Franklin Product News

April 2010

Franklin English Language Trainer (MG-6804D)



A mobile language course from Franklin: the ideal way to learn English

• Foreign languages – now an indispensable part of working life
• "English Language Trainer": learn, train, and speak

Munich-Feldkirchen. – A recent EU study clearly shows what matters most for export-oriented companies when it comes to global compe-tition: their employees need good foreign language skills. The compa-nies have lost an average of around 325,000 euros per year over the last three years, simply because their staff lacked the ability to over-come language barriers when negotiating with foreign business part-ners. Understandably, pressure is on from company bosses not to lose market share to the competition already at the negotiating table. A study carried out by the German consumer organization Stiftung Warentest revealed that it is precisely there that knowledge of foreign languages is essential: English, the business language par excel-lence, was needed on the job by over 70 percent of respondents, in particular for discussions and meetings. And in such a context, a bit of "rusty school English" is far from adequate. No wonder, then, that evening classes for foreign languages are experiencing something of a boom in this country. And so is a medium that is ideally suited to our times: mobile, electronic dictionaries in a practical XXS handheld format, which are becoming smarter each day.

Franklin, a world leader in electronic handheld information, has now launched an easy-to-use, chip-controlled English trainer that mobile users of today can switch on anywhere to improve their language skills. With the "English Language Trainer" (model: MG-6804D), beginners and advanced students alike can learn, speak, and practice their English systematically. This sophisticated tool has a Smartphone look, and focuses in particular on pronunciation, listening comprehension, and interactive dialog with the user, and amongst other things is based on the multi-award-winning content from Digital Publishing, a leading international provider of language learning software. This content alone guarantees you a competent "training program" that will get your English up to scratch, not only on the job, but also for your travel and leisure time. With it, you can reach levels A1 to B2 of the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages," which the Council of Europe uses for its standardized definition of language use. In addition, the language trainer includes all of the content from the renowned Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, a classic among dictionaries with over 183,500 words and expressions, and 85,000 practical examples of usage.

The user enters the "auditorium" of the "English Language Trainer" via user-friendly controls and a large, color TFT-LCD screen on the inside of the cover of the device, which slides over the keypad. And, if this high-resolution 2.5" screen is too small for you, there is a TV Out port integrated in your "English Language Trainer," which allows you to view the language learning content on a TV screen.

Before your first lesson, it is both advisable and helpful to do an initial assessment test. Guided by a very clearly structured menu, you can use this feature to assess your own level. Another extremely practical feature is "My Plan," which you can use to document, and, if need be, vary your personal learning progress. Much of what this trainer has to offer for learning, training, listening, and speaking is presented in a fun way via the small monitor. You will be asked, for example, to put scrambled phrases into the correct order, link pictures to corre-sponding words, or insert the correct verb forms. With a single click, you can access and activate topic-specific language exercises – e.g. "Finance" or "Environment" – or, as part of a small role play, you have to listen to, recount, or continue a narrative that goes with the pic-tures. This is where the "English Language Trainer" shows its partic-ular strengths, because it is able to distinguish between American and British pronunciation. What’s more, you will enjoy excellent sound quality, since the device can play both MP3 and audio files, which you can optionally download from the Internet.

If the already comprehensive learning material included on this elec-tronic language teacher isn’t enough for you – as well as the user dictionary and an import dictionary, the mini hard drive also includes an audio course dictionary and a vocabulary trainer – you can down-load additional content from the Internet via the USB connection and PC, or you can use an SD card to make your device even "smarter."

You can purchase the "English Language Trainer" (model: MG-6804D) anywhere where books or computers are sold. It costs around 249.90 euros. The MG-6803D model is also available without the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary content, for the price of around 199.90 euros. For more information, visit: www.franklin.com/de.

April 2010

Franklin 13-Language Advanced Translator Card



Quite Smart: Mini-Card Provides Mobile Foreign Language Information
New SD card for smartphones, palmtops, and pocket PCs offers comprehensive content in 13 languages

Munich. – Franklin Electronic Pub- lishers, a world leader in electronic handheld information, is now making the contents of its clever e-dictionaries even more versatile – and more widely available: at CeBIT, the company is unveiling a new SD card containing comprehensive information in 13 lan-guages. The attractive foreign-lan-guage content can not only be used on advanced Franklin Bookman SD de-vices, but can also be downloaded onto smartphones, palmtops, and PDAs with the appropriate SD or Micro SD card slot in the operating systems SymbianOS, Windows Mobile, MS Smartphone OS, and PalmOS.

The mobile memory card for vacationers, business travelers, and language enthusiasts is packed full with over 500,000 handy words, expressions, and additional information. It includes 1,000 useful sentences and important phrases in each language for situations when things don’t go according to plan: “What is the way to the railway station?”, “Do you have a room free?”, and “When does the next flight leave?” are just some of the “SOS examples” for travelers, sorted into 13 categories. The “13-Language Advanced Translator Card” from Franklin has clear menu navigation, allowing you to look up and translate terms into and from all of the following languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Polish, Hungarian, Turkish, and of course English.

Every traveler will find the card easy to use: when you insert the 13-Language Franklin SD card into a smartphone, PDA, or palmtop device with one of the compatible operating systems (full list available at www.mobipocket.com), the Mobipocket Reader display program is installed before the first use. The content can then be utilized.

Franklin originally developed the SD cards for its Bookman language computers, giving them a virtually unlimited range of language combinations. The smart “13-Language Advanced Translator Card” for mobile phones, palmtops, etc. retails for appr. 59.90 EUR and is available at www.franklin.com/de.

April 2010

Franklin C-Dictionary 20



167 languages at your fingertips:

• Smart hand scanner translates with a single swipe
• Edit scans directly in Windows applications
• "Magic eye" and OCR software guarantee a recognition rate of nearly 100%

Munich-Feldkirchen. – This is a truly practical invention for anyone who stumbles over an unfamiliar word or expression when reading a foreign language text – whether at school, university, in the office, or while traveling. Just swipe the "magic eye" on the hand scanner of the "C-Dictionary 20" once over the problem area in the text, and a complete translation will appear on the screen of your connected Windows PC or laptop. It couldn’t be quicker! And in addition to the ergonomically designed scanner pen, which is as easy to use as a highlighter pen, you’ll be particularly impressed by the software supplied on the CD-ROM. With an unbelievable hit rate of 99.7 percent, it recognizes the optical characters for 167 languages, figures, and barcodes. As a further practical feature, the "C-Dictionary 20" also allows you to edit the scanned text directly in an opened Word, PowerPoint, or Excel document, or similar application.

With this new tool, Franklin, a world leader in electronic handheld information, makes it possible for you to translate texts to a high level of quality. It instantly processes everything that comes into the path of the "lens" in the two-dimensional optical sensor at the tip of the pen (all common fonts from 5 point to 22 point), and generates the corresponding translation.

To do this, it requires a formidable vocabulary, based on Franklin’s renowned electronic dictionaries. For this reason, when you purchase the "C-Dictionary 20," you’ll receive not only the lightweight hand scanner (45 g) and the high-performance scanning and OCR software, but also a voucher for a free Franklin dictionary of your choice, which you can conveniently download from the Internet (www.cdictionary.com). The high-quality dictionaries available over the Internet include not only "major" languages such as English, French, Italian, or Spanish, but also other languages such as Russian, Swedish, or Norwegian. So far, Franklin offers access to a total of 36 dictionaries via the Internet, and new dictionaries for other languages are being added all the time. As an example, Franklin offers an English-German dictionary with around 72,000 English headwords and 114,000 German headwords as a translation memory tool. It’s handy for those who need to switch between several languages – the "C-Dictionary 20" allows you to use more than one dictionary at the same time without any problems.

If you want to make good use of the time you’ve saved thanks to the scanning device, you can also do a variety of exercises with the "C-Dictionary 20." Studies have shown that flashcards are the ideal way to internalize new knowledge. For this reason, the integrated file card application offers you a wide range of options for creating flashcards that you can use to hone your own language skills, for example with words that you’ve just looked up, or with other vocabularies.

You can purchase the "C-Dictionary 20" anywhere where books or computers are sold for approx. 129.90 euros (includes voucher for a dictionary of your choice). You can download additional languages and dictionaries from Franklin (www.cdictionary.com) for approx. 39 euros each. For more information, visit www.franklin.com/de.