What should our FAQ contain?

Question

Now that the public beta has started, we really should start updating our FAQ with some of the decisions we've made during the private beta. Possible additions:

• Basic resources (Rikai, EDICT, Eijirou...)
• Frequently asked support questions (input help)
• Questions that are allowed (questions in Japanese, etc.)
• Questions that are not allowed (uninteresting translation questions, language learning questions that aren't specifically about Japanese, etc.)
• Notation (use of romaji and kana readings, furigana if/when we get it, * and ? before examples like the English SE has?)

Anyone want to take a stab at one of these sections?

Answer 1

Getting the ball rolling. Feel free to edit, copy, modify, delete or do whatever you want with the following.

BASIC RESOURCES

Entering Japanese characters from the keyboard

Windows

• MS IME

• Google's Mozc Japanese IME

Mac

• Kotoeri
• Google's Mozc Japanese IME (You need to compile it)

Linux

• Google's Mozc Japanese IME (You need to compile it)
• iBus or SCIM with Anthy (You can install from package managers)

Web IME

• Ajax IME

Browser add-ons

Furigana inserter for Firefox

Help with any of these tools should be asked on the corresponding website and is off-topic here.

Reading Japanese characters from a webpage

Browser add-ons

Rikaichan for Firefox, Thunderbird

Rikaikun for Chrome

Online Japanese dictionaries

EDICT

KotoBank

Weblio

翻訳訳語辞典 - Translation corpus search

Answer 2

Closed as off-topic? Go here instead

Before anything else, drop by our chat room to seek help (you need 20 reputations to talk in chat).

I need a translation

• esaura.cc
• mygengo

Please correct my Japanese

• lang8

Answer 3

LISTENING PRACTICE

(feel free to edit and add your recommended podcasts and radio shows)

TBS Radio Podcasts, among which you will find:

• Dig (Mon-Fri, news and current topics, advanced to fluent)
• Kojima Keiko: キラ☆キラ (Mon-Fri, variety of conversation topics, high intermediate to advanced)

BayFM Internet Radio Streaming, various music-related shows, among which you will find:

• Sakamoto Maaya: ビタミンM (Fri, listener mail on monthly topics, intermediate)

• Oku Hanako: Lagan de Talk! (Sun, listener mail in several corners, intermediate)

Things tagged with "radio" at nicosound, which has oodles of uninteresting stuff, but here are some subtags:

• FM Theater (varies, radio dramas produced by NHK, intermediate to advanced)

• Toyosaki Aki: おかえりらじお (Thu, intermediate)

• Hanazawa Kana: ひとりでできるかな？ (every other Wed, intermediate)

• Sanpei Yūko and Kanemoto Hisako: wai!wai!BOX☆” (Sat, intermediate)

If you poke around on nicosound you can find archives of old radio shows, but nearly all of what's there is in some way anime- or voice acting-related.

Answer 4

The faq should definitely be edited. It currently looks so generic that no one is ever going to read it.

It should contain links to well scored questions, closed questions, controversial questions, say how to use the search bar (as I got tricked myself today by the one-character-is-not-enough bug looking for "僕" without quotes), as well as, why not, a few resources.

My useful participation to online resources will be http://www.forumjapon.com/forum which is mostly in French, but has (small) Japanese and English parts, for real discussion of finer points, as well as the following link that I am sure you will be able to use for your best: http://translate.google.fr/translate_tts?ie=UTF-8&q=このとても便利なツールを薦めます&tl=ja&prev=input