From reading the summary of what's to come in version 2.0, it looks like you're probably already addressing this improvement, but I thought I'd spell it out here just to let you know what the most important change for me is.
When I read an article or other text in Chinese and I come across a word that I want to look up in Pleco, I'd really like to be able to enter the sentence that the word came from in the article so that I could see it every time I reviewed the flashcard for that word. It's nice to see a few sample sentences that are already built-in to the basic dictionaries, but I think it's much more valuable to review the actual useage that you've come across and learned. After, I can make even more sample sentences of my own with my private tutor, and each time I review that flashcard, I can skim these sentences to jog my memory of how I've seen the words used.
This is the system that I've been using for years with (gasp!) cardboard flashcards. I only bought Pleco a few months ago, and I *love* the PDA-based flashcard review system, as it's way more efficient, but the drawback is that I'm not reviewing the phrases taken from the original text that I learned the word in. From the experience of doing it both ways, I feel very strongly that it's important to review those phrases when you go through your flash cards.
I noticed that you intend to allow the results from multiple dictionaries to be shown together, from just one search. Is your plan to have the results from the OX dictionary, ABC dictionary, the new Chinese-to-Chinese dictionary and also the USR dictionary appear as the definition for any word that you search for? If so, then this would completely solve my problem, because I could then create a USR entry for the word, with the "definition" field just being the sample sentence that I take from whatever text I'm reading.
One much less important suggestion would be to allow the user to specify in which order he would like the four dictionaries' definitions to appear. I would prefer, for example, to have the Chinese-to-Chinese definition first, then OX, then ABC, then finally USR at the bottom. However, a beginner might prefer to have the OX first, then ABC and then just the USR. This suggestion is less vital to me than the one from the previous paragraph.
One final word: I understand that you must be very busy with all the ambitious improvements that you have in store. I, and everyone else, appreciate your hard work. It will certainly take months and months to get everything that you want to get done perfected. If it looks like it's going to be the end of the year before you can come out with a version 2.0, then you could perhaps consider an earlier release of a version 1.5 or something that only includes half of your intended improvements. This might not fit with your plans; it's just an idea.
Thanks a lot!
When I read an article or other text in Chinese and I come across a word that I want to look up in Pleco, I'd really like to be able to enter the sentence that the word came from in the article so that I could see it every time I reviewed the flashcard for that word. It's nice to see a few sample sentences that are already built-in to the basic dictionaries, but I think it's much more valuable to review the actual useage that you've come across and learned. After, I can make even more sample sentences of my own with my private tutor, and each time I review that flashcard, I can skim these sentences to jog my memory of how I've seen the words used.
This is the system that I've been using for years with (gasp!) cardboard flashcards. I only bought Pleco a few months ago, and I *love* the PDA-based flashcard review system, as it's way more efficient, but the drawback is that I'm not reviewing the phrases taken from the original text that I learned the word in. From the experience of doing it both ways, I feel very strongly that it's important to review those phrases when you go through your flash cards.
I noticed that you intend to allow the results from multiple dictionaries to be shown together, from just one search. Is your plan to have the results from the OX dictionary, ABC dictionary, the new Chinese-to-Chinese dictionary and also the USR dictionary appear as the definition for any word that you search for? If so, then this would completely solve my problem, because I could then create a USR entry for the word, with the "definition" field just being the sample sentence that I take from whatever text I'm reading.
One much less important suggestion would be to allow the user to specify in which order he would like the four dictionaries' definitions to appear. I would prefer, for example, to have the Chinese-to-Chinese definition first, then OX, then ABC, then finally USR at the bottom. However, a beginner might prefer to have the OX first, then ABC and then just the USR. This suggestion is less vital to me than the one from the previous paragraph.
One final word: I understand that you must be very busy with all the ambitious improvements that you have in store. I, and everyone else, appreciate your hard work. It will certainly take months and months to get everything that you want to get done perfected. If it looks like it's going to be the end of the year before you can come out with a version 2.0, then you could perhaps consider an earlier release of a version 1.5 or something that only includes half of your intended improvements. This might not fit with your plans; it's just an idea.
Thanks a lot!
