Paperwhite and dictionaries. Future customer

penna · 07-17-2016, 03:57 AM

Hi,

Since Kobo e-readers have terrible monolingual dictionaries for English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian , I am looking with great interest what Kindle devices have to offer.

I am interested in the latent papperwhite e-reader and have plenty of questions.

How good are the default dictionaries in the papperwhite for English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese? Are the dictionaries from Oxford or respective Oxford like institutions?

I am currently trying to read some Spanish books on my IPad and love the dictionary functionality and expect that level of high quality on the papperwhite as well.

How good are the default dictionaries that come along with the papperwhite ? Is it difficult to add one's own dictionaries?

I rejected the Kobo e-readers that I liked due to terrible dictionaries.

svenlind · 07-17-2016, 04:38 AM

I am quite satisfied with the English dictionary in Kindle. I would love to have an English->Danish dictionary, but that is probably too optimistic.

I don't know about the other dictionaries you are interested in. But Amazon sells many dictionaries that can be set up as default dictionaries.

Look here for further info.

Julius Caesar · 07-17-2016, 04:52 AM

The default monolingual American English Dictionary for the native speakers of English is pretty good. You can look for some examples yourself by going to the website version http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us and type a word or phrase.

The Kindle also comes with a similar dictionary for British English.

If English is not your first language, you can buy additional dictionary such as Merriam Webster Advanced Learner Dictionary for the Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001GX3ZWA

It was quite good but I rarely use it now since my English has improved and I now prefer using the one for native speakers instead.

Doitsu · 07-17-2016, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by penna

How good are the default dictionaries in the papperwhite for English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese? Are the dictionaries from Oxford or respective Oxford like institutions?

IMHO, when it comes to Dictionaries, the Kindle is hands-down the best choice.
BTW, you can test the monolingual English and Spanish dictionaries yourself by installing any of the free Kindle apps. (The Kindle apps come with the UK/US Oxford English dictionaries and the DRAE Spanish dictionary.)
If you buy a current eInk Kindle model and register it with Amazon you can also download the Spanish<->English Oxford dictionaries for free. (However, these dictionaries usually need to be manually downloaded.)

Registered eInk Kindle* users can download 30 monolingual and bilingual dictionaries.
Here's the complete list:

Spoiler:

* Registered eInk Kindles with 5.6.x firmware (or higher) only.

Doitsu · 07-17-2016, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by svenlind

I am quite satisfied with the English dictionary in Kindle. I would love to have an English->Danish dictionary, but that is probably too optimistic.

It's relatively easy to create Kindle dictionaries from tab-delimited text files.
The greatest problem is finding a suitable list. (You'll need to find something similar to the Swedish Folkets lexikon.)

penna · 07-17-2016, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu

IMHO, when it comes to Dictionaries, the Kindle is hands-down the best choice.
BTW, you can test the monolingual English and Spanish dictionaries yourself by installing any of the free Kindle apps. (The Kindle apps come with the UK/US Oxford English dictionaries and the DRAE Spanish dictionary.)
If you buy a current eInk Kindle model and register it with Amazon you can also download the Spanish<->English Oxford dictionaries for free. (However, these dictionaries usually need to be manually downloaded.)

Registered eInk Kindle* users can download 30 monolingual and bilingual dictionaries.
Here's the complete list:

Spoiler:

* Registered eInk Kindles with 5.6.x firmware (or higher) only.

Hi there,

I think that was an incredibly good reply. Some questions.

If I buy the latest papperwhite model, and register it on amazon.co.uk , will I be able to download for free the English Oxford dictionaries and some of the ones listed in your spoiler list?

I downloaded the kindle app on my IPad and when I started it , it required my Amazon credentials, which I did not have so I didnt continue.

If after registering my future papperwhite model, and can download for free the dictionaries needed, is it difficult to manually add those dictionaries into the papperwhite system?

I have to say, your spoiler list of dictionaries has me this close to becoming a papperwhite owner.

Doitsu · 07-17-2016, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by penna

If I buy the latest papperwhite model, and register it on amazon.co.uk , will I be able to download for free the English Oxford dictionaries and some of the ones listed in your spoiler list?

If you buy a current eInk model and register it, you'll be able to download all dictionaries in my spoiler list.
(Disclaimer: This worked for my PW2 and other models, but Amazon might theoretically limit dictionary downloads for new models. However, I haven't heard of such a case. If you want to be absolutely sure contact Amazon customer service and ask them whether these downloads are still available.)

If you don't buy a Kindle, you can only download the default monolingual English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese dictionaries with the Kindle apps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by penna

If after registering my future papperwhite model, and can download for free the dictionaries needed, is it difficult to manually add those dictionaries into the papperwhite system?

It's not that difficult actually. For example, to download the Spanish-English dictionary, you'll have to log in to your Amazon account and select the following:

Digital Contents > Manage Your Contents and Devices > Books > Dictionaries & User Guides > Oxford Spanish - English Dictionary > Deliver

(The dictionary will be automatically downloaded to your Kinde the next time you connect to your Amazon account via Wifi.)

penna · 07-17-2016, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu

If you buy a current eInk model and register it, you'll be able to download all dictionaries in my spoiler list.
(Disclaimer: This worked for my PW2 and other models, but Amazon might theoretically limit dictionary downloads for new models. However, I haven't heard of such a case. If you want to be absolutely sure contact Amazon customer service and ask them whether these downloads are still available.)

If you don't buy a Kindle, you can only download the default monolingual English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese dictionaries with the Kindle apps.

It's not that difficult actually. For example, to download the Spanish-English dictionary, you'll have to log in to your Amazon account and select the following:

Digital Contents > Manage Your Contents and Devices > Books > Dictionaries & User Guides > Oxford Spanish - English Dictionary > Deliver

(The dictionary will be automatically downloaded to your Kinde the next time you connect to your Amazon account via Wifi.)

Thank you.

Very helpful. Does anyone know a good place online to buy the latest Paperwhite without ads? In Sweden, Webbhallen are selling it with the special offers. I can't find another place to buy it without the offers edition.

There might some good online stores in the UK that deliver to Sweden. Any recommendations?

krbo · 07-17-2016, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by penna

There might some good online stores in the UK that deliver to Sweden. Any recommendations?

there is just one reason to remove ads - additional sweep required to wake Kindle. Ads are very unobtrusive, sometimes even usefull.

but as you are from non amazon store area there is a 99% chance customer support will remove ads for free if you ask them politely, many of us (Croatia) done that, none were declined (mine PW3 was from Germany).

if you insist on buying free one, then you can use german resend/repack service called mailboxde - they will give you german address, you buy kindle from amazon.de and with some additional fee (no more then 15euro) you'll have it in Sweden via UPS or DHL - reliable and proven way

eschwartz · 07-17-2016, 07:28 PM

And if you really cannot get ahold of an ad-free one, and Amazon for some stranger reason doesn't do as they normally do for non-US customers and remove them for free, then they will certainly remove the ads for $20 USD which is the amount by which the ad-supported one was discounted by anyway.

...

In addition to the excellent information already given by Doitsu, you might want to take a look at the "Dictionary FAQ" sticky in this subforum, which includes links to guides for creating your own dictionary, and sources for stardict dictionaries to convert... as well as some free dictionaries already uploaded here on MobileRead and elsewhere on the internet.

melovesflying · 07-17-2016, 07:46 PM

I can say that they do remove ads for free. I got mine from Amazon US and when I told their representative that I live on the other side of the world, she removed the ads for free even before I got the device. I did mention that I've heard such cases and if it's possible to do that with mine as well.

penna · 07-18-2016, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu

If you buy a current eInk model and register it, you'll be able to download all dictionaries in my spoiler list.
(Disclaimer: This worked for my PW2 and other models, but Amazon might theoretically limit dictionary downloads for new models. However, I haven't heard of such a case. If you want to be absolutely sure contact Amazon customer service and ask them whether these downloads are still available.)

If you don't buy a Kindle, you can only download the default monolingual English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese dictionaries with the Kindle apps.

It's not that difficult actually. For example, to download the Spanish-English dictionary, you'll have to log in to your Amazon account and select the following:

Digital Contents > Manage Your Contents and Devices > Books > Dictionaries & User Guides > Oxford Spanish - English Dictionary > Deliver

(The dictionary will be automatically downloaded to your Kinde the next time you connect to your Amazon account via Wifi.)

Hi again,

I had a question as I started looking into the steps from managing digital contents to deliver thr dictionary to the kindle.

I successfully reached that location.

My final question is, how do I check which dictionaries are free for me to download?

I looked at this Spanish dictionary for Kindle https://www.amazon.co.uk/Diccionario...+real+academia

However it appears to cost money. Is there a specific category I should look at for downloading free dictionaries?

The path to dictionaries&User guides , has no dictionaries at all.

penna · 07-18-2016, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krbo

there is just one reason to remove ads - additional sweep required to wake Kindle. Ads are very unobtrusive, sometimes even usefull.

but as you are from non amazon store area there is a 99% chance customer support will remove ads for free if you ask them politely, many of us (Croatia) done that, none were declined (mine PW3 was from Germany).

if you insist on buying free one, then you can use german resend/repack service called mailboxde - they will give you german address, you buy kindle from amazon.de and with some additional fee (no more then 15euro) you'll have it in Sweden via UPS or DHL - reliable and proven way

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

And if you really cannot get ahold of an ad-free one, and Amazon for some stranger reason doesn't do as they normally do for non-US customers and remove them for free, then they will certainly remove the ads for $20 USD which is the amount by which the ad-supported one was discounted by anyway.

...

In addition to the excellent information already given by Doitsu, you might want to take a look at the "Dictionary FAQ" sticky in this subforum, which includes links to guides for creating your own dictionary, and sources for stardict dictionaries to convert... as well as some free dictionaries already uploaded here on MobileRead and elsewhere on the internet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by melovesflying

I can say that they do remove ads for free. I got mine from Amazon US and when I told their representative that I live on the other side of the world, she removed the ads for free even before I got the device. I did mention that I've heard such cases and if it's possible to do that with mine as well.

Thank you very much for the help. I think I will go ahead and buy it at Webbhallen.

The only question that I have is how to determine which dictionaries I am allowed to download for free. Looking in "Managing contents" and "Dictionaries&User Guides", there were no dictionaries.

How do I determine which dictionaries I can download for free?

Or will I only see the list of free dictionaries after I have bought and registered my Paperwhite on Amazon?

Doitsu · 07-18-2016, 08:58 AM

Digital Contents > Manage Your Contents and Devices > Books > Dictionaries & User Guides won't show any content until you've registered a Kindle with your account and used it at least once to connect to your Amazon account via Wifi or 3G.

It also won't show any download options for the monolingual dictionaries, because access to them is app/device specific. E.g. the iOS app also allows you to download bilingual dictionaries, but the PC app doesn't.
Also you can't download bilingual dictionaries with the older Kindle 3 and Kindle 4 models, even if they're registered.

Since you appear to have set up an Amazon account why don't you register your iOS app and try to download one of the free dictionaries?
Simply "buy" a free book, open it, highlight a word and tap the dictionary button in the lower left corner to display the Select Dictionary dialog box.

penna · 07-18-2016, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu

Digital Contents > Manage Your Contents and Devices > Books > Dictionaries & User Guides won't show any content until you've registered a Kindle with your account and used it at least once to connect to your Amazon account via Wifi or 3G.

It also won't show any download options for the monolingual dictionaries, because access to them is app/device specific. E.g. the iOS app also allows you to download bilingual dictionaries, but the PC app doesn't.
Also you can't download bilingual dictionaries with the older Kindle 3 and Kindle 4 models, even if they're registered.

Since you appear to have set up an Amazon account why don't you register your iOS app and try to download one of the free dictionaries?
Simply "buy" a free book, open it, highlight a word and tap the dictionary button in the lower left corner to display the Select Dictionary dialog box.

Hi again,

You were correct on device specific. My IPad allows me to download so many more dictionaries including from and to English and Spanish.

I will buy my paperwhite tomorrow.

I looked up a word or Two and could see ..."Oxford English dictionary".

A little off-topic, however, does anyone know what Spanish dictionary is used in the IOS for looking up definitions ?

07-17-2016, 03:57 AM	#1
penna Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2016 Device: Kobo Touch 2.0 kobo Glo HD	Paperwhite and dictionaries. Future customer Hi, Since Kobo e-readers have terrible monolingual dictionaries for English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian , I am looking with great interest what Kindle devices have to offer. I am interested in the latent papperwhite e-reader and have plenty of questions. How good are the default dictionaries in the papperwhite for English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese? Are the dictionaries from Oxford or respective Oxford like institutions? I am currently trying to read some Spanish books on my IPad and love the dictionary functionality and expect that level of high quality on the papperwhite as well. How good are the default dictionaries that come along with the papperwhite ? Is it difficult to add one's own dictionaries? I rejected the Kobo e-readers that I liked due to terrible dictionaries.

07-17-2016, 04:52 AM	#3
Julius Caesar Addict Posts: 343 Karma: 1510042 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	The default monolingual American English Dictionary for the native speakers of English is pretty good. You can look for some examples yourself by going to the website version http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us and type a word or phrase. The Kindle also comes with a similar dictionary for British English. If English is not your first language, you can buy additional dictionary such as Merriam Webster Advanced Learner Dictionary for the Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001GX3ZWA It was quite good but I rarely use it now since my English has improved and I now prefer using the one for native speakers instead. Last edited by Julius Caesar; 07-17-2016 at 04:59 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Monolingual dictionaries for Kobo - Future customer	penna	Kobo Reader	12	07-27-2016 10:22 AM
Additional Dictionaries for Kindle Paperwhite	Buddhaxe	Amazon Kindle	41	04-05-2015 11:32 AM
German Kindle Paperwhite 2 for US customer in Germany	oecherprinte	Amazon Kindle	6	09-14-2013 01:02 PM
Future Kindle Paperwhite?	tschucha	Which one should I buy?	2	06-28-2013 07:57 AM
Hoping this is not what I can expect from Customer Help in future	Katel	Kobo Reader	18	09-17-2012 09:11 AM

07-17-2016, 04:38 AM	#2
svenlind Fanatic Posts: 534 Karma: 10491221 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Denmark Device: Kobo: Clara BW, Libra 2,Sage. Kindle Oasis 3, Ipad Mini	I am quite satisfied with the English dictionary in Kindle. I would love to have an English->Danish dictionary, but that is probably too optimistic. I don't know about the other dictionaries you are interested in. But Amazon sells many dictionaries that can be set up as default dictionaries. Look here for further info.

07-17-2016, 07:28 PM	#10
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	And if you really cannot get ahold of an ad-free one, and Amazon for some stranger reason doesn't do as they normally do for non-US customers and remove them for free, then they will certainly remove the ads for $20 USD which is the amount by which the ad-supported one was discounted by anyway. ... In addition to the excellent information already given by Doitsu, you might want to take a look at the "Dictionary FAQ" sticky in this subforum, which includes links to guides for creating your own dictionary, and sources for stardict dictionaries to convert... as well as some free dictionaries already uploaded here on MobileRead and elsewhere on the internet.

07-17-2016, 07:46 PM	#11
melovesflying Groupie Posts: 186 Karma: 13138 Join Date: Jun 2014 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 3, Kobo Aura, Kobo Glo HD	I can say that they do remove ads for free. I got mine from Amazon US and when I told their representative that I live on the other side of the world, she removed the ads for free even before I got the device. I did mention that I've heard such cases and if it's possible to do that with mine as well.

07-18-2016, 08:58 AM	#14
Doitsu Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,691 Karma: 24031401 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle PW2	Digital Contents > Manage Your Contents and Devices > Books > Dictionaries & User Guides won't show any content until you've registered a Kindle with your account and used it at least once to connect to your Amazon account via Wifi or 3G. It also won't show any download options for the monolingual dictionaries, because access to them is app/device specific. E.g. the iOS app also allows you to download bilingual dictionaries, but the PC app doesn't. Also you can't download bilingual dictionaries with the older Kindle 3 and Kindle 4 models, even if they're registered. Since you appear to have set up an Amazon account why don't you register your iOS app and try to download one of the free dictionaries? Simply "buy" a free book, open it, highlight a word and tap the dictionary button in the lower left corner to display the Select Dictionary dialog box.

Advert

Advert