Here is how it works. The program is portable but requires the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0 to be installed on the computer system. Windows Vista and Windows 7 come with this Framework by default and most XP users should have it installed as well.

The dictionary software will display its interface which is set to be always on top by default. The user can now enter a word directly into the interface or use one of the shortcuts to feed the program from within other applications.

To look up a word in the Google Dictionary a user would simply select a word or phrase in the active application, for instance a web browser, Microsoft Word document or email client, and press the [Alt Z] shortcut to send that phrase to the dictionary software which will automatically display the requested information in its interface. The middle-mouse button is also configured to send the phrase or word to the dictionary application. This might interfere with other add-ons or functions in specific programs. Both the hotkey and mouse option can be edited in the options of the software to avoid conflicts.

Additional shortcuts become available if the interface of Dictionary.net is the active window. The hotkey [Alt T] will translate the selected text by trying to automatically identify the language and displaying the most likely result.

The hotkey [Alt W] will display definitions of the word or phrase in the program’s interface. The shortcut [Alt D] finally will display the Google Dictionary entry of the selected phrase in the program. Links that are displayed are opened in the default web browser. It is furthermore possible to save results as htm or txt files, open supported document formats for automatic translation and to configure a proxy server is that is necessary.

Dictionary.net is a lightweight software program that combines Google Dictionary, Google Translate, Google Suggest and word definitions in one interface. It can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It has a size of only 161 Kilobytes.

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Here is how the Firefox add-on works. Wikilook offers several methods of looking up words on web pages. The unobtrusive approach works by pressing the shift key and moving the mouse over a word that needs to be looked up in a dictionary.

This will automatically open a small popup window next to the word or phrase that should be looked up in the dictionary. The word definition will stay on the screen until the left mouse button is pressed by the user which closes the popup window.

Word phrases can also be looked up in dictionaries. This is done by selecting the phrase with the left-mouse button before pressing shift and holding the mouse cursor over the phrase. This will then look up the selected phrase in the dictionary. It is possible to follow links that are displayed in the dictionary popup window. A left-click would open the page in the same tab. A middle-click or pressing Ctrl while left-clicking will open the link in a new tab instead.

WikiLook can also look up words in Wikipedia and Uncyclopedia. These look ups are initiated by pressing the Ctrl or Alt keys and right-clicking on a word or phrase that should be looked up. These functionality did not work properly on our Windows XP test system with Firefox 3.5.2 installed. It could be that another Firefox add-on interfered with this option though. If any of you who install the add-on can get this to work let us know.

The English pages of Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Uncyclopedia are used by default. Users who want to access dictionary definitions in other languages can change the English pages in the options easily to other language pages. The add-on comes with advanced settings that can only be accessed in the about:config menu. Easiest way to do so is to filter for wikilook in the configuration menu.

Most of the configuration settings define aspects of the popup window that is displaying the dictionary definitions.

Wikilook provides one of the most unobtrusive ways of looking up words in dictionaries saving users who do so regularly lots of time.

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I am currently trying to learn French and German and often find myself using many computer-based resources to ease my learning, some obvious, like dictionaries, and some not-so, like podcasts.

Dictionaries

Different languages generally have different online dictionaries. For German, I often find myself using dict.cc, whilst for French, I use Reverso. The best way to find dictionaries is to Google, but one option to definitely consider is the ever-growing Wiktionary. Effectively every language has a Wiktionary and whilst it can be difficult to navigate, it is quite large and the range of languages makes it amazing.

Verb conjugators

Verbix is another web-based tool. It allows you to conjugate verbs, and even supports irregular ones.

The free web-based tool supports verb conjugation in 97 languages, ranging from Afrikaans, to Milanese, to Old English to Welsh! They offer Windows shareware which supports over 300 languages.

Verbix also offers a tool too which analyses text and guesses its language.

Podcasts

Podcasts are a very useful way to perfect your listening.

It is very useful for me to hear a native German or a Francophone to speak.

Browsing iTunes will obviously bring up many possibilities.

My suggestions? For German, use Slow German. For French, try One thing in a French day. Naturally, I can’t make suggestions for other languages!

Vocabulary trainers

One of the best ways to learn is purely to repeat.

Many vocabulary trainers are available. These allow you to input words, or use preprepared word lists, and then be tested on them. The trainers compile statistics so you can identify weak points etc.

For OS X, try the freeware Vocab. A wide-range of options exist for Windows users; ProvaLingua seems popular. Another option, which also works under Linux, is this program.

Wikipedia

I already mentioned that Wiktionary exists in many languages, but so does Wikipedia.

To improve your knowledge of a foreign language, try reading an article on your native language Wikipedia and then on a foreign one. It won’t be the same word for word, but many ideas will be similar so you should be able to pick out some key words.

Wikipedia is also a good way to find technical vocabulary in a foreign tongue.

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The free version of this extension comes with support for the languages English, German and French and offers support to add additional dictionaries in csv format. The commercial version which is available for roughly 5€ supports the popular .dict format as well.

Translations are obviously available in both directions but those have to be selected separately. If you come upon a text that mixes languages you have to switch. Say you got a text that uses German and English words. You have to select if you want to translate German into English or English into German from the toolbar and need to switch if you encounter words in the second language.

Translations work pretty well. The word has to be clicked on and the translation will appear instantly in the toolbar along with the selected word in the original language.

The extension does have some shortcomings that are dealt with in the commercial version. It’s definitely easier to add .dict files than .csv dictionaries. The free version does not recognize phrases and has no means to add new words from within the application. It still might be helpful if you regularly work with German, English and French documents and are not fluent in at least one of the languages.

The extension works well with the latest Open Office 3 beta and all supported operating systems.

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Both methods are not really practicable. The author of tiny Spell seemed to have the same thoughts and decided to create a software that would work as an universal spell checker in Windows using the least amount of resources possible.

Tiny Spell checks all words typed in Windows against an English-American dictionary with more than 110000 words. This is done on the fly and the program plays a sound and changes its icon in the system tray whenever it discovers a word that seems to be spelled wrong.

The clipboard is monitored as well. It is then possible to take a look at the suggestions by either clicking on the icon in the system tray or pressing a hotkey that lists suggestions. The selected word can optionally be automatically copied to the clipboard or pasted into the document of the misspelled word.

Read More:

tinySpell Homepage

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The result is displayed in the same window that you marked the word in. It will be displayed on the right side by default but this can be changed. Almost everything can be changed. You can select different keys that trigger a search and add new sites to Look it up. It is also possible to change existing ones, if you prefer for instance the French Wikipedia service you can easily change the url of the Wikipedia entry to the French version.

Last but not least you can change the way the results are shown on the website. You can change size, appearance and everything else by using css. The default settings are fine nevertheless and only few users really need to change anything here.

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It delivers what the firefox dictionary can’t. You may lookup words by simply pressing a hotkey, the word will be looked up and explained in great detail in the sage. If the word does not exist in the dictionary it presents a list of words that look similar or use the wildcard button to find the word you are looking for.

The great thing about the sage is not that it is easy to use. It’s purpose is not to deliver fast results, the process to lookup a word is simply to slow to be effective (mark a word, hit the hotkey, look it up in the sage, manually edit the word). The sage is effective when it comes to understanding words that you do not know. It also helps by being able to work with almost any other program on your computer.

As you all know the firefox dictionary is restricted to firefox and thunderbird, what if you want to write something in an instant messenger ?  The Sage has a history function, can stay on top if you like. It displays synonyms and hypernyms while looking up the word and is able to create anagrams from the word as well.

Oh, the hotkey is CTRL+SHIFT+A, took a while to look it up in the documentation.

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