Background or how this project was born
Some time ago I was invited to work in an international company. The level of knowledge of the language at that time was insufficient. Approximately 90% of the documentation and correspondence was in English. I decided to tighten my tongue on my own. I started with grammar, found a sensible course, went through it, began to understand a lot (grammatical structures, sentence structure). But the vocabulary was not enough. This was clearly seen during correspondence and reading the documentation. I decided to expand my vocabulary by reading books in the original.
Having spent a lot of time looking for applications and services for reading texts in English, I did not find anything that would suit me.
My requirements were simple: to read the text and when choosing an unfamiliar word (clicking on it), to receive all its translation options and two options for the British and American transcriptions. At the same time, so that all information is displayed on one screen.
I found similar applications and resources, but everything was wrong. For example, one version of the translation was offered where there is no transcription, or there is, but the British one, and it is important for me how the word is read, including in the American version, at the same time. Another moment that did not suit me - when receiving a translation of a word, applications were redirected to the dictionary resource, or completely blocked the readable text, which is inconvenient. While looking for a translation of a word, you forget about the sentence you are reading. This discourages the desire and motivation to read. This is especially important for those who start learning a language when the reader's vocabulary is small, which leads to frequent translation of words and, accordingly, reference to the dictionary. In such readers, it is important to see the text and the translation of the word at the same time on one screen.
As a result, I decided to develop a project for myself in order to improve my vocabulary.
Developing the service throughout the year, I constantly read books, while simultaneously testing and refining it. As time has shown, such reading turned out to be very effective in learning the language. If at first, reading a text of average difficulty, I met 7 strangers in a sentence of 10 words, now reading such texts I understand about 70% - 90% of what I have read, practically without referring to the dictionary.
Service overview
The main page of the service displays a classic bookshelf with a list of all books. The last downloaded are displayed first. Here you can select a book and go straight to reading. Or open the side menu, select a genre and select a book in it.
On the main page, you can also read the terms of use of the service and the policy of processing personal data for this at the bottom of the page there are two buttons TERMS and CONFIDENTIALITY .
READER
Having selected the book, we get to the page of the reader itself. Its space is divided into two main parts: for the text of the book and the area for displaying information about the word of interest. For convenience, the highlighting of the readable sentence is made (tracking along the text), just click on any word, the sentence will be highlighted. Also, information about the clicked word will be immersed: the word itself, British and American transcriptions and possible translations. It is worth noting that with each click on any word in the text, it is copied to the clipboard.
Reader side menu
Several useful functions are available in the slide-out side menu:
- search for a translation of an arbitrary word with its output to the information area;
- copy highlighted sentence - copies the sentence highlighted in readable text to the clipboard;
- full screen setting - stretches the reading area to fit the screen width (by default, the reading width is 75% of the screen width (setting only for the desktop version of the service));
- increase font size - doubles the font size (also this setting is only for the desktop version).
Dictionary base
The service uses its own vocabulary base, which is constantly updated. At the moment, the database contains more than 15,000 words. While reading a book, if an unfamiliar word is encountered (which is not in the dictionary base), it is suggested to find it in an alternative dictionary. In 90% of cases, the word will be found. And if you wish, you can add it to the service dictionary. Thus, the vocabulary base of the service is constantly growing. All registered and authorized users can add words. After adding the word will be available in the service dictionary.
Loading new books
Loading new books is done from the pull-out side menu. At the moment it is possible to download books in TXT format . Books can be downloaded only by registered and authorized users, using the Add book button .
In the process of adding a book, it is necessary to fill in a number of fields: select a book cover, a book file, accept the user terms of service.
Registration, authorization and password recovery
Registration, authorization and password recovery are presented in a single universal form.
Authorization on the service is possible either using a login and password, which are created during registration, or through social networks and other popular services.
The authorized user has the following options:
1. adding new books;
2. replenishment of the dictionary base of the service;
3. When reading books, the last read page and sentence in the book is saved. And when reopening, the user can continue where he left off.
With the development of the service, this list will be expanded.
MINI CHAT
The main page also has a mini-chat where you can discuss what you are interested in, ask questions about the service, leave feedback.
Service address:jreader.xyz
I would be grateful for your feedback, criticism and new ideas!