JiShop is going to be developed not only as a kanji dictionary.
Quite soon it will evolve into a software combining a dictionary (with additionally incorporated data),
grammatical analyzer, machine translator and courseware.
The following functional features of the kanji dictionary can be expected in the next versions:
- More advanced implementation of the drill;
- Multiple output of several dictionary entries;
- Special search options;
- Dynamic help features;
- Groups of synonyms;
- Readings in personal names for all kanji;
- User-defined dictionary data.
The longstanding work on filling up the dictionary database is nearly finished:
just 355 kanji entries are not yet edited, which is just about 5% of JIS X 0208 set.
When they all are fully edited, the next goal will be to edit the entries for rare characters
from additional sets (JIS X 0212 and JIS X 0212). Along with that, new Japanese words will be added
to the phonetic dictionary, and definitions of some previously added words will be re-edited when necessary.
When the dictionary is completed, it will be the base for developing an educational
software system for learning Japanese characters by the mnemonic method of plot chains.
This method is discussed in the "Articles" section of the JiShop website.