Kobo vocabulary builder ?

Bilan · 02-18-2022, 02:38 PM

Hello,
Longtime user of kindle, Im thinking to switch to a kobo
The main reason is to be able to manage the books and the collections from Calibre. I can't do that with Kindle ans I've always thought the library was messy inside the kindle interface.

The kobo Libra 2 seems good to replace my KO.

But I'm looking for 2 features?
1) Is there a good dictionary ? (French, english, and French/English translation). Even If I need to buy it. Last time I tested a kobo, the dictionary was poor compared to my kindle.
2 ) Is there a "vocabulary builder" (im not sure how to name it in English) ? In Kindle there is one and it's nice, I can review the new words I've learned. It shows the context (the sentence in which the word was used), and then you can also see the definition. Then you can mark it as "learned" to remove it from the list.

Thank you.

PeterT · 02-18-2022, 03:26 PM

Dictionaries have improved; Kobo did update what they were using.

Unfortunately there are no purchasable ones

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

Skydog · 02-18-2022, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilan

Hello,
Longtime user of kindle, Im thinking to switch to a kobo
The main reason is to be able to manage the books and the collections from Calibre. I can't do that with Kindle ans I've always thought the library was messy inside the kindle interface.

The kobo Libra 2 seems good to replace my KO.

But I'm looking for 2 features?
1) Is there a good dictionary ? (French, english, and French/English translation). Even If I need to buy it. Last time I tested a kobo, the dictionary was poor compared to my kindle.
2 ) Is there a "vocabulary builder" (im not sure how to name it in English) ? In Kindle there is one and it's nice, I can review the new words I've learned. It shows the context (the sentence in which the word was used), and then you can also see the definition. Then you can mark it as "learned" to remove it from the list.

Thank you.

Yes, there is a "My Words" feature that is similar. From the list of saved words, selecting a word will bring up your dictionary, displaying the definition. Below that is the option "View in book" which will then display book title and the sentence containing the selected word in bold. Also, from the dictionary view, there are options Previous, Random, Next, which allows scrolling through all your words from the dictionary view, without having to go back and forth to the list.

Bilan · 02-18-2022, 04:25 PM

Thank you both, i will give it a try then !

joss · 02-25-2022, 05:50 AM

For french dictionary, Kobo has switched a few years ago from Larousse to the "Robert micro 2013" which is still a pocket dictionary for french middle school / grammar school.
So, it's still ridiculous ( although I am surprised to find in it some words I didn't know ).
But with newest kobo firmware versions, you can add your own free dictionaries, e.g. :
Littré 1876 : 80 000 entries ( includes ethymology + examples of usage in french literature )
Académie Francaise 1935 : 35 000 entries ( using same definitions as Littré )
Wiktionnaire ( updated every night ) : 327 000 entries ( also includes proper names and ethymology )
downloadable from https://github.com/BoboTiG/ebook-reader-dict
You also have versions for english, german, spanish, catalan, etc ...
To be compared with the 35 000 short entries of the embedded Robert Micro .
If you read old classics ( Dumas, Balzac, Hugo, etc ) , the Robert Micro is not enough, you need at least Littré or Wiktionnaire.
And lastly, if you need more thorough explanations, you can search wikipedia over wifi with Kobo.

Bilan · 03-04-2022, 02:10 AM

Hi Joss,

I bought the Libra 2.
The dictionaries are bad indeed. For English and French, yes I've switched to the bobotig ones. For the French-english I couldn't find a better one but the basic one doesn't recognise/translate words (but my Kindle Oasis can).
For the vocabulary builder of Kindle, Kobo (finally) added a "My Words" functionality. But currently the later cannot compete with the former..

About the dictionaries, as I said I replaced the basic ones. But even if it was easy for me, I don't think people like mother or even my brother could do that.

Kobo and Amazon don't play in the same league. I eventually sent back the Libra.

02-18-2022, 02:38 PM	#1
Bilan Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 25136 Join Date: Dec 2018 Device: Kindle Oasis	Kobo vocabulary builder ? Hello, Longtime user of kindle, Im thinking to switch to a kobo The main reason is to be able to manage the books and the collections from Calibre. I can't do that with Kindle ans I've always thought the library was messy inside the kindle interface. The kobo Libra 2 seems good to replace my KO. But I'm looking for 2 features? 1) Is there a good dictionary ? (French, english, and French/English translation). Even If I need to buy it. Last time I tested a kobo, the dictionary was poor compared to my kindle. 2 ) Is there a "vocabulary builder" (im not sure how to name it in English) ? In Kindle there is one and it's nice, I can review the new words I've learned. It shows the context (the sentence in which the word was used), and then you can also see the definition. Then you can mark it as "learned" to remove it from the list. Thank you.

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02-18-2022, 03:26 PM	#2
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,528 Karma: 78910202 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Dictionaries have improved; Kobo did update what they were using. Unfortunately there are no purchasable ones Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

02-18-2022, 04:25 PM	#4
Bilan Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 25136 Join Date: Dec 2018 Device: Kindle Oasis	Thank you both, i will give it a try then !

02-25-2022, 05:50 AM	#5
joss Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Paris suburb Device: Kobo Aura	For french dictionary, Kobo has switched a few years ago from Larousse to the "Robert micro 2013" which is still a pocket dictionary for french middle school / grammar school. So, it's still ridiculous ( although I am surprised to find in it some words I didn't know ). But with newest kobo firmware versions, you can add your own free dictionaries, e.g. : Littré 1876 : 80 000 entries ( includes ethymology + examples of usage in french literature ) Académie Francaise 1935 : 35 000 entries ( using same definitions as Littré ) Wiktionnaire ( updated every night ) : 327 000 entries ( also includes proper names and ethymology ) downloadable from https://github.com/BoboTiG/ebook-reader-dict You also have versions for english, german, spanish, catalan, etc ... To be compared with the 35 000 short entries of the embedded Robert Micro . If you read old classics ( Dumas, Balzac, Hugo, etc ) , the Robert Micro is not enough, you need at least Littré or Wiktionnaire. And lastly, if you need more thorough explanations, you can search wikipedia over wifi with Kobo.

03-04-2022, 02:10 AM	#6
Bilan Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 25136 Join Date: Dec 2018 Device: Kindle Oasis	Hi Joss, I bought the Libra 2. The dictionaries are bad indeed. For English and French, yes I've switched to the bobotig ones. For the French-english I couldn't find a better one but the basic one doesn't recognise/translate words (but my Kindle Oasis can). For the vocabulary builder of Kindle, Kobo (finally) added a "My Words" functionality. But currently the later cannot compete with the former.. About the dictionaries, as I said I replaced the basic ones. But even if it was easy for me, I don't think people like mother or even my brother could do that. Kobo and Amazon don't play in the same league. I eventually sent back the Libra.

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