pronunciation visible when you look up a word?

14700 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by R. M. Reed, Mar 17, 2013

oubeko

Discussion Starter · Mar 14, 2013

Hi everybody,

I'm a newbie here and English is not my mother tongue, so I hope you'll be patient with me if I do something wrong.

I use my Kindle 4 mainly to read English books, and I'm always looking up words in the dictionary. But there are two things that bother me about this look-up feature:

1. The painful process of placing the cursor in front of the word once and again.
2. When I come across a word I've never heard before, sometimes it's important that I look up the pronunciation (the phonetic symbols) so that I can really learn it. But to see the pronunciation, I have to go to the "full definition", which takes 2 more steps in the Kindle 4.

Now I'm looking to buy the Kindle Paperwhite. With the touchscreen, you just have to tap and hold on the word you want to look up which seems much easier and quicker.

But what about the second problem? Can anyone tell me if the Kindle Paperwhite shows the pronunciation (when available) in the "short definition"?

At first I thought it could just depend on the dictionary, but I tried 4 or 5 different dictionaries and none of them showed the pronunciation.

Any ideas anyone? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

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kansaskyle

· #2 · Mar 14, 2013

I did some quick testing. With both default dictionaries, I had to hit 'Show Full Definition'; however, only the New Oxford American Dictionary showed the pronunciation key.

There is a nifty translation feature also that might be of some use to better understand a word too.

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hamerfan

· #3 · Mar 14, 2013

The Paperwhite is very easy for pulling up the dictionary. I only wish there were a way to make the dictionary font larger, so I could read the definition without having to get my reading glasses. Hence, I can't answer your second question because I can't read the dictionary.
Did I mention it is very easy to pull up, though?

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history_lover

· #4 · Mar 14, 2013

As mentioned, you still need to click the full definition to get the pronunciation but it's probably a lot easier to do so with the touch screen so I still think upgrading to a Paperwhite will be worth it for you. And as also mentioned, the translation feature might be of use to you a lot as well.

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oubeko

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 15, 2013

Thanks, guys! I really appreciate your help.

I've checked one of my friend's ereader (Sony PRS-T1) and it does show the pronunciation straight away... There's no way I'm switching over to Sony, but it's a real shame.

I'll have to think about the Paperwhite and weigh up the pros and cons (129€ ::)

).

Thank you very much, again.

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kansaskyle

· #6 · Mar 15, 2013

I'm wondering if it is also based on which dictionary you configure the Kindle to use? I tried both of the ones that came with the device, but maybe there is an alternative that would show the pronunciation on the first pop-up screen?

With the PW it is very easy to tap the Full Definition button, and it is a little faster to load than the Touch and Kindle Keyboard.

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Brownskins

· #7 · Mar 15, 2013

kansaskyle said:
With the PW it is very easy to tap the Full Definition button, and it is a little faster to load than the Touch and Kindle Keyboard.

Not that I use the dictionary that often, but just curious, why would PW dictionary be faster than Touch dictionary if it has the same software underneath it, after the latest upgrade? Is it more of a hardware difference? How much faster is it?

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Ann in Arlington

· #8 · Mar 16, 2013

Brownskins said:
Not that I use the dictionary that often, but just curious, why would PW dictionary be faster than Touch dictionary if it has the same software underneath it, after the latest upgrade? Is it more of a hardware difference? How much faster is it?

I do think there's a bit of a hardware difference. I don't have a touch so can't make a specific comparison.

I do know it's a LOT more responsive than my basic kindle -- even accounting for the fact that the one is a touch screen and the other is navigable only by the 4 way toggle. The OP has that basic device and, yeah, it's much much easier to look up words on a touch device than with the toggle pad.

So much easier, in fact, that I do it more often with the PW than I used to. For me a tap and a quick definition takes maybe a second. On the basic kindle it's several seconds at least, so, while that doesn't seem like much, when you're reading, it IS enough to take you out of the flow.

I also really like the translation feature, which requires another tap or two, but is quick enough that if I'm not sure from context of the meaning of a foreign word or phrase, I don't hesitate to use it. I don't think that feature is even available on the basic K. Not sure about the Touch.

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R. M. Reed

· #9 · Mar 17, 2013

Cool! I didn't know about the translation feature. Maybe I should get some books in Spanish, I can learn the language better and translate words I don't know.

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