Well hey--I sort of knew that this had to exist but I didn't trouble until just this weekend to figure out that it actually exists.
That is, translation. I see that I can download a book to my Kindle app (or, I suppose, send it to the cloud*) and download along side it a dictionary in the appropriate language. So when you poke the word, the dictionary you get is not English but, you know, whatever.
This doesn't get you the whole way, of course. The next step (but maybe this exists too, and I just haven't found it yet) would be to let me link to an English version so I could go friction free from English to (shall we say) Klingon to the Klingon dictionary, etc. And the dictionary can be a dead end: if I don't understand the dictionary definition, so far as I can tell I can't just press for the definition's definition.**
You knew all that. Okay, but I still count it as progress. And did you also know that you can get a complete A la recherché du temps perdu plus a French dictionary for less than 10 bucks? Ain't nature grand?
And did you know that the English translation of "ferrugineux" is "ferruginous?" I say, ain't nature grand?
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*Apparently not the cloud. I sent the book out there, but I can't figure out how to load the dictionary.
**Well, not quite. I can tap through to the definition and then seek definitions of words inside the definition. And so on ad infinitum, I suppose.
Afterthought: But then, I saw a modern mystery in French that I wanted to put on my Kindle. I punched one-click and they told me that it wasn't available in my part of the world. Well okay, but then why did you offer it to me?
That is, translation. I see that I can download a book to my Kindle app (or, I suppose, send it to the cloud*) and download along side it a dictionary in the appropriate language. So when you poke the word, the dictionary you get is not English but, you know, whatever.
This doesn't get you the whole way, of course. The next step (but maybe this exists too, and I just haven't found it yet) would be to let me link to an English version so I could go friction free from English to (shall we say) Klingon to the Klingon dictionary, etc. And the dictionary can be a dead end: if I don't understand the dictionary definition, so far as I can tell I can't just press for the definition's definition.**
You knew all that. Okay, but I still count it as progress. And did you also know that you can get a complete A la recherché du temps perdu plus a French dictionary for less than 10 bucks? Ain't nature grand?
And did you know that the English translation of "ferrugineux" is "ferruginous?" I say, ain't nature grand?
===
*Apparently not the cloud. I sent the book out there, but I can't figure out how to load the dictionary.
**Well, not quite. I can tap through to the definition and then seek definitions of words inside the definition. And so on ad infinitum, I suppose.
Afterthought: But then, I saw a modern mystery in French that I wanted to put on my Kindle. I punched one-click and they told me that it wasn't available in my part of the world. Well okay, but then why did you offer it to me?
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