Англо <> русский cловарь app good for
Fast access to the Oxford English-Russian Russian-English dictionary, particularly using the iPhone Russian keyboard.
However, unlike some other SlovoEd Deluxe dictionaries (eg English-French, English-Spanish), this one provides only one Sound Module, namely English. Theres no Russian sound module (as stated).
Is there a Russian sound module coming as an update? Till then, a discounted price would be fair.
I like the use of red to indicate the stressed syllables, the examples, the numerous phrases and idioms, but I miss the Russian audio pronunciation.
As a bidirectional dictionary, it would have been helpful if there were phonetic accompaniments to the Cyrillic script so that one could practice ones pronunciation. Perhaps a free upgrade is forthcoming as this Software is priced at a Premium when compared to the vast majority of other Apps, even with large amounts of content. I hope the developers see that at $24.99, this needs to be a comprehensive language tool. The inclusion of a foreign language thesaurus would be helpful in lexpanding ones vocabulary. This program is otherwise excellent and sports fast bidirectional text translation. The History button is very useful. I am just beginning to learn Russian, hence the emphasis on pronunciation.
So I cant say I completely wasted my money on this app, after all its still a strong app with decent features. The one thing I absolutely can not believe nor understand is why all the category titles for the word forms are only available in the language of the word you are searching? Why must a Russian use the dictionary to discover what "past tense" means and likewise with an English speaking person looking up a Russian word form. I purchased the app for that reason alone, so I could reference the different forms of different words. But this feature is absolutely useless to me until the category titles are available in both laguages. This app deserves a 3* rating from me as the main feature I purchased it for (and not a cheap purchase) is no good for me, even though the need for titles to be in both languages should be very obvious even before the testing phase. However, I do believe that you guys are ones to stand behind your product and correct such oversights, so giving you credit, Ill rate it a near perfect four stars anyway in confidence that we will see "word form" titles supported for both languages, in both languages.
I love this dictionary. It has audio support for Russian and English words. You can also look up the case forms for nouns, adjectives and pronouns. The only thing this dictionary is still missing is conjugation for Russian verbs. I would give this dictionary 6 starts if they import something like 501 Russian Verbs by Thomas R. Beyer reference into this dictionary.
After reading the other reviews, I needed to clarify for new prospective users. This app is NOT a language learning software, (even though it has helps for that very thing!) My whole family moved into Russia without knowing the language, and I can say that without discovering Slovoed our language learning would be greatly hindered. It has become so essential to our family of 5 students that each computer and telephone is now considered first whether it will run Slovoed or not. Abby-Lingvo is a waste of time, while Slovoed is completely the best solution. This is not simply our opinion, as each of our language teachers in class have come to the point of waiting for us to look up new words in Slovoed rather than to use their Collins or Oxford dictionaries. In a rare few instances the definitions are not quite the best translation, but on the overwhelming majority it is spot-on. The red highlighted accent character is essentially helpful while at the same time being more than most, (or any?) dictionaries offer.
Con: the latest update does not run quite as fast on an IPhone 3gs as the last version did, but then it does have more functionality.
Not only is the premium version, (with audio), worth every dollar, but I do consider it absolutely essential for any person who finds themselves in complete immersion!
Some bad moments
While still a very useful tool I was very disappointed to discover there was no russian sound module. This application is simply not worth $24.99 without it.
Good interface, very poor words collection. Translations are very straight forward with a very limited examples.
Apps doesnt worth the money.
This software has a major designer flaw which really SUCKS!!!
When you really need help from SLOVOED, it is not there for you!
Heres an example.
Lets say you have an important conversation with somebody in foreign language, and you you need to say some important foreign word. You reach for SLOVOED on your iPhone, and DAMN IT, in order to see SLOVOED on your iPhone, you have to wait 15-20 seconds until it loads on the screen.
During these 15-20 shameful seconds you look really stupid to all other parties you are talking with.
And this happens every second time when you are trying to use Slovoed for any purpose.
DO NOT BUY IT UNTIL THIS SHORTCOMING IS FIXED!
It does not work on iPhone 3G after upgrading from 2.xx version. It wont just start...
The developers should test their apps for compatibility before claiming they support a particular version of iPhone.
Ive been studying Russian for two years and have lived in Russia in the mean time. I think this is a great app but there were a few things i was very disappointed about. It has a great line up of words but how do you know how to use them!? For example 1. In this language you need to know if your word is perfected time or not 2. you need to know what case the word forces, for example овладевать forces instrumental, Its great it has examples for that but its nicer to just have the abbreviation + inst or something that would help the user know how to use his new word and not speak funny because they know the word but dont know how to use it right. Those things are very important to know. Also all the abbreviations is there a guide for all of them? These things can get fixed and will make this app much more effective! Im waiting for the new one being better!
This most recent update changed the keyboard layout and split it into two parts. This feature is not changeable. There is no option in the settings to go back to the old version. Ive been using this dictionary in my classes for almost 1.5 years now and this update makes me want a refund!
I would hold off on purchasing this app until this is fixed.
