Forma Translate Entire Phrases to English?

[enuddleyarbl]

It appears both my native ability to solve problems and my Google-fu have failed me. I'm trying to figure out a way to translate entire phrases in books on my Forma into English. Currently, I'm reading an old Agatha Christie novel, and she insists on dumping whole paragraphs of untranslated French into the middle of things. But the issue issue would be the same for other languages.

The problem is that the translation dictionaries I've got on the Forma appear to work only on individual words. If I highlight a single word, the dictionary option comes up and I can change dictionaries to the right language. But, if I highlight more than one word, all I get are options to Undo Highlight, Add Note, and Search (leading to Search in Book, Search Wikipedia and Search Google).

Is there some kind of option or add-in somewhere that would just present me with an actual local translation of whole phrases?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DaveLessnau

It appears both my native ability to solve problems and my Google-fu have failed me. I'm trying to figure out a way to translate entire phrases in books on my Forma into English. Currently, I'm reading an old Agatha Christie novel, and she insists on dumping whole paragraphs of untranslated French into the middle of things. But the issue issue would be the same for other languages.

The problem is that the translation dictionaries I've got on the Forma appear to work only on individual words. If I highlight a single word, the dictionary option comes up and I can change dictionaries to the right language. But, if I highlight more than one word, all I get are options to Undo Highlight, Add Note, and Search (leading to Search in Book, Search Wikipedia and Search Google).

Is there some kind of option or add-in somewhere that would just present me with an actual local translation of whole phrases?

I'd be interested in such a feature too (Kindles have it). As things stand now, I'll have to open the book on my computer and copy-paste the phrase into Google Translate. A clumsy and bothersome workaround.

[Semwize]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

As things stand now, I'll have to open the book on my computer and copy-paste the phrase into Google Translate. A clumsy and bothersome workaround.

Can use selection_search in NickelMenu.

[Ceiyne]

Originally Posted by DaveLessnau

Is there some kind of option or add-in somewhere that would just present me with an actual local translation of whole phrases?

This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but it's probably easier than your workaround of retyping the sentences into another computer!

I use NickelMenu and one of my custom menu items takes any word/words you have selected and opens the Kobo browser to Google Translate, with a translation of those words:

menu_item :selection :Google Translate  :nickel_browser :modal:https://translate.google.com/?sl=ja&tl=en&text={1|S|%}&op=translate

In the middle of all that, the "ja" (in "...sl=ja&tl=en..") is the code for Japanese, which is the only language I ever use. If you're always dealing with one language (you mentioned French) then you can change that code to whatever the code is for French (probably fr). There's probably also a way to have Google auto-detect the language, and you can probably figure that out by going to Google Translate in your computer browser and trying different options. It might be as simple as leaving out the "sl=ja&" part, but I'm not sure.

Hope that helps, and just let me know if you have any questions.

[Barty]

This may not be helpful to you, but koreader has this feature and it works great

To give it a try, go to developer sub forum and download the one click install package for koreader

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Barty

This may not be helpful to you, but koreader has this feature and it works great

To give it a try, go to developer sub forum and download the one click install package for koreader

I've tried KOReader, but found I prefer the default reader (with patches). KOReader has many good things going for it, it's just not quite my cup of tea.

[tatolino]

Originally Posted by Ceiyne

menu_item :selection :Google Translate  :nickel_browser :modal:https://translate.google.com/?sl=ja&tl=en&text={1|S|%}&op=translate

Hi, it is a beautiful solution, thanks for sharing that. Btw you only have to change ja to auto to make it work with any language.
However, I have a huge problem with google asking me to log in each time I select a sentence and tap on "Google Translate"... How did you solve that? It won't keep me logged in... What did I do wrong?

[Ceiyne]

Originally Posted by tatolino

Hi, it is a beautiful solution, thanks for sharing that. Btw you only have to change ja to auto to make it work with any language.
However, I have a huge problem with google asking me to log in each time I select a sentence and tap on "Google Translate"... How did you solve that? It won't keep me logged in... What did I do wrong?

I'm glad I was able to help you! It's never asked me to log in, so I'm not sure what's happening. If you go to the same link from your computer/phone do you get asked to log in?

I live in the US so my link uses google.com; if you live in a different country, maybe try using the country-specific google link if one exists (like google.co.jp for Japan).

If you log in once does it remember and keep you logged in, or does it keep asking you to log in every time anyway? You could also try logging in to google from the regular Kobo web browser and see if that "sticks".

[skybook]

Originally Posted by Ceiyne

This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but it's probably easier than your workaround of retyping the sentences into another computer!

YES, thank you! I was trying another version someone put up that I guess was supposed to be for detecting any language, but it wasn't working for some French phrases I tested. This one works perfectly, thank you!!

[mramosch]

Originally Posted by enuddleyarbl

Currently, I'm reading an old Agatha Christie novel, and she insists on dumping whole paragraphs of untranslated French into the middle of things.

Would you mind sharing which book you are talking about and maybe even point to the source you got it from?

Thanks!

[rashkae]

[Edit: A way better solution was already provided. I be quiet now]

[enuddleyarbl]

I'm pretty sure I was referring to her "Destination Unknown" novel. I bought that from Amazon. Here's an example:

“Tant pis pour Pierre,”Mademoiselle Maricot said to herself. “Il est vraiment insupportable! Mais le petit Jules, lui il est bien gentil. Et son père est très bien placé dans les affairs. Enfin, je me décide!”

and then there's:

“Mais viens donc, Bobo. Qu’est-ce que tu fais? Dépêchetoi!” “Laisse ta balle, chérie, on va déjeuner.”

[mramosch]

Originally Posted by enuddleyarbl

I'm pretty sure I was referring to her "Destination Unknown" novel. I bought that from Amazon.

Thanks, found it.

Under the assumption that an author has valid reasons to keep parts of the text in another language, what would your preferred way of displaying a translation be?

As a pop-up? Endnote? Footnote? etc.


— — —

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by mramosch

Under the assumption that an author has valid reasons to keep parts of the text in another language, what would your preferred way of displaying a translation be?

As a pop-up? Endnote? Footnote? etc.

Marginalia formatted sans (if body is serif, or vice-versa), smaller and right justified just after each paragraph.
If it really needs translated.

[mramosch]

But that is for a static format, but what if you had the chance for dynamic content on demand?