Thursday, January 10, 2013

[Free Apps] Pleco - The Best Chinese Dictionary

Pleco has been in business for very long time. I know about Pleco when I was using my HTC Touch Elfin, that is Windows Mobile OS. Pleco has been on WinMo, Palm OS, iOS and now Android.



It is very good tool for students, as well as people that just started to learn Chinese. The reason is Pleco support pinyin input. So for those that lazy to write, as long as you know the pronunciation of the Chinese character or words, just type the pinyin. Example:

You should install Pleco now, it is because handwriting input module is free for now (Android only!), until Jun 30th this year. This module usually cost USD $14.95. I have checked, this module is not free on iOS. So iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch only can key-in pinyin or Zhuyin (for traditional Chinese - HK, Taiwan). Muahahaha. The handwriting module is for you to keep after the offer ended, Pleco will issue you a code that you can download it again for free if you move other a newer Android phone in future (example: Samsung Galaxy S4?)

More muahahaha after checking on pleco.com:
Audio Pronunciation (male) module - free on Android; $9.95 on iOS -> muahahahaha
Audio Pronunciation (male) module - free on Android; $9.95 on iOS -> muahahahaha
Flashcard system - free on Android, $14.95 on iOS -> muahahahaha

Unlike other dictionary apps which one dictionary per apps, Pleco support multiple dictionaries. CC-CEDICT Chinese-English Dictionary is the default dictionary. The list of free dictionary that you can download and add to Pleco:
Unihan Database (extended)
Adsotrans Chinese-English Dictionary
LDC English-Chinese Wordlist
HanDeDict Chinese-German Dictionary
DeHanDict German-Chinese Dictionary
CFDICT Chinese-French Dictionary

Pleco also offer license transfer from one OS to another within 1 year of license purchased. So if you regret that you bought the lousy iPhone, don't worry about Pleco dictionary, you can email Pleco so that you can have the same dictionary on Android, without any extra changes (if not mistaken).


Caution: Pleco need to download additional files (most probably the default dictionary) during first run, make sure you are on WiFi or unlimited data plan.

Right now Pleco has 2 version on Google Play, the one with "CN" in front is for China that cannot download paid apps. I installed the normal version on my SGS2, works perfectly.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pleco.chinesesystem
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pleco.chinesesystem.cn

It also reported works on CyanogenMod and other popular ROMs.You can download it from Pleco website:
http://www.pleco.com/getandroid



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pix source: Pleco.com and Google Play

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