E-reader/eBook platform wanted as a tool to help learning languages

Cr4zyH3nk13 · 03-21-2020, 10:36 AM

Hey Everyone!

Stay safe and watch your hygiene. I hope all is well wherever you are.

I've been looking into eReaders and eBooks for the past week and I've been able to find lots of information regarding brands, technologies and devices.

The thing that's still unclear for me is language availability.

The most important requirement for me is that it should be easy for me to obtain the foreign language editions of an eBook.

That the device I get has the ability to natively, or through some simple actions, support foreign scripts is something I'm confident I can research myself. Tips would of course still be appreciated.

As far as I've been able to determine myself, the google books store gives me the ability to search for the foreign titles of books. The only thing I worry about is the library.

If anyone could give me a hand regarding non-english eBook platforms, it would be greatly appreciated.

I'm currently learning Spanish and will learn Portuguese afterwards.
I can't predict the future, but I think I wont learn Russian of Mandarin in the foreseeable future.

A big thank you in advance!

Cr4zyH3nk13 · 03-25-2020, 04:04 AM

Found one! I'm getting the Kobo Clara HD. Their store gives you the option to set your region and language. So you can for example set the to Belgium (This has to be where you live most of the time) and the language to Spanish so that you can purchase Spanish language books.

HolyAura · 03-25-2020, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cr4zyH3nk13

Found one! I'm getting the Kobo Clara HD. Their store gives you the option to set your region and language. So you can for example set the to Belgium (This has to be where you live most of the time) and the language to Spanish so that you can purchase Spanish language books.

Nice! I also have the Clara. You'll definitely enjoy it. Congratulations on finding the ereader for yourself. Have a good time reading!

Richwood · 04-17-2020, 01:36 PM

Amazon USA lists ebooks in foreign languages that can be purchased for the Kindle for a number of popular authors. Current Kindles list about 11 language choices as well as 20+ keyboards for different languages and countries. Also lists quite a few dual language dictionaries. Your profile does not list a country so no idea if you can use Amazon USA.

Quoth · 04-17-2020, 04:25 PM

Google books/playstore has a lot of pirated books, still. Also many pirated books are PDFs (Scans + OCR)
Gutenberg has non-English public Domain. I wish I COULD read French, German etc. Der Golem in German is PD, not the English Translation.
There are ways to load Amazon ebooks into Calibre and convert to ePub2 for the kobo Clara. I use an actual Kindle as target but select Download to PC. It's a bit more fraught on Linux if you don't own an eink Kindle (a Fire is really an Android Tablet, not a Kindle), or even on Windows to use PC Kindle as target.

DaleDe · 04-17-2020, 05:09 PM

Google will translate for you if you wish.

Quoth · 04-18-2020, 06:18 AM

Google Translate is brute force giant database with crowd sourced corrections. It's only safe for use to your native language. And on some languages it's obviously rubbish having only used a narrow selection of documents in two languages supposed to be the same and usually only particular usage (e.g. EU) and used that for the so called Training / Machine Learning.

It's abysmal at fiction and older versions of languages. I'd sooner buy a professional translation of Der Golem. I have it on my wish list.

Yoko22 · 05-25-2020, 08:48 AM

Why do you want to learn french exactly, what books would you read? I'm a native french speaker but I always read in English, I haven't found many french books appealing. I have been reading English so much that when I have a french book I feel like it's confusing and unclear. I find English so much easier to understand, there is something weird in the french language that I don't like, it's convoluted and overly complex for no good reason.

The French community I feel don't have good writer as it used to have back in 1800 or 1700, or even 1900, maybe I don't search enough in french either but I find the US more innovative.

I'm trying to learn Japanese now as I'm getting bored a bit by the US culture and the Japanese culture seems more purposeful, less chaotic crazy.

bazz2004 · 05-30-2020, 10:08 AM

The Kobo Clara HD was a sensible choice. I bought a Boyue Alita and it hasn't helped in the way I hoped. More time has been spent trying to work out how to use it than learning French.

JSWolf · 05-30-2020, 02:18 PM

I suggest looking at apps for iOS and Android and if there are any good apps for learning other languages, get a tablet.

Nightflyer · 05-30-2020, 10:35 PM

I have downloaded some Chinese language books.

Unfortunately, no native onboard Eng-Ch or Ch-Eng dictionary.

Now looking for Chinese learning textbooks.

Clara HD in USA

swimon126 · 06-09-2020, 06:58 AM

I'm also learning a language (German). I've been using the Kindle PW4 to read German books for a while now and I find the Kindle dictionary to be excellent for this. Almost always have good definitions, if not I rely on wiki or google translate (comes integrated in the Kindle). But I guess the Kobo would do a decent job as well. Happy learning/reading!

03-21-2020, 10:36 AM	#1
Cr4zyH3nk13 Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2020 Device: Amazon	E-reader/eBook platform wanted as a tool to help learning languages Hey Everyone! Stay safe and watch your hygiene. I hope all is well wherever you are. I've been looking into eReaders and eBooks for the past week and I've been able to find lots of information regarding brands, technologies and devices. The thing that's still unclear for me is language availability. The most important requirement for me is that it should be easy for me to obtain the foreign language editions of an eBook. That the device I get has the ability to natively, or through some simple actions, support foreign scripts is something I'm confident I can research myself. Tips would of course still be appreciated. As far as I've been able to determine myself, the google books store gives me the ability to search for the foreign titles of books. The only thing I worry about is the library. If anyone could give me a hand regarding non-english eBook platforms, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm currently learning Spanish and will learn Portuguese afterwards. I can't predict the future, but I think I wont learn Russian of Mandarin in the foreseeable future. A big thank you in advance!

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03-25-2020, 04:04 AM	#2
Cr4zyH3nk13 Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2020 Device: Amazon	Found one! I'm getting the Kobo Clara HD. Their store gives you the option to set your region and language. So you can for example set the to Belgium (This has to be where you live most of the time) and the language to Spanish so that you can purchase Spanish language books.

04-17-2020, 01:36 PM	#4
Richwood Astronomy Nut Posts: 519 Karma: 3700000 Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Reno, NV Device: Kindle (All), Kobo (Multiple), Sony (most) and Nook Glowlight Plus	Amazon USA lists ebooks in foreign languages that can be purchased for the Kindle for a number of popular authors. Current Kindles list about 11 language choices as well as 20+ keyboards for different languages and countries. Also lists quite a few dual language dictionaries. Your profile does not list a country so no idea if you can use Amazon USA.

04-17-2020, 04:25 PM	#5
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,025 Karma: 105092227 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	Google books/playstore has a lot of pirated books, still. Also many pirated books are PDFs (Scans + OCR) Gutenberg has non-English public Domain. I wish I COULD read French, German etc. Der Golem in German is PD, not the English Translation. There are ways to load Amazon ebooks into Calibre and convert to ePub2 for the kobo Clara. I use an actual Kindle as target but select Download to PC. It's a bit more fraught on Linux if you don't own an eink Kindle (a Fire is really an Android Tablet, not a Kindle), or even on Windows to use PC Kindle as target.

04-17-2020, 05:09 PM	#6
DaleDe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,470 Karma: 13095790 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Grass Valley, CA Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7	Google will translate for you if you wish.

04-18-2020, 06:18 AM	#7
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,025 Karma: 105092227 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	Google Translate is brute force giant database with crowd sourced corrections. It's only safe for use to your native language. And on some languages it's obviously rubbish having only used a narrow selection of documents in two languages supposed to be the same and usually only particular usage (e.g. EU) and used that for the so called Training / Machine Learning. It's abysmal at fiction and older versions of languages. I'd sooner buy a professional translation of Der Golem. I have it on my wish list.

05-25-2020, 08:48 AM	#8
Yoko22 Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Hisense A5C	Why do you want to learn french exactly, what books would you read? I'm a native french speaker but I always read in English, I haven't found many french books appealing. I have been reading English so much that when I have a french book I feel like it's confusing and unclear. I find English so much easier to understand, there is something weird in the french language that I don't like, it's convoluted and overly complex for no good reason. The French community I feel don't have good writer as it used to have back in 1800 or 1700, or even 1900, maybe I don't search enough in french either but I find the US more innovative. I'm trying to learn Japanese now as I'm getting bored a bit by the US culture and the Japanese culture seems more purposeful, less chaotic crazy.

05-30-2020, 10:08 AM	#9
bazz2004 Groupie Posts: 197 Karma: 14745 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Boyue Alita	The Kobo Clara HD was a sensible choice. I bought a Boyue Alita and it hasn't helped in the way I hoped. More time has been spent trying to work out how to use it than learning French.

05-30-2020, 02:18 PM	#10
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,750 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I suggest looking at apps for iOS and Android and if there are any good apps for learning other languages, get a tablet.

05-30-2020, 10:35 PM	#11
Nightflyer Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 2122502 Join Date: May 2020 Location: Asia (from USA) Device: Meebook M6, Kobo Clara HD	I have downloaded some Chinese language books. Unfortunately, no native onboard Eng-Ch or Ch-Eng dictionary. Now looking for Chinese learning textbooks. Clara HD in USA

06-09-2020, 06:58 AM	#12
swimon126 Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 124278 Join Date: Apr 2020 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 4, Kobo Libra 2	I'm also learning a language (German). I've been using the Kindle PW4 to read German books for a while now and I find the Kindle dictionary to be excellent for this. Almost always have good definitions, if not I rely on wiki or google translate (comes integrated in the Kindle). But I guess the Kobo would do a decent job as well. Happy learning/reading!

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