Kindle/Nook and learning Spanish
May 31, 2012 3:32 PM   Subscribe

Kindle (or Nook) and Spanish books+Dictionary

I am learning Spanish and want to slowly start reading books in Spanish on a reader (Kindle, Nook or other). Trying to decide which one. My question is this-

I have a limited Spanish vocabulary and want the ability to look up a word in the book whilst I read it. So if I come across a word that I do not know, I want to click on it and have a Spanish/English dictionary pop up and let me know what the word is.

Does anyone know if this is possible? If so on which reader. Is there a software I can load to enable this (I have a Nook so any software to enable it would be great)

Thank you!
posted by pakora1 to Education (8 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
My Kindle Touch was just updated to include dictionaries from several languages, including Spanish. I haven't had the chance to try it out yet since it requires wireless access, though. (My Kindle doesn't have 3G.)
posted by Jeanne at 4:10 PM on May 31, 2012


The nook tablet/color doesn't seem to include a spanish dictionary in the built in word search, but does give you the option to check google or the wikipedia. I'll ask around and see if there's an easier way.

Have you tried any of the nook apps for Spanish?
posted by drezdn at 4:16 PM on May 31, 2012


Having actually tried out the new Kindle feature, it just uses Bing to translate. So, as a dictionary, it's almost completely useless.
posted by Jeanne at 6:24 PM on May 31, 2012


I have an older kindle and this is certainly possible. You have to download a compatible dictionary - I have Merriam-Webster's - and then in settings, press the menu button and it will give you the option to change the primary dictionary. The problem is that you can only have one dictionary in use at a time, so if you want to switch between Spanish and English books it's a pain. A quick google search indicates that you can do the same swap with a nook.
posted by ke rose ne at 7:05 PM on May 31, 2012


For all the Kindles you can buy additional dictionaries and set them as the default.

This one supports lookup

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ROKQUG
posted by wongcorgi at 9:53 AM on June 1, 2012


I do exactly this with french books on my kindle (one of the $80 dollar kindles that came out last year). The french dictionary wasn't pre-installed but it was an easy free download.

If you maneuver the cursor over a word, it pops up a short definition. Two clicks take you two the full dictionary entry if you need it. It automatically uses the french or the (pre-installed) american dictionary as appropriate.

I haven't tried spanish. I assume it would work similarly well.
posted by bfields at 7:21 AM on June 2, 2012


Oh, but sorry I realize I missed part of your question: you're looking for a bilingual dictionary. I haven't tried that. (My french vocabulary isn't fabulous, but it's usually adequate to read the definitions, and when not the lookup does work recursively within the dictionary entries, and the "back" button will do the right thing to pop you back up to where you were before.)
posted by bfields at 7:28 AM on June 2, 2012


Note that currently the Kindle Fire doesn't let you change the default dictionary. All us Kindle Fire owners are impatiently waiting for a software update that enables that feature. The other Kindles let you do it.
posted by free hugs at 8:25 PM on July 5, 2012


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