Electronic Dictionaries for Chinese Learners

mythrandir
August 10, 2009, 10:48 AM posted in General Discussion

Dajia hao,

I realise there are many electronic dictionaries out there for Chinese speakers learning English.

But does any know of a good quality electronic dictionary for the Chinese language learner?

Also, what about mobile phones (including iphone): do any of them have Chinese-English dictionaries included? Can you install one in a mobile phone?

Xiexie!

Gary

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Tal
August 10, 2009, 10:55 AM

Pleco is far and away the best. (Discussed here often before.)

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Tal
August 11, 2009, 07:06 AM

*sigh* Whose side are you on girl? j/k!

I can find iforgiveness in my heart. ;)

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Tal
August 11, 2009, 01:40 AM

The *new* version does though orangina, it's well worth upgrading to it. I think they're even planning to bring out a version for people who like using objects/services which these days can have a lower case "i" in front of them, personally I have iphobia ;)

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orangina
August 11, 2009, 01:45 AM

nice! It is definitely on my list of thing to get when I am less poverty stricken than usual. But first I need a new pocket pc since mine is 800 years old.

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Tal
August 11, 2009, 01:57 AM

Whoah, 800 years! My mind is reeling! 

Come live in China! If you're poverty stricken here you're middle class! (Err... if you're a foreigner. j/k!)

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orangina
August 11, 2009, 02:03 AM

They just found the same model I have in a Roman ruin... and it stayed digitized longer than mine does.

Workin' on getting to China, possibly soon!

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Tal
August 11, 2009, 02:06 AM

orangina you're a scream! 欢迎来中国!赶快来呀!

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orangina
August 11, 2009, 01:33 AM

I also like Pleco, but since you asked about iphone apps, I have used a friends chinese dictionary on her iphone and it is a good one. And (once you have the phone and service) it is free. It also has audio, which my *old* version of Pleco does not.

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mythrandir
August 11, 2009, 03:44 AM

谢谢大家

I have checked out Pleco - looks damn good!

I think the writing input feature is quite handy, but I don't believe you can do that on the iphone? Is that correct?

Gary

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Tal
August 11, 2009, 03:52 AM

My iknowledge is limited.

I understand the iphone version of Pleco will be the same as the standard version, but I don't think it's been released yet.

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orangina
August 11, 2009, 05:19 AM

iphone has the writing input feature. Even without the dictionary you can write chinese characters by hand, they are recognized and can be texted to phones that also understand characters. Pretty slick, actually. I haven't used it enough to endorse it, but what I have seen is pretty cool. The definitions aren't as thorough as Pleco's, if I recollect properly. Maybe a "genius" at the apple store can let you demo the dictionary?

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mythrandir
August 11, 2009, 05:28 AM

Thanks orangina, bloody brilliant!

Looks like iphone is the way to go ... i wonder when Pleco will bring out their iphone compatible version????

Gary

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orangina
August 11, 2009, 05:37 AM

sorry tal, looks like I converted another ifreak....

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orangina
August 11, 2009, 02:10 AM

;-)