Why Chinese Toolbox READER?

Or, why should you consider using Chinese Toolbox READER? Some of my response refers to CTR 10 which should be released within the next few months. See Upcoming Release for more information on CTR 10.

Chinese Toolbox READER is not merely a Chinese dictionary, or a Chinese reader program, or a Chinese reading assistant. It is software to help you really learn to read Chinese, and in learning to read Chinese, you are learning the language itself: radicals, characters, words, phrases, idioms, how words and phrases contextually fit together. The more and better you’re able to read, the better you’ll be able to communicate verbally with others. Features are built in to the program to help you do more reading and less translating. Other Chinese reader programs provide automatic lookup of word and character definitions, but as of this writing, no other program helps you to rely less on built-in dictionaries through character and word (CTR 10) tagging.

The following is a list of the key aspects of Chinese Toolbox READER that set it apart from other Chinese reading programs. Some Chinese Toolbox READER 10 features are described on the Upcoming Release page.

1. The program is being actively and aggressively developed. The author (developer) is currently working on this project on a full-time basis.
2. It contains two customizable dictionaries: Unihan, a character dictionary from Unicode.org and CC-CEDICT, a community supported word dictionary. Character and word definitions appear automatically as you advance through the reader text.
3. It’s self-contained. You don’t need to load any third-party software to run Chinese Toolbox READER. Everything you need is built directly into the program. If your computer is running Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 and East-Asian language files are installed, then you’re ready to install Chinese Toolbox READER.
4. Imported text is clean. When you import text into some Chinese readers, you may get a lot of white space junk (tabs, odd line breaks, etc.) that has nothing to do with the text you want to read. Chinese Toolbox READER filters out all redundant white space, so when the text appears in the reader, it is cleanly laid out. When you press the right arrow key, the selection box is guaranteed to select a Chinese character, not a space or tab or anything that is irrelevant to your reading.
5. Reader navigation is simple and intuitive using the keyboard. You simply press the right arrow key to select the next character or the left arrow key to select the previous character. Of course, if you want to select a character with the mouse, that works too.
6. Characters are time-stamped when selected. Chinese Toolbox READER keeps track of when characters were last viewed. Initially, characters do not have time stamps. Each time you select a character in the reader, or view the character in the dictionary, a time stamp is either attached to the character, or the previous time stamp is updated. This feature makes possible character review in time stamp order, available on the Character Review menu.
7. Most data can be customized. As a learning tool, it makes sense that one be able to edit the data as he or she sees fit. In Chinese Toolbox READER all frames with red borders can receive text or mouse input. Customizable data frames exist in the character dictionary window (Pinyin, Zhuyin, Definition, and Notes) and in the Radical Information window. For example, if you prefer “Human” instead of “Man” as the English name for radical #9, you can change it yourself in the Radical Information window.
8. Most data can be exported, modified, and reimported. When character dictionary and character understanding data is exported, it can be processed, analyzed, modified or selectively replaced. This is discussed in greater detail in Tutorial 4: Dictionary Export and Import. The word dictionary exists as a text file (cedict_ts.u8) in the Chinese Toolbox READER program directory. This file can be edited or replaced with an updated version from the mdbg.net website.
9. The program can be used offline. During the Chinese Toolbox READER promotional period (version 9.2), an internet connection is required. This restriction will be lifted with the release of Chinese Toolbox READER 10. The current version of Chinese Toolbox FREE doesn’t require an internet connection, so it can be used offline.
10. Many other features are being built into Chinese Toolbox READER 10, some of which are documented on the Upcoming Release page.