Outlier Linguistic Solutions

[Shelley]

I think that the way to learn characters is to learn as much about them as possible. I am not a great fan of the "little stories" idea. I want to learn the facts about the character not someone else's idea of what it means to them.

 

So this dictionary would be excellent for me for that reason. For me the etymology and evolution of characters helps me learn the character.

 

As a poor student, well sort of, I study as a hobby, but I would probably save up my pennies for this when it comes out. I would like to add to your kick starter but for the same reasons I am unable to.

 

However if there is anything else that can be done to help.................

[xuefang]

I am very excited about this and can already see my self using this dictionary to teach characters to my students. Just the other day I was making a PPT for my new student that is really into characters, I ran into several problems. Like why in 早 there is a sun on top of the number ten? That's what my student asked me and I couldn't come up with a good explanation. I hope and believe your dictionary will help me with problems like this.

 

I already pledged on Kickstarter and shared the new on my WeChat. I also plan to share the word on my blog's Facebook Page as well!

[pross]

Perhaps of lessor importance, but none the less relevant to a comprehensive learner's 字典: stroke order variations.

 

For example, why is your stroke order diagram for 黑 different to the one built into Pleco? Why does my tutor write 及 different from in the text book?

[OneEye]

Oh, good question!

 

Our stroke order data will all be in line with the standard TW and PRC stroke orders. For this demo, we defaulted to the TW standard except for characters with a simplified variant, in which cases we went with PRC (of course). So that means that 黑 is the same in both, even if the PRC and TW standards differ. This was to save ourselves a bit of work and to try to reduce the size of the demo. But note the difference, for example, between the traditional and simplified stroke order even for 草.

 

In the official release, we'll probably include an option for PRC stroke orders for traditional characters as well as HK stroke orders as well. Maybe even the "orthodox" stroke order for those like me who don't really care about following a particular government standard. It all depends on what kind of data we can get our hands on. If we can't get it all for the initial release, we'll try to include it in an update. Anyway, you should be able to simply set it up in the options somewhere to use whichever version you prefer.

 

I've found that the stroke order a teacher uses will depend not only on where he or she grew up (obviously), but also when. In Taiwan at least, the standard stroke order has apparently slightly changed a few times over the years.

[Demonic_Duck]

By the "orthodox" stroke order, do you mean the stroke orders as advocated by the likes of Harvey Dam/Hofmann? I assume he'll be lobbying for its inclusion!

 

I haven't yet supported your Kickstarter, mainly because I can't seem to find any option on the Kickstarter website for paying with a UnionPay card, or via Paypal. Is there some hidden way of doing either of those that I'm missing, or don't they support it? On the payment page it has the line "Select a payment method", but doesn't give any options to select.

 

I have a Mastercard at my disposal if necessary, but I try to avoid paying for stuff with it unless I have to.

[OneEye]

By the "orthodox" stroke order, do you mean the stroke orders as advocated by the likes of Harvey Dam/Hofmann? I assume he'll be lobbying for its inclusion!

 

That's the one. And yeah, I'm sure he will be.

 

Unfortunately, Kickstarter only accepts Visa, MasterCard, and American Express credit and debit cards.

[xiaokaka]

Congratulations on reaching 10%!

I'm still thinking about which character/component to sponsor, I feel like it would be much easier to choose with the help of the finished dictionary! ;) By the way, in what order will we be allowed to choose, in the order pledged to kickstarter, random or in some other sorting?

I'm also wondering what your plans are if you do not reach the kickstarter goal of $75,000, I would be very sad if your project was greatly delayed.

[OneEye]

Thanks!

 

The plan is to contact everyone with the list of characters at the end of the Kickstarter, and give priority to the earliest backers on the off chance that two people want the same character. However, a few people have gotten in touch and asked if they could reserve a character. The answer is yes, as long as it hasn't been spoken for and it's common enough that we know for sure it will be included (within the first 2000 most common — don't ask for 餮 or something   ). Just send me a message on Kickstarter, so it's all in the same place.

 

We don't have any reason to think we won't make it. Things have slowed down a bit since the first day, which is to be expected. There are several developments that should play out over the next few days that will really get the word out there.

[xiaokaka]

Ok, that sounds good! I wasn't trying to suggest that you won't make it, just wondered what your plan was just in case you didn't.

[OneEye]

No worries! We do have some backup plans, but of course a successful Kickstarter is our best option.

[Tianjin42]

This looks an interesting development and I don't think it has been posted up on here yet. Saw this on Kickstarter.

 

A new dictionary with a few nice features that will also be available through Pleco. 

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnrenfroe/outlier-dictionary-of-chinese-characters

 

More details here:

http://www.outlier-linguistics.com/demo/

[Mixia]

There is a post for this about 4 topics under this one ;)

[wibr]

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/45912-outlier-linguistic-solutions/

 

That's the main thread, if you have any questions OneEye (John Renfroe@Outlier) is happy to answer them. :-)

[Tianjin42]

Really? Totally missed the original thread sorry. 

[OneEye]

Well, I didn't make a separate announcement thread. I just announced it in the main Outlier thread. But thanks!

[studychinese]

OneEye, I don't understand the tiers. Is the $49 tier better than the $50 tier? Can you provide some insight into this? Also, essentials and expert seem to be the same thing. Please clarify.

[giokve]

EDIT: I misunderstood the difference between Expert and Essentials.

 

@studychinese: you can see the difference in the demo actually, where each entry has a section "for experts only".

 

"The Expert Edition contains a lot more information about the character's origin and evolution over time, as well as interesting linguistic tidbits and historical facts."

[imron]

merged to keep questions and answers in the same place.

[lechuan]

 

 

No worries! We do have some backup plans, but of course a successful Kickstarter is our best option.

 

Even if this kickstarter effort doesn't reach target, you could always relaunch with a new target and reward structure

[OneEye]

John Pasden just wrote a really great review at Sinosplice.

 

Also, ChinesePod posted this on their Facebook page: "Outlier Linguistic Solutions is developing what we think will be a revolutionary ‪#‎ChineseDictionary‬ tool unlike any other: Check out their Kickstarter here and see why we think this could be the next big thing for helping your Chinese Language Learning: http://hubs.ly/y0PFz30"