Joy of improving one's English

avinatbezeq · 10-23-2010, 05:34 PM

Wanted to to share this unexpected benefit of the Kindle:

I'm from Israel, and English is a second language for me. I studied it mostly by reading books (my good old late Librarian fed me a science fiction book a day in my high-school days) and I thought my reading English was quite good.

Then I started reading on my DXG, and noticed that here and there were words I did not understand - say one or two per page.

Reading them in a (paper) book I would just skip over them, and not even notice them. But with the DXG's dictionary it's fun to look them up. Now I even highlight them so I can later recall them.

Avi

TomF · 10-24-2010, 12:55 AM

I wish I could learn Spanish that way!

avinatbezeq · 10-24-2010, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomF

I wish I could learn Spanish that way!

Yes. If I'd been able to install an Italian dictionary on my Kindle and have kindle consult it for Italian books, my Italiophile wife would surely confisticate the K for her own use !

avinatbezeq · 10-24-2010, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhillipA82

That's awesome! Keep up the good work

Thanks!-)

desertblues · 10-24-2010, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avinatbezeq

Wanted to to share this unexpected benefit of the Kindle:

I'm from Israel, and English is a second language for me. I studied it mostly by reading books (my good old late Librarian fed me a science fiction book a day in my high-school days) and I thought my reading English was quite good.

Then I started reading on my DXG, and noticed that here and there were words I did not understand - say one or two per page.

Reading them in a (paper) book I would just skip over them, and not even notice them. But with the DXG's dictionary it's fun to look them up. Now I even highlight them so I can later recall them.

Avi

Good job!

I'd better follow your good example, as I'm always editing my posts because of ' grammar, grammar, grammar' . (not only grammar but spelling mistakes).

Francesco · 10-24-2010, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avinatbezeq

Reading them in a (paper) book I would just skip over them, and not even notice them. But with the DXG's dictionary it's fun to look them up. Now I even highlight them so I can later recall them.

Avi

I'm a Spanish native speaker and I'm in the same boat! Thanks for sharing your experience.

meatballs · 10-24-2010, 04:22 PM

Its good even for native English speakers. Have read a lot of words and been able to understand the context of the sentence, but now know what they really mean. Having a tangible definition of ingenuous rather than just thinking 'something to do with being genuine' is great

Salgueiros · 10-24-2010, 04:37 PM

English is not my first language, not even my second (I am portuguese) so i did noticed that with a paper book, stopping the reading to look for a meaning of a word did cut the rhythm and pleasure of reading, so as long as the word did not interfere with my understanding of the meaning of the phrase i would skip it. But now with my PRS 350, that does not happen, and i am very pleased with it. I never imagined this could be such a great feature in these devices.

Yeti · 10-24-2010, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomF

I wish I could learn Spanish that way!

You can Tom, and it is quite easy. You can change the Kindle's built-in dictionary to a Spanish dictionary. There is an excellent Spanish dictionary called "Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Translation Dictionary - Kindle Edition" available from Amazon. Once the dictionary is on your Kindle you can change the Kindle's primary dictionary to the new Spanish one. (Press Menu, choose Settings, press Menu again and choose Change Primary Dictionary). Now just find a Spanish book you'd like to read and off you go. I am doing this myself from time to time to improve my Spanish. There may be other "Kindle Edition" dictionaries available too; if anyone knows of a good French one I would like to know.

avinatbezeq · 10-29-2010, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeti

You can Tom, and it is quite easy. You can change the Kindle's built-in dictionary to a Spanish dictionary...

Greate tip, thanks! Now I only have to find an Italian dictionary, and my wife can take over my Kindle

Thjan · 10-29-2010, 06:20 AM

Say byebye to your Kindle avinatbezeq :P

http://www.amazon.com/English-Italia.../dp/B0034KYT78
http://www.amazon.com/College-Italia.../dp/B003E8AK2S

avinatbezeq · 11-05-2010, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thjan

Say byebye to your Kindle avinatbezeq :P

http://www.amazon.com/English-Italia.../dp/B0034KYT78
http://www.amazon.com/College-Italia.../dp/B003E8AK2S

I'm pre-ordeing the italian-english dictionary now.

thinkpad · 11-05-2010, 06:14 AM

The only thing that's missing, besides getting the definition, is that you get the dictionary to pronounce the word for you with the TTS (text to speach) feature. This would be immensely useful.

mdovell · 11-05-2010, 03:21 PM

This is where I think the kindle can really go beyond simply just being associated with books.

The only issues with a latin based language is the character set is limited. Eventually I think a touch screen might be needed to adapt to Asian character sets.

It really is interesting to see how this can help others.

The odd thing is I kept assuming the applications would be in the high school and college fields. Has anyone attempted to use them in elementary?

10-23-2010, 05:34 PM	#1
avinatbezeq Connoisseur Posts: 93 Karma: 322 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Israel Device: Sony PRS-505, KDXG	Joy of improving one's English Wanted to to share this unexpected benefit of the Kindle: I'm from Israel, and English is a second language for me. I studied it mostly by reading books (my good old late Librarian fed me a science fiction book a day in my high-school days) and I thought my reading English was quite good. Then I started reading on my DXG, and noticed that here and there were words I did not understand - say one or two per page. Reading them in a (paper) book I would just skip over them, and not even notice them. But with the DXG's dictionary it's fun to look them up. Now I even highlight them so I can later recall them. Avi

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10-24-2010, 12:55 AM	#2
TomF Kindle Enthusiast Posts: 243 Karma: 1818 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: San Diego, CA Device: Kindle 3G Graphite, Kindle Fire	I wish I could learn Spanish that way!

10-24-2010, 04:22 PM	#7
meatballs Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle3	Its good even for native English speakers. Have read a lot of words and been able to understand the context of the sentence, but now know what they really mean. Having a tangible definition of ingenuous rather than just thinking 'something to do with being genuine' is great

10-24-2010, 04:37 PM	#8
Salgueiros Eudaimonia Posts: 898 Karma: 9164418 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Sony PRS T2, Sony PRS T3, Sony DPT-RP1	English is not my first language, not even my second (I am portuguese) so i did noticed that with a paper book, stopping the reading to look for a meaning of a word did cut the rhythm and pleasure of reading, so as long as the word did not interfere with my understanding of the meaning of the phrase i would skip it. But now with my PRS 350, that does not happen, and i am very pleased with it. I never imagined this could be such a great feature in these devices.

10-29-2010, 06:20 AM	#11
Thjan book addict Posts: 24 Karma: 36 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Omega - Afterlife Device: Kindle 3, Sony PRS-650	Say byebye to your Kindle avinatbezeq :P http://www.amazon.com/English-Italia.../dp/B0034KYT78 http://www.amazon.com/College-Italia.../dp/B003E8AK2S

11-05-2010, 06:14 AM	#13
thinkpad David Posts: 1,808 Karma: 8916183 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Norway Device: Kindle, E.Edge (sold), Irex Iliad (retired)	The only thing that's missing, besides getting the definition, is that you get the dictionary to pronounce the word for you with the TTS (text to speach) feature. This would be immensely useful.

11-05-2010, 03:21 PM	#14
mdovell Zealot Posts: 144 Karma: 3168 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: Kindle DX	This is where I think the kindle can really go beyond simply just being associated with books. The only issues with a latin based language is the character set is limited. Eventually I think a touch screen might be needed to adapt to Asian character sets. It really is interesting to see how this can help others. The odd thing is I kept assuming the applications would be in the high school and college fields. Has anyone attempted to use them in elementary?

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