Welcome -- what you will find on this blog

This is the home page to Pablo and Pingrid.

• Pablo, a free Chinese-English dictionary for Windows. Probably the best for beginners.
  current version of Pablo: 2.1
• Pingrid, a clever and effective game to train your Chinese vocabulary.
  current version of Pingrid: 2.1c
• Tips on how to install Chinese speech synthesis in Windows.

Novelties in Pablo version 2.0

Hello, the new version 2.0 of Pablo is out!

More features for even easier and more powerful searches:

- Improved popup definitions, working in many other programs!

- Highlight your own "favorite" words

- Easily get updates of Pablo and the CEDICT database

and more!

New! Popup definitions in Pablo

Discover an exciting new feature in Pablo:

Popup definitions when you move the mouse over Chinese text in other programs!
Just run the mouse over text in Word or Explorer and you get the translation right away!

Also, click in the popup window to bring up the full Pablo window!


Requirements
The popup definition feature is designed for Windows XP, Windows NT. It does not work under Windows 95 or Vista.

Caution: Popup definitions may interfere with other software. The reason is that, in order to display popups, Pablo needs to constantly monitor your system and detect Chinese text.

You can configure in which programs you want popup definitions.



You can also toggle popups on/off by clicking the small 'Pablo' icon located in the taskbar.
##version 1.99b

Installing Chinese voice synthesis in Windows

A frequently asked question on this blog is: how to install Chinese voice in Windows? Voice synthesis is a great enhancement to Pablo and Pingrid.

Here are some step-by-step instructions. This is mostly a repost of a comment made by Benjamin Lim on this blog (thanks, Benjamin).

1. Follow the Lingoes link http://www.lingoes.net/en/translator/speech.htm
(Lingoes is a very good freeware translation tool).

2. At the Lingoes webpage look for the following paragraph:

Recommended Excellent TTS Engine
Microsoft Simplified Chinese Voice
PackageFile Size: 1.55 MB
Download: Mirror 1, Mirror 2

3. Download that and it will appear as "Microsoft_TTS_51_chs.msi"

4. Double click on the msi file once it is downloaded

5. Go to Windows Control Panel and click on the Speech icon. Change the Voice Selection from default to the newly installed one. In my case Microsoft Simplified Chinese.
** Before you close that window, click on the Audio Output button and direct the voice to the correct audio driver which might come with your sound card.

6. That's it and I hope it is helpful for some.

Learning Chinese -- PINGRID, my vocabulary training game

Hello, Chinese learners.


If you are like me, one major difficulty in learning Chinese is to associate characters with their pronounciation. Noting that, I developed a small game to help memorize new words.


It is called Pingrid. The game consists of finding a word among a grid of other words.


Pingrid incorporates an original learning model aimed at insisting on "difficult" words. I have been using it for several months now to study my vocabulary and it has proved to be a real asset in my learning process.


Though quite simple, Pingrid is tremendously effective. It works along the same lines as other advanced repetition-based learning programs. What makes Pingrid unique is that it is 100% tailored for learning Chinese vocabulary.

Screenshot:


Included is a sample study list and a complete tutorial to get you started right away !

	Download the package at: http://www.box.net/shared/b7uzv0g548 (Just unzip the file to a directory and... RUN) current version is v2.1c (Oct. 6, 2009)
	Feel free to donate to support developments and updates. You can try it out for free, but if you like Pingrid and use it, it is only fair to contribute a small amount, don't you think?
	How to get the Chinese voice to work. -> you need to install the voice engine with the Microsoft Chinese voice. You can find that on the Lingoes web site (which, by the way, is a great translation tool): http://www.lingoes.net/en/translator/speech.htm That voice is not very nice but it is free. Commercial alternatives are all pretty expensive. If you know of any good free voice, please let me know! For more detailed instructions, look here.
	Finally, if you haven't yet, be sure to check out Pablo, a great Chinese-English dictionary for beginners.

Learning Chinese -- PABLO, my personal Chinese dictionary

Introducing Pablo a treat for Chinese learning beginners: a compact, nifty, featured-packed and free Chinese-English dictionary for Windows. Pablo is probably the best Chinese-English dictionary alternative for beginners.

! Unrivaled search features

• English, Chinese and pinyin
• Search a character from its radical
• (exclusive!) Find a character from its various elements
• Simplified and traditional characters
• Quick navigation (no java, no long downloads!)

! Popup definitions in other programs

! All graphical interface

• Handwritten character recognition
• The best collection of character animations (over 3,500!)
• Navigate through search results with one click

! Based on the acclaimed CEDICT database, over 110,000 entries.


See the screenshot:



Yes, yes... I want Pablo!

	Download the installation program from: http://www.box.net/shared/b7uzv0g548 current version is v2.1 (Oct. 24, 2009)
	Pablo is a solitary effort. Please donate to support developments and updates. You can try out Pablo for free, but if you like it and continue using it, it is only fair to contribute a small amount, don't you think? Donation amount is left up to you, all contributions are welcome.
	How to get the Chinese voice to work. -> you need to install the voice engine with the Microsoft Chinese voice. You can find that on the Lingoes web site (which, by the way, is a great translation tool): http://www.lingoes.net/en/translator/speech.htm That voice is not very nice but it is free. Commercial alternatives are all pretty expensive. If you know of any good free voice, please let me know! For more detailed instructions, look here.
	Finally, if you haven't yet, be sure to check out Pingrid, a fun and effective game to train your Chinese vocabulary.