I've bought the PlecoDict 1 two months and half ago. I want to share my experience and thoughts about it.
I started to study Chinese from zero in Taiwan nine months ago. Thanks Pleco for the great support of Traditional Chinese.
I've bought many dictionaries from then (I like the dictionaries too much
).
The greatest problems with the dictionaries are they are heavy, slow to search and not one complete. There are many dictionaries but very few for English people and Traditional Chinese. And they are quite small in vocabulary base. And, for example, there no any (as far I know and I've looked very much) for Spanish people and Traditional Chinese.
I found Pleco in Internet 6 month ago looking for digital dictionaries. It looked too great to be true but I hadn't PDA to try and I didn't believe it was as simple as I just need to write the character. But later, 3 months ago, I found a classmate of my centre using a PDA with Pleco, and I saw it really worked.
So that, I decided to buy a PDA and Pleco. It is really expensive for me (I don't have other incomes, only my savings) but it really worth, my Chinese learning productive improve and, specially, search new words is really fast.
I would have wished to have it from the beginning.
I bought a new palmOne Tungsten E2. I chose palm because is recommended by Pleco and I use Linux. I also chose this model because I bought new (I didn't find really cheap used one and to buy from overseas I thought to long wait and I didn't feel comfortable without shopping guaranty). And the good of this PDA is one of the cheapest (and Hi-screen) and here in Taiwan, includes English, Chinese Simplified and Traditional, easy to choose. Although I need to include a Pinyin input for Traditional. The Windows Mobile PDA's buy here only include Chinese, big problem for me. One bad thing for Palm is not Unicode encoded, although English and Chinese are enough friendly neighbours, to write Spanish makes garbled the text. Otexpneher bad thing of palmOne is they looks as they have already abandoned the normal PDA, being the E2 2 years old and with only new models in the very expensive Treos. But , I am still very happy with the PDA.
In my use of Pleco, I found a bug, or what I think it is. When I am doing a Flashcard session, if I switch off the PDA (because I need to stop for a while and later I want to continue), later doesn't start again and I need to reset the device. The right way to do is to finish first the Flashcard session and later switch off or keep running the PDA. For me, any of them is what I wish. But with the PlecoDict v2 coming soon, I guess it doesn't worth to fix the problem. Anyway, I've already learnt to avoid the bug.
Now, I really like my PDA with PlecoDict, it is my best friend for learning Chinese and leave in Taiwan. I like hearing the upcoming features of version 2 like stroke order (I will drop other paper dictionary) and voice pronunciation (my pronunciation is still very poor, it will help). Really small, light and I carry various dictionaries, I can search with different methods, included just writing and the use of wild cards and I can use for more things. I am really happy.
Other things I miss and I write to give ideas to developers what to do next:
That is all I remember of my thoughts. Sorry no make too easy to read (very large) if you have been able to finish of read.
Greetings for PlecoDict users, students of Chinese and congratulations for the creators of PlecoDict. Thank you.
Andres
I started to study Chinese from zero in Taiwan nine months ago. Thanks Pleco for the great support of Traditional Chinese.
I've bought many dictionaries from then (I like the dictionaries too much
).- Far East 3000 Chinese Character Dictionary. Good to learn how to write the characters because shows the stroke order and the handwritten style in a ruled box. No much more good.
- Far East Pinyin Chinese-English Dictionary. Very compact size, even I can not read the characters with many strokes (there a larger version, less compact, more readable). Just a normal Chinese-English dictionary with 4.000 characters and 40.000 phrases and idioms. Even in my basic level, I don't find very much. Really hard too look unknown characters.
- Far East English-Chinese Pinyin Dictionary. The reverse version quite compact with 12.000 words. Not very much.
- ZhongWen.com Chinese Characters. A Dictionary and a Genealogy. Good to look unknown characters and the relation (genealogy) between them. Make easier to remember how to write them and the meaning (but many the meaning too non-logical). It is compact size but the dictionary is too short.
- Qualille's Practical Chinese-English Dictionary. This Pocket Dictionary from Hong Kong is about 4.000 characters and 23.000 English words and phrases. It shows the stroke order and 8 different styles calligraphic forms, good for Chinese calligraphy and little help for strange characters of shops banners and names.
- Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook 5th Edition. Simplified Chinese and not use of Pinyin, just a pseudo English (crazy for not English people, I've seen the new edition use again Pinyin). Not much use here in Taiwan, really.
- Everyday Chinese for Travelers. Other phrasebook but in Traditional Chinese. Better, but I bought it already late.
- Diccionario Fundamental Español-Chino. A Spanish-Chinese Dictionary but not Pinyin and for Chinese speaker oriented. Good to look for many expressions of my mother language.
The greatest problems with the dictionaries are they are heavy, slow to search and not one complete. There are many dictionaries but very few for English people and Traditional Chinese. And they are quite small in vocabulary base. And, for example, there no any (as far I know and I've looked very much) for Spanish people and Traditional Chinese.
I found Pleco in Internet 6 month ago looking for digital dictionaries. It looked too great to be true but I hadn't PDA to try and I didn't believe it was as simple as I just need to write the character. But later, 3 months ago, I found a classmate of my centre using a PDA with Pleco, and I saw it really worked.
So that, I decided to buy a PDA and Pleco. It is really expensive for me (I don't have other incomes, only my savings) but it really worth, my Chinese learning productive improve and, specially, search new words is really fast.
I would have wished to have it from the beginning.
I bought a new palmOne Tungsten E2. I chose palm because is recommended by Pleco and I use Linux. I also chose this model because I bought new (I didn't find really cheap used one and to buy from overseas I thought to long wait and I didn't feel comfortable without shopping guaranty). And the good of this PDA is one of the cheapest (and Hi-screen) and here in Taiwan, includes English, Chinese Simplified and Traditional, easy to choose. Although I need to include a Pinyin input for Traditional. The Windows Mobile PDA's buy here only include Chinese, big problem for me. One bad thing for Palm is not Unicode encoded, although English and Chinese are enough friendly neighbours, to write Spanish makes garbled the text. Otexpneher bad thing of palmOne is they looks as they have already abandoned the normal PDA, being the E2 2 years old and with only new models in the very expensive Treos. But , I am still very happy with the PDA.
In my use of Pleco, I found a bug, or what I think it is. When I am doing a Flashcard session, if I switch off the PDA (because I need to stop for a while and later I want to continue), later doesn't start again and I need to reset the device. The right way to do is to finish first the Flashcard session and later switch off or keep running the PDA. For me, any of them is what I wish. But with the PlecoDict v2 coming soon, I guess it doesn't worth to fix the problem. Anyway, I've already learnt to avoid the bug.
Now, I really like my PDA with PlecoDict, it is my best friend for learning Chinese and leave in Taiwan. I like hearing the upcoming features of version 2 like stroke order (I will drop other paper dictionary) and voice pronunciation (my pronunciation is still very poor, it will help). Really small, light and I carry various dictionaries, I can search with different methods, included just writing and the use of wild cards and I can use for more things. I am really happy.
Other things I miss and I write to give ideas to developers what to do next:
- Writing style fonts. I meant that kind of font which is how we learn to write. The Pleco includes a computer one. It is great for the small size in the definition. But I would like when I tap to magnify or in the header of Flash card to be the handwriting style. It happened to me I learnt the wrong way to write some characters because I learnt with the Flashcards. I think this cannot be hard. Now, we can download an extra with a new font of bigger size, just to get the same but with the other kind of font.
- Genealogy Dictionary. Pleco also recommended the zhongwen.com on-line dictionary. Then we all know it, I don't know other more complete genealogy dictionary for English speakers. I have it and I use, and it is very popular in my centre between western students. I would be great to have it in PlecoDict, I want more information of one character to know similar or help me to remember it and with the very great and fast feature of PlecoDict, just a tap in the dictionary list I would have available dictionary. This dictionary really help for students. Problems? Maybe more traditional Chinese oriented, although includes simplified. This is already digital dictionary like his author states and makes free available on-line. Other problem is how to include the Genealogical Charts or something similar. I have some ideas, also dropped would be OK although it would lose some value. Anyway, that is the magic of electronic dictionary, not doubt can be done, but it would make slower to create it. Last problem is it includes some characters not included in fonts because that are only reference to old forms. But they are just few.
- Other handwritten styles? They still use them in calligraphy, advertisement, fashion ways, signatures, and they are out of my reach. Even search with them? I know, I answer myself, it is not possible (yet).
- Other languages dictionaries? Spanish-Chinese, other language-Chinese. Pleco is very good even for no English mother language speakers. But not enough to express myself within English. They are good Spanish-Chinese, Chinese-Spanish dictionaries, the problem is they lack Pinyin and Spanish oriented. With the magic of Pleco, it would make possible to use them, just linked for the unknown terms. I know, it is just a wet dream (yet :wink.
- More Taiwanese oriented dictionary. I have specially found in the English-Chinese dictionary the translations of many terms are not used in Taiwan, even when they include more of one translation. It is frustrating the Taiwanese people often don't know those terms or they correct yourself saying nobody use those terms. The ABC Chinese-English, normally doesn't lack, and also include the terms of normal use in Taiwan. And with the upcoming Chinese-Chinese really advanced dictionary announced, I hope it will be even better for use in Taiwan. The left to do is to find a better English-Chinese which includes more localization terms.
That is all I remember of my thoughts. Sorry no make too easy to read (very large) if you have been able to finish of read.
Greetings for PlecoDict users, students of Chinese and congratulations for the creators of PlecoDict. Thank you.
Andres
