Dictionaries for iOS and Android

A smartphone and also a tablet are ideally suited as a dictionary. Fortunately, many apps (with often more functionality than traditional dictionaries) can be found for this, we list a few for you.

Of course you can look up just about any word on Google. Yet dictionaries created and curated by professional editors are still unbeatable. Even in paper form, but the smartphone and tablet are at least as useful. Especially if you choose a dictionaries app where the entire word list is stored offline. The great advantage is that you are not dependent on an internet connection and that your dictionary - just like a paper copy - is always immediately available. But without the accompanying weight. A well-known Dutch dictionary publisher is of course Unieboek Het Spectrum with the Prisma series. They are the standard dictionaries used in education and we have all grown up with them. Various translation dictionaries are available in app form, with the 'regular' version - at the time of writing - costing €8.99 and the most extensive XL copies €14.99. Not very cheap, but it is a one-time purchase. Apart from the translation dictionaries, there is also a Dutch dictionary and an XL variant thereof. In short: ideal to keep on hand, especially if you work a lot with language. Also practical for school of course, because in 2019 why would you still carry around a trolley with school and dictionaries...?

Multidictionaries

Multi-language dictionaries are ideal for vacation. It is important to choose a copy that also contains Dutch as one of the (basic) languages. That is not always the case in a world where most app developers are not from our regions. iTranslate is one of the apps where you can set the Netherlands as the base language. Choose a language to which you want to translate, type the Dutch word on the left and the translation appears on the right, which can also be pronounced. Incidentally, iTranslate is much more than a dictionary, it is really a translation app that can be used to translate pieces of text. The app is essentially free. Unfortunately, for an elementary function - downloading dictionaries for offline use - you have to take out a subscription for € 4.99 per month. That quickly adds up on an annual basis! So better not do it.

Talk and translate

Most imaginative are apps that you just talk to and then pronounce your sentence in another language. The problem is that there are a lot of these kinds of apps in the iOS and Android app stores and that the vast majority are of inferior quality. And that which is good, regularly disappears from the stores overnight for unknown reasons. The 'live' translation of spoken text is the holy grail of translation software. Some of the manufacturers prefer to sell expensive, closed physical devices and quickly discover that they earn less than expected from apps. It's a possible explanation. But feel free to search for voice translator in your app store, chances are you will find something there. In use here has been Voice Translator Pro for a while, currently no longer available in the iOS app store. However, it works great: the speech recognition is perfectly fine and the translated text that is spoken is perfectly intelligible.

One final remark: lovers of language will undoubtedly have noticed that Van Dale is not mentioned in this article. Unfortunately logical, because their excellent 'Dikke' and the Groot Dictionaries in various languages ​​have long since disappeared from the app stores. instead, those dictionaries can now be found online. With the serious disadvantage that you have to take out an annual subscription with a hefty price tag.

Recent Posts

$config[zx-auto] not found$config[zx-overlay] not found