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!)
! All graphical interface
- Handwritten character recognition
- The best collection of character animations (over 3,500!)
- Navigate through search results with one click
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) |
 | |
 | 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. |
47 comentarios:
Pablo is excellent. I am buying a Palm PDA. I wonder if this would work with it, allowing me to draw the characters with the pen. That would be fantastic.
I'm afraid not, Pablo runs with Windows only. (Thanks for your kind words.)
Hi, is Pablo open-source? And if so what license is it under?
Can it be used on a windows Mobile Platform? I'm currently using Mobile 5
Great product! I was already a fan of Jordan K's java app, and it's great the way you extended it. I noticed your app isn't java based - did you port it to c++?
Good job Emmanuel... Pablo is an excellent program.
I have some questions though:
1)
How do I get the 'speak' option to function? I right click on the character then click on 'Speak' in the menu, but nothing happens. There are no included help/instructions on this too .. or did I miss something?
2)
What programming language(s) did you use to write this software? And how did you incorporate the Flash inside the program?
And I'd like to ask too .. how did the name 'Pablo' come about for a Chinese language software :-D ?
In short, all good expect for the current lack of speak function ~
Answering the previous comments:
Pablo is written in basic, using a compiler called HotBasic. The animation is also written in native basic.
Regarding the "Speak" issue, I'll post a "how to" guide.
And as for the name "Pablo", well, it is mostly casual. I was looking for a name that sounded simple and friendly, and above all, I had no time to spend on marketing research... What came to my mind first was Pablo, I hope you like it! :)
I thought you might like to know you got a feature in the Taipei Times review today - do stay in touch with any updates as this is a regular feature. Many thanks, Jonathan
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2008/05/21/2003412471
That's so cool!
Thanks a lot.
Hi, the program is very useful but is there a Multi-radical (like WWWJDIC) search?
Yes, Luke,
"multi-radical" search is one of Pablo's greatest features.
How to:
- right-click on the search box. This brings up the radical list.
- now RIGHT-CLICK on the different radicals that make up the word. (No need to select ALL the character's components. Usually 2 to 4 are enough).
- then go to the 'Results' tab.
Hi Emmanuel.
I'm currently in China and your program looks fantastic but I can't download it! Is there any way you can make it available? I think it would be a huge help in talking to my chinese colleagues.
Dan
Just read the preceding comments by Dan, if Emmanuel thinks it can help, I can help by hosting the file on the "Downloads" section of my site.
Right now I've not done anything; let me know if you need help and let me how I can help.
Hi again.
If you could host it that would be fantastic. Either that or as this program seems to be free would Emmanuel mind if you emailed it to me at DNW1710@hotmail.com?
Hello Ultrabeast,
I agree, that would be great. The source locations of Pablo and Pingrid can be found on this blog.
(I also tried to open an Xdrive account but I get no reply from them, and I'm not even sure it can be accessed from China).
Hello all,
I have posted up the two files for PABLO and PINGRID in the Downloads section of my site.
So if you somehow can't download it here, you may go to
http://ultrabeast.virtualestate.org
to download them.
Emmanuel, you could take a look at that site to see whether it looks OK to you - let me know if there is anything you want to change.
I am currently in China, and I am having great dificulty with your links for download. Is there another way I can get a copy of Pablo ??
Hello Jerry,
have you tried from ultrabeast's site:
http://ultrabeast.virtualestate.org
in the Downloads section
I am unable to access ultrabeast's site from china either.
emmanuel
great stuff, now i carry pablo in my thumb drive as a portable dictionary. are you planning to release a windows mobile version so that it can be loaded into WM phones with touch screen such as the HTC TytnII ? that will be awesome indeed. but still great stuff, appreciated your hard work.
Hello,
for Jerry: I am sorry, at the time I have no solution for you (or for other located in China). I keep trying to find a kind of web-based storage that would be accessible in China.
for ST: Unfortunately, I have no competence in Mobile programming neither the tools to do it, so Pablo will remain a desktop thing for now... Thanks for your post.
This program is fantastic! Thank you so much for creating this. Fyi, I am in China now, and was able to download the file via Xdrive.
I really enjoy both Pingrid and Pablo. The options are what makes these interesting - i already know Japanese, but have never studied Chinese, so the "translation" mode in the game allows me to get a start. Let's see, i learned the 1,945 Toyou kanji, so maybe have about another 1,000 more to go to get fluent in Chinese? And then to work on the pronunciation - oh no :)
Amazing program, I'm studying Chinese and use this daily, the 'Find characters based on this character' is by far my favourite feature.
Something that would be amazing, although I'm not sure what it would entail, is the ability to go back and forward like a web browser or explorer. I often hit 'backspace' by accident trying to make Pablo show the previous result! Force of habit from other apps...
Otherwise stellar work, wish I could get this on my phone! I'll have to settle for DictForMIDs.
Hi,
www.xuezhongwen.net has attributed its animated chinese animations to you. Can anyone use them for non-commercial or commercal use if they attribute them to you? If so, where can I download them?
Thanks,
Detlef.
Correction to my previous post:
I meant:
animated chinese character flash animations
Not:
animated chinese animations
Thanks,
D
For lee-kohl:
the "back" function sounds definitely interesting and... hard to program, so it may take a while...
In the meantime, why not open the drop-down "search box". That gives you access to the latest words you typed.
for d:
Thank you for your interest.
I granted use of the character animations to xuezhonbgwen because they are the authors of the CEDICT database, so it is a sort of reciprocity :)
Apart from that, I reserve the rights over Pablo and the associated data. If you plan to use the data, for instance in a software of your own, please email me to discuss conditions.
to all: thanks for your kind words and good luck!
I have just installed Pablo and got the voice part to work. Here is the whole process I took for my computer running Windows XP:
1. Download and unzip Plabo to Desktop(the easiest part)
2. Follow the Lingoes link provided http://www.lingoes.net/en/translator/speech.htm
3. At the Lingoes webpage look for the following paragraph:
Recommended Excellent TTS Engine
Microsoft Simplified Chinese Voice Package
File Size: 1.55 MB
Download: Mirror 1, Mirror 2
4. Download that and it will appear as "Microsoft_TTS_51_chs.msi"
5. Double click on the msi file once it is downloaded
4. 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.
5. That's it and I hope it is helpful for some.
6. Thank you so much Emmanuel for sharing Pablo. : )
Someone please email me and tell me how to use PABLO off my thumbdrive. I use a lot of public computers, so I can't install anything onto a computer directly! I have PABLO on my thumbdrive now, but when I enter an English word, or draw a Chinese character and hit the ENTER key (on key board), everything remains BLANK!
HELP!
michael.e.lovett@gmail.com
Never mind! Found the "data folder", forgot to move it to my PABLO folder I created! Works GREAT! I lived in China five years and I am forgetting so much, so this will help a lot! thanks again! China Mike
hi.. excuse my english,i'm live in indonesia
i agree with add "back" function it look more pretty :)
thanks for you hardwork to make this excellent program.
Hello.
It looks like the first link for download does not work. The second one asks about username and password. So, what is an appropriate link to download this program?
Thanks!
Hello Ли Н.,
I have just tested the links.
Link #1 is OK but there were previous reports that it was inaccessible from some places, including China.
If this is your case, you should try using link #2. It requires that you have opened a (free) Xdrive account on www.xdrive.com
I have just set up a new mirror site at www.box.net
If someone can give it a try from China and see if it is accessible... thanks!
Hello!
Third link works fine.
First link still does not work from Kazakhstan at least.
Thanks a lot!
Will there be any updates released for Pablo in the future?
To zhouyangen:
Yes! There are regular updates for new features or bug fixes, and also to update the word and stroke databases.
E.
Pablo is excellent.100%
Looks good, but I was looking for a dictionary that has radical/strokes lookup. Did I miss something? Thanks for giving the link to DimSum: it does the job for me, but I am always looking for a better mouse-trap.
Hello Bérubé
Yes, Pablo does have radical/strokes lookup. The magic click: RIGHT-CLICK in the Search field. That will bring up the radical list!
In addition, Pablo has an exclusive feature, MULTI-RADICAL search: find a character from its components, even if you don't know which one is the radical. (more details in the help).
Great, I had not seen this feature. I will try it out. It seems to work the way I want it, but I need to get more familiar with it. Being able to look up radicals/strokes makes all the difference. Thank you very much.
1.could you add support so that the definitions tell whether they are noun verb adjective etc..
2.add the ability to add a mp3 audio file to each definition, and once you add the audio file you can have a play audio icon to click on that has the option to play one time or play in a loop with a 3 sec. interval after the audio finishes.
3.i don't know if it does or not but can we add our own custom words to the dictionary, if not this would be a cool function to edit the dictionary.
Great work so far!
Hello laien,
I will try to answer your questions:
1 and 3 relate to the dictionary database. Pablo uses the CEDICT database from mdbg.net
So far it does not contain information about the word type (if is a noun, a verb, etc.) Adding that information would be a huge work. I asked the owners at mdbg and for now they have no plans to include that.
As for adding personalized words, that is possible: go to the mdbg.net website and you can edit the CEDICT.
In the next release, I plan to add an "auto-update" feature to Pablo so that you can get the latest CEDICT database easily at any time.
Regarding question 2 (adding mp3), I do not plan to do that since a lighter alternative exists: if you are interested in having the words pronounced, I recommend you install speech synthesis on your PC with a Chinese voice and then use Pablo's Speak command. Adding individual mp3 files would require much work and an awful lot of memory space.
Details on how to install a Chinese voice are given in another post.
Thanks for using Pablo.
I would like to change the hotkey from F10 to F12, is that possible?
Also the ability to alt-click on a word would be cool.
Hello Geronimo,
your wish is my command...
Version 2.0 has a new Options screen, where you can change the F10 shortcut!
Post a Comment