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talking dictionary dual-language software

Don’t be misled by the title of this program. It’s is two books in one – a French-English dictionary as well as an English-French. And it’s very easy to switch between the two. The program installs effortlessly and takes up 44MB of hard disk space. In terms of sheer vocabulary there are over 80,000 words and phrases, and over 120,000 translations. It can be used with any other computer application to translate words and phrases, as well as for listening to the pronunciation of French and English words.

The word-base comes from the Collins paper dictionary, and you can easily add other dictionaries into the same basic program. There’s a talk-through introduction explaining all these functions – done by a very fruity-voiced woman, who even started playing jazz piano part way through. Each entry has a sound file attached giving the correct pronunciation. The sound files can either be run from the CD or copied permanently onto your hard drive. If the program reads the sound files off the CD, there’s a teensy time-lag first time you click on a word, but after that each successive selection plays instantly.

The program can sit in a small window in the corner of your screen, so you can keep it open unobtrusively whilst working on another document. I liked the fact that you can locate a term easily, simply by typing the first few letters into a dialogue box.

You can also work with the dictionary in condensed or expanded mode – which means that less or more details are shown for each entry. And you can test your grasp of the language as you go along with either a shooting gallery exercise or a crossword.

The AudioPad feature gives you the chance to practise your speaking skills with the help of professionals. You compare your pronunciation with the expert speaker, and see the result in sound waves on screen.

There’s a full HELP system which explains how to use and configure the program. It also lists keyboard shortcuts. Useful tips, answers to frequently asked questions, and database updates are available at the publisher’s web site.

Who is it for? I would say beginners to intermediate, as well as professional and business users. I’ve been using it to brush up my restaurant-level French skills, so that I can get closer to the goodies of Provencal gastronomy. And it works.

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Collins Talking French-English Dictionary, Intense Educational, 2004, CD-ROM

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Unleash your inner Gaul

Don’t be misled by the title. This book isn’t about swearing or euphemism. It comes from the long tradition of the English writing about French language and culture as if it were that of another planet – but with a certain amount of self-deprecation and lots of affection. Charles Timoney went to live in France speaking only a few remnants of his GCE French – and what he offers here is what he’s learned in the years since – working in the country and learning from his French wife and in-laws. You can avoid making the same mistakes, and even get to understand some of the slang, idioms, and puzzling anomalies which he writes about so amusingly.

The entries are arranged in themes such as food and drink, travel, education, the office, history, slang, and the family. What you get is not only an explanation of linguistic oddities, but an insider’s glimpse into a foreign culture too. He explains how to survive in a French restaurant for instance, how to order steak well done and even ask for tap water, and why you should not call the waiter ‘Monsieur’.

There are also warnings that gateau doesn’t always mean cake (more likely a biscuit) and how French vegetable names are used as slang insults (Banane = idiot)

Because the French (like the English) have a habit of changing and abbreviating words, this guide is useful for explaining the quasi-slang terms for everyday things – such as apéro (aperitif) DOM – TOM (former colonies) Bac (A levels). He also explains why people in the provinces refer not to Parisiens but to les neufs trois (ninety-three being the number of a particularly low-rated parisian département).

He explains why nobody in their right mind would use the full name L’aéroport Charles de Gaulle when they can more easily use it’s original name of Roissy.

Buried within all the jokes there’s actually a lot of useful information regarding French culture such as getting married, driving round roundabouts, where to sit in a football stadium, and the fact that French cinemas change their films on a Wednesday, not Thursday as they do in the UK.

There’s an excellent chapter on slang (Mec = chap) backslang (Meuf = girl) and even instructions on how to use Merde! politely. It’s the sort of book you read with a permanent smile on your face.

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Charles Timoney, Pardon My French, London: Penguin, 2007, pp.233, ISBN: 1846140528

Collins French-English Dictionary

talking dictionary dual-language software

Pardon My French

Unleash your inner Gaul

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