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Old 09-09-2011, 09:25 AM   #1
dvitoria
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Post Can I write an epub ebook in two languages?

Is it possible to write an ebook in .epub format in two languages ?
I mean one page in English and the other in Spanish.
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Old 09-10-2011, 04:21 AM   #2
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Note added later: This suggestion is a good idea, but not feasible with present epub technology. See HarryT's comment lower down the page. Sorry. I opened my mouth before connecting my brain. The epub standard is so good, far better than, say, mobi, that I assumed it would cope automatically with columns. Now my original post:

Could be a problem since you don't know where the page breaks come. Why not use two columns? Many ebook readers can rotate the page through 90 degrees, so you read it in landscape mode. Short pages, but wider columns.

Another advantage is you can easily adjust so that the two texts keep in step. Translations are rarely exactly the same length! But an extra couple of carriage returns in one language or the other will do it.

Last edited by James_Wilde; 09-11-2011 at 04:35 AM.
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Old 09-11-2011, 12:59 AM   #3
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I'd think it would be easier just to create two seperate ebook files. One copy in English and one in Spanish. Either that or have them both bundled together in the same file. Sort of like an Omnibus version. The copy of the Spanish version starting on the page after the end of the English version.
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Old 09-11-2011, 04:23 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by James_Wilde View Post
Could be a problem since you don't know where the page breaks come. Why not use two columns? Many ebook readers can rotate the page through 90 degrees, so you read it in landscape mode. Short pages, but wider columns.
Can you explain how you'd go about doing that, James? To the best of my knowledge, ePub doesn't support columns.
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Old 09-11-2011, 04:37 AM   #5
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Hm, Harry, you've caught me out there. See my now edited comment earlier. However, I'll do some experimenting and see if I can find a solution for the op.

A few seconds later:

Hang on: epub is xhtml based. Couldn't you use a table with two columns? Perhaps a table for each chapter. Not ideal, but a possible solution. I'll give it a try.

Last edited by James_Wilde; 09-11-2011 at 04:43 AM.
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Old 09-11-2011, 04:40 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crich70 View Post
I'd think it would be easier just to create two seperate ebook files. One copy in English and one in Spanish. Either that or have them both bundled together in the same file. Sort of like an Omnibus version. The copy of the Spanish version starting on the page after the end of the English version.
Critch, I may be getting my favourite exercise here - jumping to conclusions - but I think what the op may be after is the kind of book where you can have the original on one page and, if you get stuck or want to check your knowledge of the foreign language, can check your translation by peeking at the opposite page.

Hence my failed suggestion to use columns, since ereaders don't normally (yet) have two facing pages visible at the same time.
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Old 09-11-2011, 06:15 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by James_Wilde View Post
Hm, Harry, you've caught me out there. See my now edited comment earlier. However, I'll do some experimenting and see if I can find a solution for the op.

A few seconds later:

Hang on: epub is xhtml based. Couldn't you use a table with two columns? Perhaps a table for each chapter. Not ideal, but a possible solution. I'll give it a try.
Tables have all sorts of problems. Many devices will truncate a table at the bottom of a screen, for example.

Genuine multi-column text is, I believe, a part of the ePub 3 standard, but there's no current reading device which will do it.
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Old 09-11-2011, 08:55 AM   #8
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An "easy" solution is to set up the texts linearly--English first, say, then Spanish, and set each line in English as a link to the line in Spanish and visa versa. A lot of work, but when it is done, it should do the job quite well.
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