it turned on (by checkmarking enable CJKOS in preferences.)

I just finished installing it and the characters look sweet!! (Sweet enough for me anyway.) I’ll get some pictures up of what Chinese charaters look like on version 2.0.

I’m going to go ahead and finally finish memorizing the 3,000 most frequent, make some HYPE vocabulary databases (a little over 2000 right now), and have an all around good time using it (I think I’m going to restart work on making a Doreamon database :slight_smile:.)

It only costs 9.97 to upgrade from a previously bought one, they’ll give you a free upgrade if you bought it last year, and all you need to do for install is put it right on top of the old version. It has a bunch of nifty new features too (the first I used is the ability to copy and paste templates.)

ENJOY!! (I know I will)

#5

Miltownkid, I could kiss you for posting this. I won’t of course, but I could. :wink:

I’m going to try it out right now. I only wish they’d finished it in March 2005, like they’d originally planned on doing. I think this might be the best 10 bucks I will have spent in a while.

Edit: Just installed it, and the high-resolution part of it alone is worth the money. It’s very slick indeed. Thanks again for bringing this to my attention. How did you find out anyway? I thought I would have received an email or something since when you order the software they ask for your email address.

#6

[quote=“scomargo”]Miltownkid, I could kiss you for posting this. I won’t of course, but I could. :wink:

I’m going to try it out right now. I only wish they’d finished it in March 2005, like they’d originally planned on doing. I think this might be the best 10 bucks I will have spent in a while.

Edit: Just installed it, and the high-resolution part of it alone is worth the money. It’s very slick indeed. Thanks again for bringing this to my attention. How did you find out anyway? I thought I would have received an email or something since when you order the software they ask for your email address.[/quote]

Do your databases transfer seamlessly to the upgrade?

MK, yes CJKOS is enabled. Palm is Zire31. Just bought it recently. When I did my first hotsince CKJOS and Supermemo were installed even though the were backup files on my computer (saved when my computer crashed in the spring). Could the CKJOS be not installed completely? It looks like it is?

#7

Yes.

Yeah, that sounds about right. You’ll probably have to completely reinstall it from scratch. I don’t think loading a back-up copy from your old palm would work. Didn’t it come with CJKOS “built in”? Mine did (the E2.)

Well, I started Chinese classes about a month ago again. I was REALLY missing not having Supermemo, so I decided to just purchase (or try) the PC version and start setting that one up with databases. Instead of typing Supermemo.com into the address bar (like I usually do) I typed it into googe. The Maple Top site was the second from the top and I decided to see if it had been updated yet (I have been checking every month or so since first hearing about it almost a year ago.)

I’ve really missed using it and have been wanting to make some new databases for a long time (the Older version never worked properly on my E2.)

#8

Thanks MK, I’ll try reloading. No the Palm didn’t come with CJKOS probably as I bought it in Canada.

#9

Miltownkid, that sucks that the old version didn’t work on your PDA. I didn’t realize that some PDAs weren’t compatible with it. I’m glad that you’re now up and running, and in hi-rez, too.

Like Miltownkid said, the old databases seem to work on version 2.0. I haven’t messed around with it too much, but I was able to read the characters from my old databases.

Mucha Man, I really wish I could help you with your problem, but I’ve never used CJKOS before. Could it be that your license for CJKOS was only good for your old PDA and your new PDA will need a different registration number? I don’t really know how it works for CJKOS, but it seems like a lot of Palm software needs registration numbers that only work for individual PDAs, and are not transferable to others. If this is indeed the problem, you might be able to get a free license if you write them and explain your situation.

I hope you get it to work. If not, you can always try a different Chinese OS for the trial period to see if you can get it working.

What a bunch of nerds we are! I haven’t been this excited in weeks, and this is all over a flashcard program! :laughing:

#10

I use my palm mostly for vocabulary practise (written in hanyu pinyin) because I never liked the resolution of characters. I didn’t have a palm for a year and having the new high res version come out just when I bought a new pda is, well, a coincidence that makes me believe in divine intervention.

Geeks ahoy.

#11

I think it was a problem with CJKOS or something. It still worked, but having the characters show up big showed nothing and they were almost unreadable small (even for me :P.) I even tryied studying spanish to get my suspermemo fix, but that didn’t last long :laughing:

[quote=“scomargo”]Muzha Man, I really wish I could help you with your problem, but I’ve never used CJKOS before. Could it be that your license for CJKOS was only good for your old PDA and your new PDA will need a different registration number? I don’t really know how it works for CJKOS, but it seems like a lot of Palm software needs registration numbers that only work for individual PDAs, and are not transferable to others. If this is indeed the problem, you might be able to get a free license if you write them and explain your situation.

I hope you get it to work. If not, you can always try a different Chinese OS for the trial period to see if you can get it working.[/quote]
These all sound very likely. You’ll more than likely need a new registration number for the new PDA. Palm’s bought here come with CJKOS build into the OS now, which is really convenient (mine did anyway.)

I can honestly says months! (Years?) :laughing: Nerds indeed!

:slight_smile:

#12

Well it looks as if there are some nice new features but nothing essential for me. The old version is still working very well on my low-res Treo 600.

The only reason for me to upgrade would be if it could use the hi-res CJKOS fonts in some way (such as on the “question” page) on my lo-res machine. Anyone know if it can do this?

MK, you mentioned finishing learning the most common 3000. Have you seen the Far East 3000 Chinese Character Dictionary? I use it and like it. The great thing for me is that it gives four example 2-character combinations plus a chengyu or other common phrase for each character. (Of course it includes alternative pronuncations and the meanings associated with those pronunciations where appropriate.)

I’m not sure whether you study the characters with their common combining characters or in isolation. Though memorising the combinations takes longer, I think its very useful.

I score myself in this way: A is quick recall of every pronunciation and major sense, B is slightly slower recall. C is where I miss a major sense or pronunciation variant. D, E and F are as normal.

#13

[quote=“joesax”]MK, you mentioned finishing learning the most common 3000. Have you seen the Far East 3000 Chinese Character Dictionary? I use it and like it. The great thing for me is that it gives four example 2-character combinations plus a chengyu or other common phrase for each character. (Of course it includes alternative pronuncations and the meanings associated with those pronunciations where appropriate.)

I’m not sure whether you study the characters with their common combining characters or in isolation. Though memorising the combinations takes longer, I think its very useful.[/quote]
It’s that whole book :smiley:. Of course I have that (I have just about every book there is to have.)

When I was first started memorizing the 3000 characters I did it stand alone style, but I found that to not be so effective and a little inaccurate of real life, so I added an example word under the charaters. Now my questions cards look something like this (Not all of them yet, I just add them when/where I think I need them.)

Example:

你

你好

I’ll have the charater in question large and an example word under it. I try not to use the word if possible, but sometimes it’s the only way I really recongnize some words.

Like the 塑 in 塑膠. Seeing 塑膠 I know what it is right away, but either one of those alone will sometimes leave me stumped.

#14

I have one character for each question card but a lot more information on each corresponding answer card: all the major pronunciations in pinyin, all the major senses in English, several 2-character combinations and sometimes a chengyu or other common phrase, with pinyin where necessary (especially where there are different pronunciations for different meanings).

It does take quite a while, but I prefer this way, getting a feeling for the various senses of the very most common characters first.

I do also have some 2-character question cards, but they’re in addition to the cards for each individual character.

#15

The way I’m made the cards, one could adjust the templates as to not have the two character helper word underneath. My main goal now is to get myself into mainstreme Chinese. Reading magazines, books, comics, and things like that (not newspapers :P, I don’t read those in Englsih :slight_smile:)

#16

You’re much further along the road than me, of course.

My current goal is to know all the pronunciations and all the major senses of the 500 most common characters. I’m at around 260 right now, though obviously I know some better than others.

I find the one of the easiest things to read is movie subtitles. I recognise most of the characters in action movie subtitles though they go a bit too fast for me to keep up.

#17

Joesax,

I still think getting a high resolution PDA is worth the money. I used a low-rez one for many months before buying a hi-rez one, and the difference is like night and day. If you’re serious or semi-serious about studying characters, it’s well worth the investment.

That said, I don’t think the other features that come with Supermemo 2.0 are worth the upgrade for most people. The best feature by far is the hi-rez support, so if you don’t need that, you probably won’t want to upgrade.

#18

By the way, if you’re looking for a new pda check out the factory outlet on the palm site. I bought my zire31 for about NT2500. Had it shipped to my parents and then mailed here.

They also had the latest styles, also at half or less what you pay normally.

My pda has the tiniest scratch on the top of the case.

#19

:smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

Thanks for posting this splendiferous information!!!

(Like you, I’ll be downloading in the next, um, two minutes.)

#20

[quote=“scomargo”]Joesax,

I still think getting a high resolution PDA is worth the money. I used a low-rez one for many months before buying a hi-rez one, and the difference is like night and day. If you’re serious or semi-serious about studying characters, it’s well worth the investment.

That said, I don’t think the other features that come with Supermemo 2.0 are worth the upgrade for most people. The best feature by far is the hi-rez support, so if you don’t need that, you probably won’t want to upgrade.[/quote]I do OK with the 12*12 characters as they are enlarged on the “question” screen. I don’t doubt that hi-res ones are clearer and nicer, but my Treo 600 is so good in every other way that I’m reluctant to upgrade just yet.

I’m just wondering whether Supermemo 2 would be able to utilise the hi-res CJKOS characters in some way on my lo-res screen (such as for the big characters on the “question” screen, but I guess probably not. I’ll email them at some point to make sure.

[quote=“Muzha Man”]By the way, if you’re looking for a new pda check out the factory outlet on the palm site. I bought my zire31 for about NT2500. Had it shipped to my parents and then mailed here.

They also had the latest styles, also at half or less what you pay normally.

My pda has the tiniest scratch on the top of the case.[/quote]Thanks for the tip MM. Not looking to buy a new PDA yet but when I am I’ll have a look there.

Has to have a phone, though. The reason my Treo 600 gets so much use is that it’s my phone so I carry it everywhere. That means I can put in some work with Supermemo any time I have to wait for something such as at the doctor’s. I had Supermemo on my old PDA too but hardly used it because I always forgot to take my PDA with me.