MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Thoughts on how to format a dual-language book for learners?

seanos · 03-19-2014, 03:37 AM

Sometimes Mobileread does need to be reminded of its settings. I had that problem early on, but I seem to get notifications OK now.

Is fìor-bheag Gàidhlig a tha agam ach tha ùidh agam ann an leabhar agat. I have a completely undated book my mother got as a schoolgirl somewhere around 1930 that I’ve toyed with ePub-izing, but it’s copyright is a bit murky - Litridheacht na Gaedhilge (i.e. Gàidhlig na h-Èireann).

It’s amazing how helpful people are here, but also amazing how quickly they ‘geeked out’ over your thread!

You’re not going to find a neat solution, but you probably know that. I think alternating lines or paras could work OK. The English could also be made slightly smaller, maybe italic, maybe right aligned.

A much more labour-intensive possibility would be to have back-and-forth links to a parallel English chapter. Harder to set up and maintain, but it would keep the main text uninterrupted.

I think any solution that would require a PC or large screen begs the question, why EPUB and not HTML?

Also more labour-intensive, but you could produce an uglier, more compatible version and a fancier one.

03-19-2014, 03:37 AM	#36
seanos Zealot Posts: 104 Karma: 12 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Kobo Sage, Kobo Aura H2O, LG V20	Sometimes Mobileread does need to be reminded of its settings. I had that problem early on, but I seem to get notifications OK now. Is fìor-bheag Gàidhlig a tha agam ach tha ùidh agam ann an leabhar agat. I have a completely undated book my mother got as a schoolgirl somewhere around 1930 that I’ve toyed with ePub-izing, but it’s copyright is a bit murky - Litridheacht na Gaedhilge (i.e. Gàidhlig na h-Èireann). It’s amazing how helpful people are here, but also amazing how quickly they ‘geeked out’ over your thread! You’re not going to find a neat solution, but you probably know that. I think alternating lines or paras could work OK. The English could also be made slightly smaller, maybe italic, maybe right aligned. A much more labour-intensive possibility would be to have back-and-forth links to a parallel English chapter. Harder to set up and maintain, but it would keep the main text uninterrupted. I think any solution that would require a PC or large screen begs the question, why EPUB and not HTML? Also more labour-intensive, but you could produce an uglier, more compatible version and a fancier one.