PRS-T1 How good is the PRS-T1's French dictionary?

martinrebas · 11-18-2011, 05:52 PM

Hi! I'm looking to buy an ebook reader to read books in various languages, including French. I'm wondering how good the French-English dictionary in Sony Reader PRS-T1 is. Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about it?

More specific questions:

Can you look up conjugated words? E.g. does it understand that "rebondiraient" is the same word as "rebondir"?

How about slang words or more unusual formal words? Can it translate words like "donzelle", "lourdingue", "macchabée", "bourre-pif", "itou" or "naguère"?

Is it possible to look up French expressions and/or compound words? E.g. "moelle épinière", "montrer patte blanche" or "faire du stop"?

democrite · 11-18-2011, 11:44 PM

Hey martinrebas,

The French dictionary was the reason I got the T1. It's not too bad. Oxford-Hachette

yes conjugations are fine. Slang words who knows. I suppose you can find an Oxford-Hachette (who knows what version) and see how it is.

Expressions or compound words - the definitions seem ok. It'll be like any other electronic dictionary. Bring up the first word (moelle, faire, …), view the full definition, and it'll list some uses. an example, for "moelle", there is ~ épinière, ~ osseuse, and greffe de ~.

I think it's the only option for a French dictionary (as far as I know) or at least the only one from a decent brand. Should be ok in most cases. I'm happy with it. I have (Le Robert) Dixel, Larousse, & Antidote on my iPhone if I really more.

If you have a Best Buy or some store around, try it out. If you change the language to french, the default included books will change and you can see.

martinrebas · 11-19-2011, 07:52 AM

Thank you!

Quote:

Originally Posted by democrite

I think it's the only option for a French dictionary (as far as I know) or at least the only one from a decent brand.

I've also been considering buying a Cybook Odyssey, which has a French dictionary (but no other ones).

Quote:

Originally Posted by democrite

If you have a Best Buy or some store around, try it out.

Unfortunately, I'm in Sweden, where the e-reader market hasn't really gotten started. There are few options and they're 2-3 times as expensive as in the US. I've never actually seen an e-book reader used, and I'm not aware of any local stores that carry them.

democrite · 11-20-2011, 02:02 AM

yeah I dunno. If I were in Europe, I'd try to see 'em in person somewhere before deciding. Fnac has started selling the Kobo so maybe their version has a dictionary. Maybe you'd find out more reading some threads on French sites or forums. Found a few:

Bookeen Cybook Odyssey : "saut quantique en matière de vitesse"
http://www.teamalexandriz.org/forum/...?topic=11244.0

Le Cybook Odyssey à 150 € à partir de mi-novembre ?
http://www.wighie.com/?p=2632

Rizla · 11-20-2011, 10:56 PM

I have the 650 which has the Oxford Hachette also. It's all right. It's not as good as the Collins Grande Robert, but it mores than does the job.

vincent_tlse · 11-21-2011, 09:58 AM

Hi,
I'm a owner of a PRS 650 and I guess that the dictionaries included are the same (Oxford/Hachette) for the English/French as in the T1.

I made a quick test on with your questions and I was surprised by the result:

Can you look up conjugated words? E.g. does it understand that "rebondiraient" is the same word as "rebondir"?
=> yes this is working

donzelle => pretentious young women (pej)
lourdingue => clumsy
macchabée => stiff
bourre-pif => not existing in the embedded dictionnary. But I made a check on some online french dictionary and I didn't find it. This expression is very familiar and I not sure that all french people knows it. I will check in my reference dictionary at home
itou => hum too
naguère => quite recently (lit.), formerly (familiar)

The dictionary seems correct. As I'm french, I can't judge accuracy of the English translation but it seems correct to me. Maybe the the weakness is that there is not translation of expressions.

martinrebas · 12-03-2011, 12:52 PM

I've bought a PRS-T1 now, and the dictionary works well, although with some annoyances: With words prefixed by l' or d' ("l'orange", etc), the "l'" is included in the dictionary search, which means that it doesn't find the word unless I change the selection manually. What's worse is that if the word appears at the bottom of the screen, the selection will be covered by the "No entry found" message, making it impossible to change it! Is there any good way around this?

jackie_w · 12-03-2011, 01:11 PM

Temporarily change the font-size. The word will probably then not be at the bottom of the screen.

carpetmojo · 12-03-2011, 03:49 PM

And there's Dutch, Italian, English, German, Spanish, Esperanto, Congolese... I'm being silly now, sorry.

No Irish, sadly.

jbennion · 12-05-2011, 03:41 PM

For multi-lingual readers, dictionary support is one area where the Sony shines, I think. I like to read books in French on my PRS-650, and I have been generally happy with the results when I have needed to use the dictionary (which is often). It is SO much easier to just tap on the word than thumb through the dictionary every time! The two built-in English dictionaries are fairly good as well.

In comparision, I think only the Kindle offers additional dictionaries, and their selection seems quite limited:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers...inc_2_6_last#1

Judging by the reviews, none of the French dictionaries listed are very good, and despite Kindle's strong (albeit US Domestic) sales, they don't seem to support a very wide language choice either, and anything other than English you have to pay for.

The shorter answer to your question is I don't think you'll find a better electronic French dictionary than the one on there.

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11-18-2011, 05:52 PM	#1
martinrebas Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: --	How good is the PRS-T1's French dictionary? Hi! I'm looking to buy an ebook reader to read books in various languages, including French. I'm wondering how good the French-English dictionary in Sony Reader PRS-T1 is. Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about it? More specific questions: Can you look up conjugated words? E.g. does it understand that "rebondiraient" is the same word as "rebondir"? How about slang words or more unusual formal words? Can it translate words like "donzelle", "lourdingue", "macchabée", "bourre-pif", "itou" or "naguère"? Is it possible to look up French expressions and/or compound words? E.g. "moelle épinière", "montrer patte blanche" or "faire du stop"?

11-18-2011, 11:44 PM	#2
democrite Evangelist Posts: 441 Karma: 77256 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: none	Hey martinrebas, The French dictionary was the reason I got the T1. It's not too bad. Oxford-Hachette yes conjugations are fine. Slang words who knows. I suppose you can find an Oxford-Hachette (who knows what version) and see how it is. Expressions or compound words - the definitions seem ok. It'll be like any other electronic dictionary. Bring up the first word (moelle, faire, …), view the full definition, and it'll list some uses. an example, for "moelle", there is ~ épinière, ~ osseuse, and greffe de ~. I think it's the only option for a French dictionary (as far as I know) or at least the only one from a decent brand. Should be ok in most cases. I'm happy with it. I have (Le Robert) Dixel, Larousse, & Antidote on my iPhone if I really more. If you have a Best Buy or some store around, try it out. If you change the language to french, the default included books will change and you can see.

11-20-2011, 02:02 AM	#4
democrite Evangelist Posts: 441 Karma: 77256 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: none	yeah I dunno. If I were in Europe, I'd try to see 'em in person somewhere before deciding. Fnac has started selling the Kobo so maybe their version has a dictionary. Maybe you'd find out more reading some threads on French sites or forums. Found a few: Bookeen Cybook Odyssey : "saut quantique en matière de vitesse" http://www.teamalexandriz.org/forum/...?topic=11244.0 Le Cybook Odyssey à 150 € à partir de mi-novembre ? http://www.wighie.com/?p=2632

11-20-2011, 10:56 PM	#5
Rizla Member Retired Posts: 3,183 Karma: 11721895 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Nook STR (rooted) & Sony T2	I have the 650 which has the Oxford Hachette also. It's all right. It's not as good as the Collins Grande Robert, but it mores than does the job.

11-21-2011, 09:58 AM	#6
vincent_tlse Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Sony PRS 600	Hi, I'm a owner of a PRS 650 and I guess that the dictionaries included are the same (Oxford/Hachette) for the English/French as in the T1. I made a quick test on with your questions and I was surprised by the result: Can you look up conjugated words? E.g. does it understand that "rebondiraient" is the same word as "rebondir"? => yes this is working donzelle => pretentious young women (pej) lourdingue => clumsy macchabée => stiff bourre-pif => not existing in the embedded dictionnary. But I made a check on some online french dictionary and I didn't find it. This expression is very familiar and I not sure that all french people knows it. I will check in my reference dictionary at home itou => hum too naguère => quite recently (lit.), formerly (familiar) The dictionary seems correct. As I'm french, I can't judge accuracy of the English translation but it seems correct to me. Maybe the the weakness is that there is not translation of expressions.

12-03-2011, 12:52 PM	#7
martinrebas Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: --	I've bought a PRS-T1 now, and the dictionary works well, although with some annoyances: With words prefixed by l' or d' ("l'orange", etc), the "l'" is included in the dictionary search, which means that it doesn't find the word unless I change the selection manually. What's worse is that if the word appears at the bottom of the screen, the selection will be covered by the "No entry found" message, making it impossible to change it! Is there any good way around this?

12-03-2011, 01:11 PM	#8
jackie_w Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,251 Karma: 16539642 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: UK Device: ClaraHD, Forma, Libra2, Clara2E, LibraCol, PBTouchHD3	Temporarily change the font-size. The word will probably then not be at the bottom of the screen.

12-03-2011, 03:49 PM	#9
carpetmojo Wizard Posts: 3,117 Karma: 9269999 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5	And there's Dutch, Italian, English, German, Spanish, Esperanto, Congolese... I'm being silly now, sorry. No Irish, sadly.

12-05-2011, 03:41 PM	#10
jbennion Member Posts: 23 Karma: 17972 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Sony reader PRS-650	For multi-lingual readers, dictionary support is one area where the Sony shines, I think. I like to read books in French on my PRS-650, and I have been generally happy with the results when I have needed to use the dictionary (which is often). It is SO much easier to just tap on the word than thumb through the dictionary every time! The two built-in English dictionaries are fairly good as well. In comparision, I think only the Kindle offers additional dictionaries, and their selection seems quite limited: http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers...inc_2_6_last#1 Judging by the reviews, none of the French dictionaries listed are very good, and despite Kindle's strong (albeit US Domestic) sales, they don't seem to support a very wide language choice either, and anything other than English you have to pay for. The shorter answer to your question is I don't think you'll find a better electronic French dictionary than the one on there.

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