dictionary on demand - Page 3

CommonReader · 05-08-2011, 08:43 AM

Does Amazon even offer a reasonable selection of ebooks in Italian? Apart from German Amazon's selection of non-English books seems to be very poor.
I've come across some moaning about the Kindle's poor support of foreign language dictionaries in a German forum. Users seem to be frustrated by what's being offered there, even though I have to admit that I didn't quite get all the problems. Does the Kindle have to identify the language from the ebook file to work correctly?

HarryT · 05-08-2011, 08:51 AM

Yes. A Kindle book has a "language" metadata item. The Kindle uses this to look up a word in the correct dictionary. Eg, if you have a book whose metadata tells the Kindle that it's written in German, the Kindle will look up words from it in a German dictionary (if one is present).

ApK · 05-08-2011, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommonReader

Does Amazon even offer a reasonable selection of ebooks in Italian? Apart from German Amazon's selection of non-English books seems very poor.
I've come across some moaning about the Kindle's poor support of foreign language dictionaries in a German forum. Users seem to be frustrated by what's being offered there, even though I have to admit that I didn't quite get all the problems. Does the Kindle have to identify the language from the ebook file to work correctly?

You highlight a word, and that word exists as an entry in your selected dictionary or it doesn't. In English, it idntifies root words from plurals or past tense forms. I don't know if that's 'language awareness' or just having properly crossreferenced forms in the dictionary, but I suspect the latter.

Also, I don't know how many Italian books Amazon has, but you don't need to get your books from Amazon.

ApK · 05-08-2011, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes. A Kindle book has a "language" metadata item. The Kindle uses this to look up a word in the correct dictionary. Eg, if you have a book whose metadata tells the Kindle that it's written in German, the Kindle will look up words from it in a German dictionary (if one is present).

Wouldn't it just use whatever default dictionary you select regardless of any language settings?

CommonReader · 05-08-2011, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApK

Also, I don't know how many Italian books Amazon has, but you don't need to get your books from Amazon.

That may be true but I don't know about any other bookseller that sells copyright protected ebooks in mobi format. Apart from Amazon everyone else in Western Europe seems to be using epub.

HarryT · 05-08-2011, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApK

Wouldn't it just use whatever default dictionary you select regardless of any language settings?

No. If you have a German dictionary installed on your Kindle, even if it's not the default dictionary, it will be used to lookup words in a German book. The default dictionary setting only applies if the default dictionary has the same language identifier as the book you're currently reading.

ApK · 05-08-2011, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

No. If you have a German dictionary installed on your Kindle, even if it's not the default dictionary, it will be used to lookup words in a German book. The default dictionary setting only applies if the default dictionary has the same language identifier as the book you're currently reading.

Can there be no language specified? I assume the lookup works with text files, too? Never tried.

CommonReader · 05-08-2011, 09:04 AM

Apparently Amazon in Germany hasn't been too particular about setting the language tag correctly. This is hearsay only, though. As they haven't even bothered to provide a German interface I personally do consider the claim as credible.

HarryT · 05-08-2011, 09:05 AM

I too would imagine that the default dictionary would be used for a text file. But I haven't tried it either

.

ApK · 05-08-2011, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommonReader

That may be true but I don't know about any other bookseller that sells copyright protected ebooks in mobi format.

I see no reference to what type or format of content the OP is interested in.

CommonReader · 05-08-2011, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApK

I see no reference to what type or format of content the OP is interested in.

That's quite correct. However, I don't consider it as a far fetched assumption that an Italian wouldn't use an ebook reader solely to read English books. The supply of English books for the Kindle is obviously excellent.

HarryT · 05-08-2011, 09:10 AM

It's certainly true that Amazon up until now have concentrated primarily on English language books. They have, I believe, recently launched a German-language bookstore, so there's good reason to hope that they will expand into other languages in the future.

ApK · 05-08-2011, 09:13 AM

I mean he didn't say he was primarily interest in DRM'd mainstream books. And, of course, even if it were so, that doesn't automatically disqualify the Kindle, as has been discussed to death elsewhere, but he didn't ask about that element at all.

05-08-2011, 08:43 AM	#31
CommonReader Fanatic Posts: 528 Karma: 2530000 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Sony PRS-T3, PRS-650, Vaio Tap 11, iPad Mini	Does Amazon even offer a reasonable selection of ebooks in Italian? Apart from German Amazon's selection of non-English books seems to be very poor. I've come across some moaning about the Kindle's poor support of foreign language dictionaries in a German forum. Users seem to be frustrated by what's being offered there, even though I have to admit that I didn't quite get all the problems. Does the Kindle have to identify the language from the ebook file to work correctly? Last edited by CommonReader; 05-08-2011 at 08:54 AM.

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05-08-2011, 08:51 AM	#32
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Yes. A Kindle book has a "language" metadata item. The Kindle uses this to look up a word in the correct dictionary. Eg, if you have a book whose metadata tells the Kindle that it's written in German, the Kindle will look up words from it in a German dictionary (if one is present).

05-08-2011, 09:04 AM	#38
CommonReader Fanatic Posts: 528 Karma: 2530000 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Sony PRS-T3, PRS-650, Vaio Tap 11, iPad Mini	Apparently Amazon in Germany hasn't been too particular about setting the language tag correctly. This is hearsay only, though. As they haven't even bothered to provide a German interface I personally do consider the claim as credible.

05-08-2011, 09:05 AM	#39
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I too would imagine that the default dictionary would be used for a text file. But I haven't tried it either .

05-08-2011, 09:10 AM	#42
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	It's certainly true that Amazon up until now have concentrated primarily on English language books. They have, I believe, recently launched a German-language bookstore, so there's good reason to hope that they will expand into other languages in the future.

05-08-2011, 09:13 AM	#43
ApK Award-Winning Participant Posts: 7,316 Karma: 67862884 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ, USA Device: Kindle	I mean he didn't say he was primarily interest in DRM'd mainstream books. And, of course, even if it were so, that doesn't automatically disqualify the Kindle, as has been discussed to death elsewhere, but he didn't ask about that element at all.