Taku Fukada’s fantastic viewer app for the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE) is now available for free. Now even pathological misers who won’t spend five dollars on an awesome app can get one!
The Antimoon Blog
Thoughts for serious language learners
-
Language help
You can select any word on this page to check its definition and pronunciation in a dictionary. In addition, if you see colored text, you can click it (or point at it) for a pop-up explanation.
-
About
My name is Tomasz P. Szynalski. I live in Poland. In the 1990s, my friend and I taught ourselves to speak English fluently (with a native-like American accent) in about 3 years, using some unorthodox learning techniques. In 2001, we founded Antimoon to share our insights with other English learners.
-
Recent Posts
- Reader mail: Reading aloud to improve your English3.1
- Grammar rules update4.7
- Why it’s so difficult to speak English without mistakes3.4
- Things you should know about phonetic transcription1.29
- English pronunciation is a minefield11.1
- Why it’s important to learn about the sounds of English10.24
- Modernizing Antimoon10.16
- YouGlish: A YouTube-based pronunciation dictionary2.19
- Antimoon en español12.12
- Confusing American phonetic transcriptions for “air”, “near” and “sure”8.20
- Should you care about phonetic transcriptions?6.26
- Solving the problem of typing foreign characters and phonetic symbols on a PC5.14
-
Archives
© Tomasz P. Szynalski
yippee
This application is awesome. It goes without saying that it’s the fastest dictionary ever ;)
It runs on linux? That’s new isn’t it?
I think that when I first heard about it it only had a windows version…
It perfectly works on my Linux Mint system.
That’s great news!
How about him creating a similar viewer application for the Collins COBUILD dictionary–the older one that you praise in your review.
That would be great too!
Maybe, you could suggest it to him?
What for? LDOCE is better and the built-in viewer in the COBUILD is pretty good. Collins used to be pioneers and 15 years ago they had the best dictionary, but they stopped innovating. I’m not even sure anybody is working on any COBUILD dictionaries anymore.
The viewer isn’t bad, but if I’m not mistaken you can’t copy single sentences, only whole entries. Besides, the COBUIL Dictionary probably has some example sentences that Longman doesn’t. On top of that, it’s got the famous COBUIL sentence definitions ;)
No, you can copy single sentences just fine in the COBUILD (2006) app. The definitions in the LDOCE are just as good, in my experience.
Cannot find the “ldoce5.data” folder automatically.
Click the “Browse…” button to select the “ldoce5.data” folder.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Longman\LDOCE5\ldoce5.data is not the LDOCE5 archive.
I am getting the above mentioned message when I am asked to click on “yes” button for starting indexing. I chose this subfolder “ldoce5.data ” by going on “Longman” folder.
Does anyone know how to fix this error and create a database?
The app requires a full-installation of the LDOCE5.
Please reinstall the original LDOCE5 software specifying the “Full Install” option.
I chose “full install” option while installing it. I had never LDOCE5 before on my PC.
fixed the issue, working fine.
Whats up, man! Right now both app, viewer and dic are turning out to be a pain in the ass. First time, the app worked fine now again asking for rrecreating index files. Some sort of jokes???
Hey!! I had the same problem: ldoce5.data is not the LDOCE5 archive.
How did you solve it?
This is the best app ever. I’ve enjoyed using it since I bought it on May 24, 2012. Thank you guys for making it free for the world.
Taku, since you seem to visit this place, you may notice my post — could you consider be more open about the changes that are implemented in new versions of your software. For example, I bought a version labeled, if I remember correctly, May 2012. Now, I’ve noticed the most recent version labeled as Feb 2013, or something. Well, I have completely no idea what has changed–since you never write anything about the fixes or new stuff that you’ve implemented–is it worth downloading and installing it? Could you please start doing it?
OK, I will make a ChangeLog page or something from next time.
Recent updates are just minor bug fixes.
Thanks.
Hi Take,
I’m using Ubuntu and have met the necessary pre-requisite before installing the lodce viewer but still got an error during the process. I hope you can help me sort this out. Thanks.
Here is the error I am receiving:
byte-compiling /usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/ldoce5viewer/main.py to main.pyc
SyntaxError: (‘invalid syntax’, (‘/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/ldoce5viewer/main.py’, 547, 29, ‘ query = {k: v for (k, v) in url.queryItems()}\n’))
byte-compiling /usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/ldoce5viewer/indexer.py to indexer.pyc
byte-compiling /usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/ldoce5viewer/advanced.py to advanced.pyc
SyntaxError: (‘invalid syntax’, (‘/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/ldoce5viewer/advanced.py’, 270, 21, ‘ query = {k: v for (k, v) in url.queryItems()}\n’))
Apologies. It should be “Taku.”
Sorry. I mistakenly used a feature that introduced in Python 2.7.
I’ve rewritten this part of code and uploaded. It now works on Python 2.6.
Thanks.
Taku,
With all due respect, I tried many times to reinstall LDOCE5 but to no avail. I had a hard time creating index. I was getting all sorts of errors.
Permission denied every time. I had spent a bulk of my time in creating the index but again to no avail. I am wondering if there is any other way to verify LDOCE5.data step. I got all the error messages in the middle of the process…
One more thing I have noticed, this LDOCE5.data folder is present inside longman folder and also in DVD/CD ROM. However, the LDOCE5 viewer is able to synchronize with that folder of DVD/CD but in the process of analyzing data I am stuck for eternity.
I don’t know what’s happening on your environment, but the following is worth trying:
0. Uninstall the original Longman Dictionary software.
1. Delete the “C:\Users\\AppData\Local\LDOCE5Viewer” folder completely (to remove all existing configurations/index files).
2. Copy ‘ldoce5.data’ from your LDOCE DVD-ROM to an arbitrary location of your hard drive.
3. Run the LDOCE5 Viewer and give the location where you put ‘ldoce5.data’.
If we copy ldoce5.data on Android phone then can you please provide Android version of LDOCE5Viewer. Please.
Taku,
Let me give it a last shot!
Your suggestion did not work. Anyways, no issues.
Hi Taku,
great stuff! Thank you for the Viewer.
Would it be possible to add as an option a generator of Anki flashcards based on entries in the LDOCE5?
It would be a nice feature but…
(1) It is difficult for me to make the app cooperate with Anki.
(2) Every user has different styles in deck creation.
(3) Each entry has usually many senses (meanings).
…, so I currently have no idea how to design such a plugin.
However, I may be able to make a feature that helps users to copy combinations of headwords, pronunciations, definitions, etc into the clipboard. (I know copy-and-paste is too painful. )
Yeah, that’s a good idea. Try implementing something general that could potentially be used by users of various SRS programs. No need to focus only on Anki… What about users of Mnemosyne, SuperMemo, or FullRecall…?
A general feature helping users create Q/A items would be great.
Hi! My question is as follows: If I already have the previous version (2003) of LDOCE installed on my computer, is it possible to install LDOCE5 viewer?
Unfortunately, this app doesn’t work with the LDOCE 4the Ed as the data format is different.
Hi Take,
I have successfully installed the ldoce5viewer but wasn’t able to run it because of this error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “/usr/local/bin/ldoce5viewer”, line 9, in
sys.exit(ldoce5viewer.run(sys.argv))
File “/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/ldoce5viewer/__init__.py”, line 92, in run
main_window = MainWindow()
File “/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/ldoce5viewer/main.py”, line 88, in __init__
self._setup_ui()
File “/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/ldoce5viewer/main.py”, line 910, in _setup_ui
ui.setupUi(self)
File “/usr/local/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/ldoce5viewer/ui/main.py”, line 107, in setupUi
self.lineEditFind.setPlaceholderText(_fromUtf8(“”))
AttributeError: ‘LineEditFind’ object has no attribute ‘setPlaceholderText’
I hope you can find time fixing this too. Thanks.
I’ve monified the code to ignore this harmless error. You are using a bit old version of Ubuntu and Qt, so you found some problems of my app. Thanks!
Taku, can you provide deb packages for Ubuntu and its derivatives? Thank you for all your effort!
Ideally, it should be done by a community member who speciallizes in deb packaging…
This application is a milestone in dictionaries for advanced learners. After a month of using it I can say that it’s become my primary dictionary. Importantly, it enables me to check the origin of a word which is both useful and interesting. How about such application for Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (8th edition)? Its content is brilliant but the search engine is sluggish…Furthermore, scrolling sucks…
Tom,
I’ve read your reviews of various dictionaries, including the comparison of the Longman and Cambridge dictionaries–the Longman dictionary fared quite well as far as AmE is concerned. However, could you possibly write a similar review, comparing e.g. the Longman dictionary with this online Merriam-Webster Dictionary: http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/
It’s free and it’s got tons of free example sentences.
Since I’m learning AmE, I was wondering what the best dictionary for American pronunciation is. I noticed, for example, that there are certain differences as far as American pronuniciaion is concerned between this online dictionary and the Longman dictionary. I was wondering e.g. which one is more authoritative and better to follow.
What do you think?
Reagrds,
I normally use the LDOCE. When I have doubts, I check the Merriam-Webster (http://m-w.com).
I don’t have a strong opinion about the MWLD. From my experience, the transcriptions in the MWLD are not more reliable than in the LDOCE. However, the LDOCE has much easier access to recordings (and even has recorded sentences) — and after all, when you’re learning pronunciation, you should primarily pay attention to what you hear. Transcription systems can be misleading.
That is so it! Only now this excellent English dictionary can unleash its full potential.
Looking up words in LDOCE5 Viewer is a sheer pleasure. You just can’t get enough of it.
Complements to the programmer. Taku, Longman should be ashamed of their original software and they should hire you to sort out a new version for them.
Thanks a million.
Hello Taku,
I have to admit – Your App is great.
I have both Desktop version, IOS and Android.
IOS one is great but Android version sucks big time.
All the voice file aren’t included, they’ve been downloaded when you want to listen to the sound ;(
Search is awful.
Is it possible to create an Android version of your App?
I’ll definitely buy it.
There’s Windows and Linux versions. Any chance there’ll be a MAC version?
Your App is really Great…
I think it would be better if you include “verb forms” like “word family” and “word origin”.
Btw, Thank You very much making it free.
I am very bad at all these computer stuff , so I’ll appreciate any help.
I’ve just installed LDOCE5 and then LDOCE5 viewer but when opening the viewer there is information: “Cannot find the “ldoce5.data” folder automatically. Click the “Browse…” button to select the “ldoce5.data” folder.” And all folders are empty. What am I supposed to do? Thanks in advance!
OK! It runs now!
how to run it on a Mac? with (for Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks)
Well, looks great, yet doesn`t work on my Linux Mint. It was much easier to install the dictionary itself but the sound doesn`t work. I thought it might be improved with this reader as it says the sound works on it. What is wrong?
1. I downloaded ldoce5.viewer from https://github.com/ciscorn/ldoce5viewer (the commands in the readme file didn`twork, I tried those Arch linux)
2. I installed the viewer from the Arch files – I can see the viewer among other programs – still doesn`t work when activated)
What am I doing wrong? I will appreciate all your help.
Right, after 9 hours of struggling I must admit it is not easy. I will write what did.
1. I downloaded the vewer for the viewer form the Git site.
2. I read the Readme file. There were some commands starting with ““`bash” that didn`t seem to do their job properly or I couldn`t see it :)
3. I tried many commands (./make, ./Makefile – this file is in the folder, ./setup.py install, etc) and some seemed to work.
4. Whatever I did, I have this Viewer in the list of other programs, but when I click on it even though it jumps as if it were about to start, I can`t see any other reaction. I should have the window of choosing the location of ldoce5.data. I have none, so maybe this is why it doesn`t work.
The dict itself is working well, only without the sound.
What am I doing wrong?
Is it possible to “physically” put somewhere this location to make it work?
My details:
Linuks Mint KDE 4.11.2
Qt 4.8.4
Waiting for any helpful answer.
Good noboby has answered my previous posts :)) First, thank you God for people like Taku Fukada and their creativity, knowledge and skills. The viewer is excellent, working fast and the layout is better than the orginal. Unfortunately, people who want to master English, find a good dictionary, etc, are not often very skillful at Linux. I have continually been learning how to use it and sometimes I catch myself that simple things are really simple. They are not simple when presented by someone who knows a lot more nonetheless. Getting to the point. When Linux (Mint in my case) is in question:
1. Copy two folders: ldoce5.data and linux to any location on your computer.
2. Go to this folder and enter the linux folder.
3. Open the terminal here and write:
linux32 ./setup.sh
(other options did not work for me)
4. The installation process asked me to overwrite some files so I pressed Y (and had to hold it for some time to make it faster, probably there is ome solution that helps to make it work with one Y :D)
5. The dictionary is launched with the ldoce5 file in the folder.
Now the viewer>
1. Download the viewer from: https://github.com/ciscorn/ldoce5viewer
2. Unpack it.
3. Before you do any next step, check if you have all the necessary libraries in your system. They are shown in the Readme file. (this was the problem which I had with the installation process!). To do it, just open your Synaptic and write the names in the search window to check if they are present in the system. If not, install them!
4. Later, perform the commands for Linux in the Readme file.
5. Launch the Viewer. You will be asked to show the location of the ldoce5.data folder. Browse to it, click on it and OK.
6. Enjoy the dictionary :))
Thanks Taku. You are GREAT.
I was wondering if it is possible to uninstall bulky Longman 5 software after the index database is created by this viewer.
If possible my purpose is to backup this app with its created index database to somewhere and run it standalone, and never install original software again.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. You realy did a great job!
I have a question, when I click the sound button, there is no sound I can hear, how to solve this problem? I already selected the American pronucation option.
Hello, I try it in windows XP OS, it is OK now. Maybe the reason is I install in the cloud environment before.
Hi guys!
First of all, I want to say thanks and congrats on your great work.
I am an English learner who’s currently interested also in Arabic, Mandarin Chinese and Tokyo dialect of Japanese. As you must know, there’re really helpful English resources, especially dictionaries, for non-native speakers – eg wordreference, Logman or Oxford study genie plus, which offer a mix of bits of grammar, lexicon -collocations, polywords, idioms, phrasel verbs, prepositions etc.-, translation/transliteration, plus others like wiktionary’s regional yonder, eye-spelled whaddaya’s IPA pronunciation, possessive all y’all’s etc –
Now, I do not know of any dictionary of either Japanese, any Arabic dialect or Chinese, half as complete as any of the above mentioned.
I have wasted most of my time searching for good resources, in order for me, not just to overcome the learning curve peak, but also to make real sense and intertwine all the bits of info (eg, before knowing about phonetics, hardly could I have imaged the reason to double the -g in bigger, the derivation of wanna from the full form want to, the slightly phonetic difference in president vs precedent or realize some Americans flapping a nasalized /t/ ). I just hope you know what I am talking about.
I have several dictionaries installed in my pc, namely Microsoft Bilingual Encanta, Oxford Study Genie Plus, Logman Pronunciation Dict. and Dict. Of Contemporary English (English-chinese edition) , Oxford English-Chinese Dictionary, Oxford Study Genie Plus; in addition, I own paper-based dictionaries, which I am interested in digitalizing by way of typing their entries in an excel spreadsheet or similar format, eg ロングマン 英和辞典 , or Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic. I have spreadsheets of several resources, for instance The Dictionary of Japanese Grammar Series (Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced) or The Shin Kanzen Master Series ( 新完全マスター).
So I am envisioning an ambitious project: I want to have a personalized digital resource containing as much info about an “item”, as filtered, structured and compact as possible; Ideally, new info could be added at any time in a user-friendly way, so that I could specified, for example, tha betsu° 別 special, undergoes gemination in besseki° 別席 assigned seat (betsu° + seki ) but not in tokubetsu-seki / tokubetsu-seki because the structure of the latter is (XX)(X).
Eventually, I should be able to extract a certain number of entries in batch, meaning by meaning, into a word text file (utf8) so that I can print and study them as normal paper notes –squinting through pc dictionaries is exhausting, especially at night.
At no time do I intend to infringe any copyrights for I do own my own versions, either already installed in my pc or paper-based, and will not share the data with any one.
I want to apologize for the non-specialized and sometimes even vague terminology that I might use, since I am a complete layman on the matter.
I do not pretend to be as cheeky as to get things done fast and for free; quite the contrary, I am willing to work on this as hard as necessary, because I am eager to study.
But, as said before, I have no idea at all about programming, so I’d like you to tell me what your feelings about this project are. Honestly, after seeing your viewer, I am hopeful of the feasibility of my project.
Thanks in advance for your time.
Hope to hear news soon.
Cheers.