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Show HN: Bilinual books – books in two languages for language learners

2 points by SpongeAlice 8y ago

Bilinual helps you improve your language skill by providing books that are annotated with translation hints. Bilinual doesn't translate books, but annotates them with translation and language hints. While you should not rely on the translations as a full text, if you don't know the meaning of a word, the hints hopefully provide you a clue to guess the right translation without checking a dictionary. http://www.bilinual.com http://www.bilinual.com + I disabled the online annotation features so that the web site can serve more visitors. Please subscribe to the mailing list if you are interested.

kseistrup 8y ago
Perhaps I picked an unfortunate example, but the en-sv version of Moby Dick is beyond hopeless. E.g., ‘translation’ of the word “fare” in the sentence “So fare thee well” is “passageraravgift“. While I can see the connection between “fare” and “passageraravgift“ (literally: passenger fee), it is not going to help anybody get through Moby Dick in a meaningful way. Other funnies: be → beryllium entertaining → ha som gäst sub → sandwich making → kissa coming → få orgasm And that's just on page 4… Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
- SpongeAlice 8y ago
  Thanks for trying the website. I have to admit that the ML algorithm needs much more improvement. How would you like the idea? If the words are checked by a native speaker first, is this something that you would seriously consider using and paying for?
  - kseistrup 8y ago
    I we for a moment imagine that the translations were perfect, I might consider using it — or I mightn't. The competition is tough: I can get a load of contemporary ebooks for the kindle on Amazon, and the sweet thing about the kindle is that is has this “long-press for dictionary lookup” feature. However, this would soon become tedious if I was a total beginner in a language. In such a scenario your concept might be sweeter. But it rises and falls with the quality on the translation.
    - SpongeAlice 8y ago
      Thanks for your feedback.

2 points by SpongeAlice 8y ago

kseistrup 8y ago

Perhaps I picked an unfortunate example, but the en-sv version of Moby Dick is beyond hopeless. E.g., ‘translation’ of the word “fare” in the sentence “So fare thee well” is “passageraravgift“. While I can see the connection between “fare” and “passageraravgift“ (literally: passenger fee), it is not going to help anybody get through Moby Dick in a meaningful way. Other funnies: be → beryllium entertaining → ha som gäst sub → sandwich making → kissa coming → få orgasm And that's just on page 4… Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

SpongeAlice 8y ago
Thanks for trying the website. I have to admit that the ML algorithm needs much more improvement. How would you like the idea? If the words are checked by a native speaker first, is this something that you would seriously consider using and paying for?
- kseistrup 8y ago
  I we for a moment imagine that the translations were perfect, I might consider using it — or I mightn't. The competition is tough: I can get a load of contemporary ebooks for the kindle on Amazon, and the sweet thing about the kindle is that is has this “long-press for dictionary lookup” feature. However, this would soon become tedious if I was a total beginner in a language. In such a scenario your concept might be sweeter. But it rises and falls with the quality on the translation.
  - SpongeAlice 8y ago
    Thanks for your feedback.