Have you heard of the Quicktionary? I just came across it today and it looks like an excellent tool for language learners who are trying to do some reading in their target language.
Basically, it’s a handheld scanner with an integrated OCR and translation software. To use it, simply aim the scanner part at the text you want to process. It will grab the text and show it on the built-in display, which you can then choose to translate into a language you can better understand. Supposedly, the device can read and translate in seven different languages, as well as store up to 20,000 lines of text.
Chances are, something like this will be a pain to use if you’re totally oblivious about a language. If you have a working ability, though, you can use it to quickly scan and translate sentences you can’t understand while reading books and magazines in the foreign language.
As you’ve probably heard from many language teachers, reading materials in a target language is a great way to learn new words and phrases that you can integrate into your vocabulary. It’s a good secondary activity to engage in on top of your regular language software lessons. Having a tool like the Quicktionary definitely sounds faster than having to open a dictionary every single time.
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