Albert's Learning Log

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Hover Mouse over Hanzi, Get Pinyin and English

Albert Wolfe

[Update: Thanks to all those who left comments and recommendations. I've added them to the post]Since the last time I talked (asked) about this was in 2007, I thought an update was in order.If you want to put your mouse over hanzi (like this: 汉字) and get pinyin and English, I only know of a few options (please feel free to add to this list).

Browser Plugins

These are little programs that run only inside your Internet browsers. They're all free, but only work for web pages (i.e. not MS Word, etc.).

  • Chrome: Zhongwen - I'm trying this right now and I think it's mostly good.
  • FireFox and Chrome: Perapera-kun - I haven't tried the newest version yet but others have recommended it to me.

Programs

These are programs that run in your computer's "system tray" (down near the clock in the lower right) and can be used for any Chinese text on your whole computer including web pages, MS Word, Excel, Notepad, etc.. I only know of one right now.For Windows

  • MDBG Chinese Reader - I use this all the time and really like it. I haven't tried the newest version, but there is now a free version (which I've also not tried), which is cool. It takes a really long time to start the program. But once you've got it loaded, you can turn it on and off without closing it.
  • Lingoes - Recommended by Zhangyanglu and Simake

For Mac

For Phones and Mobile Devices

Please feel free to leave comments and recommendations and I'll add them into the main body of the article as they come in.