Troubleshooting PW2 Using Wrong Dictionary

BookCat · 03-07-2022, 09:11 AM

Yesterday, when I checked a word in my PW2, I noticed that the dictionary used was the New Oxford American Dictionary rather than the one it should have used: the Oxford Dictionary of English. This puzzled me.

My PW2 is at firmware version 5.9.7

I made sure that my preferred dictionary, the Oxford Dictionary of English, hadn't in some way 'disappeared' from the ereader. It's still there.

My kindles are never linked to wifi - I don't have it - so Amazon can't have interfered with the ereader. I found the User's manual and looked up how to change the dictionary, but the recommended solution didn't work.

The solution I tried was: go into Settings, select Language and Dictionaries, select the Dictionaries option. Here I found only one option, The New Oxford American Dictionary, whereas there should have been all the options in English.

Why isn't the Oxford Dictionary of English available to select?
Does anyone know how I can return to my native English dictionary look up?

Thanks in advance for any help.

jhowell · 03-07-2022, 10:09 AM

On my Kindle there are separate settings for English US and English UK under Language. The available English dictionaries change with that selection.

Added: After changing from English US to English UK the Oxford Dictionary of English showed up as a choice for me. Oddly it remained even when I switched back to English US.

BookCat · 03-07-2022, 12:25 PM

jhowell: my language setting has always been English UK. After reading your comment I've checked that this is still the case, it is, but the kindle is using the New Oxford American Dictionary. I don't know how to change this.

j.p.s · 03-07-2022, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BookCat

jhowell: my language setting has always been English UK. After reading your comment I've checked that this is still the case, it is, but the kindle is using the New Oxford American Dictionary. I don't know how to change this.

Highlight a word, dictionary pops up, tap on The New Oxford American Dictionary at bottom of popup, select Oxford Dictionary of English

BookCat · 03-07-2022, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Highlight a word, dictionary pops up, tap on The New Oxford American Dictionary at bottom of popup, select Oxford Dictionary of English

Thanks. I've tried this. After highlighting a word and tapping where it says American Dictionary I get a message box containing Select New Dictionary with an arrow pointing left. If I click this arrow it takes me back to the original definition box which comes up on highlighting a word. The dictionary is still American.

I'm totally stuck!

j.p.s · 03-07-2022, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BookCat

Thanks. I've tried this. After highlighting a word and tapping where it says American Dictionary I get a message box containing Select New Dictionary with an arrow pointing left. If I click this arrow it takes me back to the original definition box which comes up on highlighting a word. The dictionary is still American.

I'm totally stuck!

Did that work in the past? The flash memory on your now old PW2 might be starting to wear out.

What do you see in the dictionaries folder when you connect your PW2 to your computer over USB.

BookCat · 03-07-2022, 01:52 PM

I haven't had this issue in the past, so the solution wasn't tested before.

I have the PW2 connected to my computer but I can't see any Dictionaries folder.
I can see:
Documents
Fonts
active_content_sandbox (looked inside this, it contains lots of widgets, the browser and store)

These are the only folders. There are other items two of which seem to be related to Calibre, a picture and a textpad called wininfo_screenshot which contains lots of random text.

Can anything be done if it's the flash memory?

tomsem · 03-07-2022, 03:14 PM

Have you tried removing ODE and then re-downloading it?

BookCat · 03-07-2022, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomsem

Have you tried removing ODE and then re-downloading it?

I will have to transfer via usb. Where in the kindle should I put it considering I don't have a dictionary file?

BookCat · 03-07-2022, 04:07 PM

I've done it!

Just in case anyone else has this problem, this was the workaround I used.
I redownloaded the ODE as tomsem suggested, putting this in the documents folder. I'd checked my PW3 and this is where the ODE seemed to be, so I put it in the same place on the PW2.

This didn't work. So I wondered if totally deleting the New Oxford American Dictionary might force it to use the ODE. It took a while to find the NOAD, then remove it from the device.

When I did this, I selected a random word in a book. It used the ODE!!!

Thank you everyone for helping me to sort this out. I hope my solution helps anyone who has this problem in future.

j.p.s · 03-07-2022, 09:10 PM

I wasn't able to check earlier today.

The location of dictionaries is documents/dictionaries/

03-07-2022, 09:11 AM	#1
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	PW2 Using Wrong Dictionary Yesterday, when I checked a word in my PW2, I noticed that the dictionary used was the New Oxford American Dictionary rather than the one it should have used: the Oxford Dictionary of English. This puzzled me. My PW2 is at firmware version 5.9.7 I made sure that my preferred dictionary, the Oxford Dictionary of English, hadn't in some way 'disappeared' from the ereader. It's still there. My kindles are never linked to wifi - I don't have it - so Amazon can't have interfered with the ereader. I found the User's manual and looked up how to change the dictionary, but the recommended solution didn't work. The solution I tried was: go into Settings, select Language and Dictionaries, select the Dictionaries option. Here I found only one option, The New Oxford American Dictionary, whereas there should have been all the options in English. Why isn't the Oxford Dictionary of English available to select? Does anyone know how I can return to my native English dictionary look up? Thanks in advance for any help.

03-07-2022, 10:09 AM	#2
jhowell Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,498 Karma: 84420419 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Tampa Bay, Florida Device: Kindles	On my Kindle there are separate settings for English US and English UK under Language. The available English dictionaries change with that selection. Added: After changing from English US to English UK the Oxford Dictionary of English showed up as a choice for me. Oddly it remained even when I switched back to English US. Last edited by jhowell; 03-07-2022 at 10:18 AM.

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03-07-2022, 12:25 PM	#3
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	jhowell: my language setting has always been English UK. After reading your comment I've checked that this is still the case, it is, but the kindle is using the New Oxford American Dictionary. I don't know how to change this.

03-07-2022, 01:52 PM	#7
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	I haven't had this issue in the past, so the solution wasn't tested before. I have the PW2 connected to my computer but I can't see any Dictionaries folder. I can see: Documents Fonts active_content_sandbox (looked inside this, it contains lots of widgets, the browser and store) These are the only folders. There are other items two of which seem to be related to Calibre, a picture and a textpad called wininfo_screenshot which contains lots of random text. Can anything be done if it's the flash memory?

03-07-2022, 03:14 PM	#8
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,478 Karma: 26425959 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Have you tried removing ODE and then re-downloading it?

03-07-2022, 04:07 PM	#10
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	I've done it! Just in case anyone else has this problem, this was the workaround I used. I redownloaded the ODE as tomsem suggested, putting this in the documents folder. I'd checked my PW3 and this is where the ODE seemed to be, so I put it in the same place on the PW2. This didn't work. So I wondered if totally deleting the New Oxford American Dictionary might force it to use the ODE. It took a while to find the NOAD, then remove it from the device. When I did this, I selected a random word in a book. It used the ODE!!! Thank you everyone for helping me to sort this out. I hope my solution helps anyone who has this problem in future.

03-07-2022, 09:10 PM	#11
j.p.s Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,285 Karma: 98804578 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: pb360	I wasn't able to check earlier today. The location of dictionaries is documents/dictionaries/

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