# How to help with the dictionary?



## GuyCraig

Hi Mike,

I was going to send this to you as a private message, but as I got into writing it, I thought it would be better to let other readers comment on what I say because I am not a native speaker of French... so folks, if I'm all wet on some of this, let me know... you as long as you're friendly I won't mind!!! )

So Mike, If I come across missing words or incomplete entries, how do I let you know? My French tends to be more _'Street French'_ than _'Classroom French'_... LOL _(or should I say, EDR (Écroulé de rire))_ so you will need to get other opinions for sure!

*Some examples:*
I couldn't remember the French word for _'ampersand'_ and it wasn't listed ... (I ended up calling a friend - LOL) it is _'une esperluette'_ and I looked that up, but it wasn't listed. A box appeared and I entered it, but I don't know if it worked. That started me looking for other punctuation marks.

You list the symbol *# *as _'sharp'_ or _'un dièse'_, but you need to add that it can also mean a _'pound sign'_ or a _'number sign'_ and also in French Canadian, I think it is _'un carré'_ rather than _'un dièse'_.

You have _'brackets'_ *""* or *«»* as _'guillemet'_ and _'square brackets'_ *[]* as _'crochets'_, BUT... you list _'angle bracket' _*<>* as _'équerre'_, but I had always heard them called _'crochets fléchés'_ and you don't have _'curly brackets'_ *{}* / _'accolades'_ listed at all.

...and back to my _'LOL'_... I thought the _'EDR'_ in text messaging and chat rooms meant _'écroulé de rire'_ but you seem to have it mean _'éclater de rire'_ 

Is this type of thing a help to you or does it only distract you from your work in getting the dictionaries up and running?

...and everyone else out there... let me know that I'm not the only one that looks a things like this!!!!


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## mkellogg

Hi GuyCraig,

Yes!  I very much want the help of everyone using the dictionary.  This way we can create a very complete, up-to-date reference work.

I took my first steps on Friday by adding a link to an "edit page" where you can edit phrases that you find are incorrect or add new entries.  (The link is at the bottom of the English-to-French results pages.)  Though it is still the weekend, I can see that the link as it exists will not be very successful...  I'll be making some changes soon to make it more user-friendly.

So...for now, please click the link at the bottom of the English to French pages (such as this one: http://fr.wordreference.com/fr/translation.asp?enfr=please )
Please add any words and phrases that you find are missing from the dictionary. (But don't copy from other dictionaries!)  If you see something that you know is wrong, then suggest the change.  If you are not sure, then posting in the forum is a great way to find out for certain.  Right now, you can edit incorrect phrases, but not single words. (I will still have professionals working on the single words for another couple of weeks.)

Mike


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## valerie

Hi Mike,

I tried the link, because I wanted to add "s'en aller" to the list of phrases when looking for the entry aller from french to english.
I could not edit the list because I got the following message:

_Vous n’avez pas indiqué de mot à traduire. 
Veuillez spécifier un nouveau mot. 

There was no word specified to be translated. 
Specify a new word. _


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## mkellogg

Thank you Valerie,

I just fixed the link. 

A correct link might increase the participation, don't you think?


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## jean1938

mkellogg said:
			
		

> Thank you Valerie,
> 
> I just fixed the link.
> 
> A correct link might increase the participation, don't you think?


It's a great idea...
A question for Mike.

Is it a good idea to add translations used in Québec?
(The official language, I mean.  Régionalismes also? Would it be useful??)

For example here we use "et commercial" for ampersand.

I give you the complete reference for that word:

http://www.granddictionnaire.com/BTML/FRA/r_Motclef/index800_1.asp

I really don't know what word they use in France?

Someone will surely answer this...

Au plaisir,


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## mkellogg

Yes, I want this to cover Canadian and Belgian French as well.  Please add your regionalisms, but clearly mark the French word as Can or Bel in the appropriate box.  If you fail to mark it as regional, it might be deleted if the reviewer is French.  Hopefully, I'll have both French and Canadian reviewers soon.

Mike


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## Unregistered

Hello, i'm Paul from Italy...
I found your dictionary very useful, especially the Italian - English one, but by my opinion it is lacking of examples....It would need more sentences which explain the usage of words and verbs, in particular phrasal verbs....
Thank you for the great job you're all doing..


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## Paulfromitaly

Hello, i'm Paul from Italy...
I found your dictionary very useful, especially the Italian - English one, but by my opinion it is lacking of examples....It would need more sentences which explain the usage of words and verbs, in particular phrasal verbs....
Thank you for the great job you're doing...


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## quehuong

*Mr. Craig,*

French abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols used in chatrooms, forums, email, and text messaging ==>> http://french.about.com/library/writing/bl-texting.htm

French Symbols + Punctuation Marks 
Symboles et signes de ponctuation  ==>> http://french.about.com/library/writing/bl-symbols.htm

I hope these webpages could be helpful!

*Mike,*

I hope you wouldn't mind my posting links to other webpages concerning French symbols etc.

I know that you are trying to update the French-English, English-French dictionary, and I have always found your dictionary very useful.  However, there are some things that which I wish have not been changed. 

1.  The phonetic transcriptions for French-English entries.  I've checked the Spanish-English E-S dictionary and the phonetic transcriptions are still there.  Is it possible for you to put the phonetic transcriptions back into the French-English English-French Dictionary?  I'd be very grateful.  

2.  ID a verb as transitive or intransitive would be quite useful.

3.  ID a verb which requires a preposition à, de, etc.  These little prepositions still mystify me.

4.  Examples (sentences), expressions, phrases of each entry.  

QH


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## cuchuflete

Mike- a bit off the topic above, but perhaps of use to you...

The Espasa Español-Inglés is not as comprehensive as the Collins, but it's free, I use it, and have no grounds for serious complaint.

Here's a thought to improve it.  First, whenever a user clicks on the link to the Real Academia,  log the entry.  The log should be of considerable interest to the Espasa folks, as it indicates a genuine user need.   Second, post the log in the English-Spanish forum, and get us usuarios[users] to provide translations from Spanish to English.

After a while, you may have enough material to allow for a second link for failed attempts to find translations in the Espasa database.

From a programming standpoint, both of these should be easy to implement.

Thanks for the great service you provide.

Best regards,
Brian


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## mkellogg

Hi all,

Quehuang and Paul, everything you have asked for is on the "to-do" list.  I am updating the dictionary with new information every couple of days.  

The phonetic information is the property of Espasa and I don't have permission to copy it over to the French and Italian. I planned to use the IPA symbols that I'm using with the English monolingual, but people have complained (with some reason) that the pronunciation there is too American...

Cuchufléte, I'll be augmenting the Spanish dictionary as soon as I get the French and Italian dictionaries in good condition.

Mike


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## quehuong

Mike,

I've looked at some transcriptions you have for English words in the English monolingual dictionary, and I find that there are a lot of errors.  Some of the symbols especially the vowels are not very consistent.  For example, the [e] and [E] sounds and the _ and  sounds seem to be interchangeable.  It would be very confusing for many English learners who know the international phonetic system.  

Here's a problem:

fear [fIr]
cease [sI:s]

Two of these words have the vowels *ea* in them, but the sounds they represent are quite different.  

I'm not sure if having some things are better than having nothing in this case.

Is there no other institution where this community could get the phonetic information from?_


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## mkellogg

Thanks quehuong,

I've researched it and the cease should be "si:s".  *Thank you!* The symbols for fear already match some American dictionaries that I have.

I am still looking for a volunteer to doublecheck my IPA symbols!  Anyone?  I will show you the source document and the current transcription.

I had converted some non-IPA phonetics to IPA, and I'm sure there are a number of problems.  For instance, cease was "S IY1 S" (The "1" is for emphasis.).  Fear is "F IH1 R".  So now IH is "ɪ" and IY is "i:"  (The : denotes that the previous vowel is long.)

Anyone volunteering yet?  It's not that much work...

Mike


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## quehuong

Mike,

You're welcome!



> The symbols for fear already match some American dictionaries that I have.


.  Yes, as far as I can transcribe, the transcription you have for *fear* is right.  Sorry for not clearifing that *I* is being used in both instances: 1 is correct and 1 is not.



> I am still looking for a volunteer to doublecheck my IPA symbols! Anyone? I will show you the source document and the current transcription.



I'd like to be one of the volunteers.  Let me know if I'm qualified.

Btw, you could type qh or QH to mean quehuong.  Vietnamese use initials for names/nicks all the time.


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## mkellogg

QH,

I think that the fact that you noticed the earlier problem makes you fairly qualified.

I'll e-mail you the information later today.

Thanks!

Mike


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