These days it can be helpful to know more than your mother-tongue, especially if that is not English. It might prove more so if you have access to the dictionaries and the thesaurus of other languages. Today’s world is one of fast commuting and the most efficient way of having your own multilingual dictionary with you is to have it in your own pocket device or the PC. Following are some very useful multilingual dictionary applications.

1. SlovoEd

SlovoEd is a language application, with a set of bilingual and monolingual dictionaries, intended for Windows Mobile Devices. This series of multilingual dictionaries offers more than 120 dictionaries in 30 languages. These dictionaries are from the most trusted publishers including Merriam-Webster Inc. and Oxford University Press. The application can be accessed at the touch of a finger on the mobile device. The “Resident Module” assists the translation of unknown words while slipping through web-pages.

Another powerful tool in this software is the Sound-Module which provides the right pronunciation for words in several languages including Spanish, Italian and German. Wild-card feature helps in finding more words by just entering a part of the word along with the Wild-card symbols( “*” and “?” ). The animated tutorial, (part of the package) is sufficient to learn the whole application and its features. The application can also help with the irregular verbs in the dictionaries of the English and German languages.

The application provides a user-friendly interface with optional font size and optional language selection. The latest version of the software is oriented towards user-comfort with its finger-touch loading feature. The Windows Mobile 6.1 Classic and Professional, Windows Mobile 6 Classic and Professional and the Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket Devices support this application. SlovoEd is currently available in three versions : the Deluxe version with all features, the Classic and Compact version with lesser features.

2. Collins Bilingual Talking Dictionary

Collins bilingual dictionary is one of the most popular dictionaries available today, and Collins bilingual talking dictionary is the software version of the same. This dictionary application includes word meanings in English, Spanish, French and German. The application contains digital sound assistance, translations of over 120,000 and words and phrases exceeding 80,000 in number. This software has several features that make it both powerful and simple at the same time.

The Audio Pad, which is part of the application, provides sound assistance for every headword. Native speakers of each language provide the exact pronunciation for their respective languages The short forms in use are given in full by pointing the cursor on them. All short forms and abbreviations used in the dictionary are explained in full when pointing the cursor on them. The dictionary comes with the quick-search option for faster access.

Collins Talking Dictionary is also for those crossword-lovers. The application includes crosswords, which are formed automatically from the database itself. The application is supported on the Windows operating systems including the XP.

3. Context Multilingual 9X 2 Electronic dictionary System

This is another dictionary system with the coverage extending over 9 language pairs in 8 languages. The Context Multilingual is a bi-directional Dictionary assistance with the ability to perform a powerful translation search. The application has the most advanced interface and can translate words, idioms and phrases. The interface can carry-out search in all the dictionaries at the same time. The language pairs on the dictionary system include English to Spanish/French/German/Italian/Portuguese/Russian/Serbian and back, French to English/German/Italian and reverse among several others.

The automatic language detection is another useful feature on the software. Language Morphology concept has been included in the system, enabling translation of words even when their grammatical structure is incorrect. The application runs on the 95, 98, ME, NT and 2000 versions of the Windows operating system.

4. ABBYY Lingvo x3 Mobile – the Multilingual Dictionary System

Released in April, 2009, the Lingvo x3 Mobile from ABBYY is the multilingual dictionary application meant for pocket-mobile devices. This software contains a large database including several million words and phrases from the most popular publishers. The language pairs are among English, German, Russian, French, Italian and Spanish.

Lingvo x3 Mobile comes with a strong and trusted database containing the New Oxford American Dictionary, the Oxford-Duden dictionary and the Oxford-Paravia dictionary, among several others.The audio-assistance feature on the application provides pronunciations of the word by the respective, native speakers. Phonetic spellings are also provided to ensure that the precise pronunciation is conveyed to the user. The Lingvo Tutor, a vocabulary training tool simplifies the whole process of word-memorizing.

Word-search is easy and fast with the ABBY system, thanks to the simple , yet powerful, program interface. Being an application meant for the pocket devices, the display of the word- details are suited for small-screen viewing. The auto-scroll function accompanying the software facilitates easy view of the long list of information on a particular word. The interface languages include Russian and Ukrainian, apart from the common ones.

5. OnePen

This is a multilingual tool for Windows, with a difference. The OnePen software simplifies the whole matter of foreign-language entry in Windows applications. Foreign languages can now be handled with ease, just the way you feel with your native language. With OnePen, you can “multi-lingualise” your windows applications, if that is the word for it.

Create DTPs and Spreadsheets that are understandable to the foreign audience. The so-called, right-to-left languages are also supported on the OnePen software, if you have the right version of the application. Supporting over 100 languages, OnePen has many a large array of language spell-checkers. You can also create your own spell-checker and thesaurus with the assistance from this software.

The application complies with the Unicode and allows you to save your text in the Unicode format and send them as well. Multi-line insertion is also an available option with OnePen. OnePen exports and sends text in the graphics format.