Dictionaries for readers?

[Cyclops]

Often when reading a book, particularly a classic, I will come across a word and have to get the dictionary out or browse on my phone, but are there any free disctionaries for the readewr itself? Mine has no search or touch function so I guess each word would need to be hyperlinked to work, or would it? Any thoughts?

[MmavisO]

I think it depends on the reader. For example, Pocketbooks (all models, AFAIK) have a built-in dictionary. It's actually an out-of-copyright dictionary, so it's great for those old books that use outdated language. Anyway, you access the dictionary through the book menu (not the general one), select the word you want using the up/down right/left keys, hit the OK key, and there's your definition! I'm not familiar with Sony readers, but I would think they would have something similar. Maybe post in the Sony forum if nobody who knows about dictionaries on the PRS-300 wanders by here?

[SensualPoet]

Kindle 3 and the new Sony e-readers come with the Oxford English and Oxford New American English built in; you can switch back-and-forth. You can also purchase other dictionaries nd choose those as default.

[Cyclops]

Hmm no dictionary at all on the 300!

[mike_bike_kite]

Is there an English-French dictionary I can load up and just search for words. I'm currently living in France and my school boy French isn't doing so well. I was in a supermarket this morning trying to mime coconut milk and failed dismally. A phrase book would help to.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Mike

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Cyclops

Often when reading a book, particularly a classic, I will come across a word and have to get the dictionary out or browse on my phone, but are there any free disctionaries for the readewr itself? Mine has no search or touch function so I guess each word would need to be hyperlinked to work, or would it? Any thoughts?

Many readers have built-in dictionaries, and this really is something one should consider when deciding which device to buy. If one doesn't use a dictionary, then a PRS-300 is a good choice but, as you point out, it doesn't have a dictionary, and there's no real way to add one.

My only real suggestion would be to sell your PRS-300 (they fetch very good second-hand prices) and buy a reader which does have dictionary support.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mike_bike_kite

Is there an English-French dictionary I can load up and just search for words. I'm currently living in France and my school boy French isn't doing so well. I was in a supermarket this morning trying to mime coconut milk and failed dismally. A phrase book would help to.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Mike

You have a Kindle, so certainly, there are several available. Go to the Amazon UK Kindle store and search for "French Dictionary". A good one seems to be the Collins English-French dictionary, which costs £3.56.

[mike_bike_kite]

I downloaded the sample but I wasn't that taken with it but I suppose for the price I shouldn't complain. I just wanted a simple list of words with a direct translation. It also had to be easy to search. I obtained one for free of the net but French is littered with strange accents on the letters, none of which I can type in so I wouldn't be able to lookup these words. I'd just gotten to looking into stripping the accents when I thought about posting here

[Cyclops]

Originally Posted by HarryT

.
My only real suggestion would be to sell your PRS-300 (they fetch very good second-hand prices) and buy a reader which does have dictionary support.

Oh that's not an option! The reader is an early Christmas gift! Plus it being a used item (£95 from CE-X) I'd probably only get 50 quid for it! No I'll just use the dictionary on my phone.

[veezh]

Originally Posted by mike_bike_kite

Is there an English-French dictionary I can load up and just search for words.

I got the FR-EN Harrap's Shorter working on my Kindle (don't be misled by the 'Shorter' in the title -- it's a massive dictionary). Plus it's searchable.

You'll need to buy the dictionary in mobipocket format and then strip the DRM for it to work properly on the Kindle.

Good luck,
veezh

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Cyclops

Oh that's not an option! The reader is an early Christmas gift! Plus it being a used item (£95 from CE-X) I'd probably only get 50 quid for it! No I'll just use the dictionary on my phone.

Well, there are PD dictionary files aplenty on the net. Like here:
http://xdxf.revdanica.com/down/
And the 1913 Websters is available all over:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/673
It's useful for those older out-of-copyright ebooks.
What to do with those files will depend on your reader platform and the tools they offer. As mentioned, the Pocketbook line supports multiple simultaneous dictionaries and it offers a conversion tool that can handle xdxf format among other inputs. (I have several dozen installed on my PB360.)

Worst case scenario, you can open the gutenberg text file as an ebook (or convert it to ePub or PRC) and use your search function. It means switching from one book to another but it'll get you through it if your reader doesn't support dictionaries as such.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Worst case scenario, you can open the gutenberg text file as an ebook (or convert it to ePub or PRC) and use your search function. It means switching from one book to another but it'll get you through it if your reader doesn't support dictionaries as such.

Regretably, however, the PRS-300, which the original poster has, does not have a search facility, and hence such dictionaries aren't really of much use.

[SlowRain]

I use Noah Pro on my Palm PDA, but I was wondering if there are any good, free dictionaries available for Android devices.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Regretably, however, the PRS-300, which the original poster has, does not have a search facility, and hence such dictionaries aren't really of much use.

Whoops!
No dictionary, no search.
I'll have to remember that.
Thanks for the heads up.