Really cool TTS and translation feature.

[Johnny-5]

I just want to share a cool new thing I've been playing around with in my Chinese journey.

 

I got this e-ink notebook a while ago for use at work and to read more books on.

 

It has all sorts of neat features like side by side automatic translations, that I thought were great for Chinese users but I just wanted to install the WeChat reading app and use their good text to speech(TTS) to read through books.

 

The on device TTS is serviceable, but not good like the Wechat app. So the library of free Chinese books that come on the device seemed useless at first... but turn out to have actually been fairly interesting. I read through a biography of Putin, started a hagiography of Mao but couldn't take much of that, I followed along part of an audiobook of 西游记 (to avoid the mediocre on device TTS) and recently I started a 5 volume work about 红楼梦 and that's when I found that the translation isn't just good for Chinese users.

 

What's always annoyed me about looking up things in the dictionary is how it interrupts the reading experience, but this side by side translation is quite a practical alternative to looking things up.

I can use the TTS and follow along with the Chinese text, but at the same time quickly refer to the english translation to help clear up my understanding. The translation automatically updates when you turn the page so it doesn't interrupt the flow of reading/listening and the translation is usually good enough for the way I use it because I mostly understand what I'm reading in Chinese, but I can always glance over to verify.

Now it doesn't work for 西游记 because I can't really follow along with the Chinese text and even the English translation requires careful reading to make any sense of what they're trying to say. But I suspect anyone who was more profficient in ancient Chinese could still get something out of such automatic translation of what they're trying to read.

 

Anyhow, I've heard difering thoughts on translations and things like subtitles, but I've slowly come around to the view that anything that helps you enjoy the content more is a positive thing, what are your thoughts? Do you think we should never ever use translation or subtitles and should only have pure thoughts of the Virgin Mary at all times or can we enjoys ourselves a little bit? 

[sanchuan]

There's something to be said about the little bit of effort (and joy?) that goes with puzzling out what a newly acquired word means in context. Having the whole sentence spoodfed to you in English might lead you to just gloss over the puzzling bit and move on. Not so good if the goal is to learn new words...

 

...but perfect if you just want a smooth reading experience. So if you're only going over a text for the gist of it, whether for research or leisure, it's a good recommendation. Reading needn't be intensive all the time; indeed, it shouldn't!

 

That said, the costs of having such a distraction (or temptation, as the case may be) constantly up in your face wouldn't, in my humble opinion, outweigh the benefits of just swimming in the deep end unaided. After all, if the goal is extensive reading, leaving words unlooked-up or unpuzzled-out is really no big deal. Sometimes you just gotta tip your hat to them and move right along.

[Johnny-5]

On 8/12/2023 at 1:55 PM, sanchuan said:

That said, the costs of having such a distraction (or temptation, as the case may be) constantly up in your face wouldn't, in my humble opinion, outweigh the benefits of just swimming in the deep end unaided. After all, if the goal is extensive reading, leaving words unlooked-up or unpuzzled-out is really no big deal. Sometimes you just gotta tip your hat to them and move right along.

It seems you're right, in the past I've tried all sorts of ways of looking up words while I'm reading and thought maybe this would finally be the way to do it without the annoyances looking up a word usually entails!!!

 

But alas that is not the case, it quickly became too annoying and I've gone back to just the Chinese text and not being able to always "know" the meaning.

On 8/12/2023 at 1:55 PM, sanchuan said:

Having the whole sentence spoodfed to you in English might lead you to just gloss over the puzzling bit and move on. Not so good if the goal is to learn new words...

I'm not actually sure about this, there's been some investigation of the question of scenarios where you have a readily available translation (like subtitles), but I'm not sure of the results. I've always thought that having subtitles in your native language impeded your ability to acquire the 2nd language... But I don't actually know if that's true or not.

 

Anyhow, this is not a way that I like because it is too distracting from the flow of reading and makes it feel more like "studying" than just reading. 

[a808]

Thank you for sharing and very interesting! 

Johnny-5, which e-ink notebook are you using if I might ask?

[Johnny-5]

On 8/15/2023 at 2:43 AM, a808 said:

which e-ink notebook are you using if I might ask?

It's the Hanvon(汉王) N10. It's pretty good, I use it for note taking and reading with TTS (connecting bluetooth earbuds). I like it for those purposes because it has no touch-screen (only pen-input on the screen) and lots of customizable buttons. The battery life is fantastic, like just note-taking and reading it could last a month on a charge. It also has no light, which some people find to be a deal-breaker, but I've been working on having a better sleeping schedule so I think it's alright.

 

In addition to the built in apps for reading and note-taking it also runs apps like 微信读书 (if you run the e-ink version it runs really well, the regular Android version uses more power and you might only get a day or two out of each charge. I like the TTS better on 微信读书 but the built in Hanvon TTS is natural enough to be tolerable)

 

This guy on billibilli gave it a lengthy review... Hanvon updated the hardware and addressed some of the issues he spotted, like the hard to press power button and the smooth glass back.

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV14r4y1x7jy/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click