How should I fix or replace my electronic dictionary?
Unfortunately I can’t recommend a cheap replacement – but myself I have moved away from electronic dictionaries and now use this dictionary software with a Nintendo DS Lite game console. It seems to be a lot more flexible for searching options, and also allows you to write in the kanji (and it’s pretty forgiving about dodgy writing). It will add about another $100 to your cost – but might be something to consider in the future because you aren’t locked into a specific device.
Yes I think it would be fine for someone at that level. It’s aimed at native Japanese speakers but of all ages but after playing with it for a while you should have no problems. You can select which way you would like to search for a word – say by alphabet, kana or kanji. I found that as far as English meanings go it was a big improvement over the basic electronic dictionary I had – which would often not be able to give me a word at all. As I mentioned earlier the touch screen seems a lot more senstitive than the one on my dictionary – and even if you get close enough it gives you an option to quickly scan through until you see the one you meant. For English and kana a little keyboard comes up and you just tap the screen. Also it doesn’t just give you the word but also examples of it being used in context. So there is quite a lot of information there to get at. It also has a stack of quizzes of varying levels to play around with too. Plus you can save words and build your own study lis
