Glo Translation dictionaries

BobC · 02-15-2015, 09:57 AM

I'm trying to understand how Kobo's translation dictionaries are supposed to work. I've a pretty good grasp of the English language and don't usually have to look up any but the most obscure words. However some of my books have foreign phrases within them (perhaps where a character is addressing a foreigner, or just using a French phrase for effect). A number of "classics" just assume the reader will be reasonably fluent in French and German.

The problem I have is that I have installed the French -> English translation dictionary as well as my English one but if I try to look up a French word to get a translation I get nothing.

I'm surmising that unless the foreign phrase is declared in the English book as having a language attribute of "FR" this approach isn't going to work and there is no way I can look up the French word in the translation dictionary.

Any more insight on this matter would be appreciated.

I'd rather not have to perform major surgery on a book just so that I can look up the occasional French word or phrase.

BobC

robko · 02-15-2015, 10:14 AM

When you look up the word I assume you're getting the "not found" message? in the bottom right of that box it will say "english". Tap on english and it will give you the option to change to the other dictionaries you have installed. Note that you will have to change the dictionary back to english manually.

BobC · 02-15-2015, 12:52 PM

I had followed that route previously but with no success; however I've tried it again and by selecting the "Translation Dictionary" option it seems to work. I think my problem was the words I was looking up aren't in the translation dictionary. I checked with Medaille and Militaire but neither showed up, however Croix and Guerre worked o.k. It may be that the spelling in the book was wrong.

Thanks for re-assuring me that it would work. By the way by tapping on "Translation Dictionary" I didn't need to change back to English later.

BobC

02-15-2015, 09:57 AM	#1
BobC Guru Posts: 691 Karma: 3026110 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Lancashire, U.K. Device: BeBook 1, BeBook Pure, Kobo Glo, (and HD),Energy Sistem EReader Pro +	Translation dictionaries I'm trying to understand how Kobo's translation dictionaries are supposed to work. I've a pretty good grasp of the English language and don't usually have to look up any but the most obscure words. However some of my books have foreign phrases within them (perhaps where a character is addressing a foreigner, or just using a French phrase for effect). A number of "classics" just assume the reader will be reasonably fluent in French and German. The problem I have is that I have installed the French -> English translation dictionary as well as my English one but if I try to look up a French word to get a translation I get nothing. I'm surmising that unless the foreign phrase is declared in the English book as having a language attribute of "FR" this approach isn't going to work and there is no way I can look up the French word in the translation dictionary. Any more insight on this matter would be appreciated. I'd rather not have to perform major surgery on a book just so that I can look up the occasional French word or phrase. BobC

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02-15-2015, 10:14 AM	#2
robko Wizard Posts: 2,454 Karma: 5469320 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo	When you look up the word I assume you're getting the "not found" message? in the bottom right of that box it will say "english". Tap on english and it will give you the option to change to the other dictionaries you have installed. Note that you will have to change the dictionary back to english manually.

02-15-2015, 12:52 PM	#3
BobC Guru Posts: 691 Karma: 3026110 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Lancashire, U.K. Device: BeBook 1, BeBook Pure, Kobo Glo, (and HD),Energy Sistem EReader Pro +	I had followed that route previously but with no success; however I've tried it again and by selecting the "Translation Dictionary" option it seems to work. I think my problem was the words I was looking up aren't in the translation dictionary. I checked with Medaille and Militaire but neither showed up, however Croix and Guerre worked o.k. It may be that the spelling in the book was wrong. Thanks for re-assuring me that it would work. By the way by tapping on "Translation Dictionary" I didn't need to change back to English later. BobC

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