chbrianliu / lookupthevoc

It's a little program that can read a text file which contains the vocabulary you want to look up then generates a file contains vocabulary and its definition.

This repository is under MIT License. Details of the license please refer to the last section of this file.

Vocabulary Auto-Lookup Program with Marriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary

Introduction

If you love to memorize vocabulary with flashcard app, just like me, this program may help you to create the useful flashcards. You may notice the auto-generated definitions from the app are unfriendly to non-native learner. In contrast, I feel good with Marriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary which I think is one of the best dictionary for English learners. As this reason, I wrote this program to help myself create flashcards with good definitions effortlessly.

You can put all unfamiliar words together in a text file (vocabulary builder on kindle + kindle mate software do this very well), then use this program to generate the definitions of the words. Finally, import those words with definitions to your favorite flashcard app!

Summary

The program reads words from input text file you've provided, then generates the definitions of the words to help you create your flashcards.

Requirement

1. Python 3
2. Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary API Key

Input file format

I use kindle mate as a tool to export my vocabulary builder data from my kindle paperwhite. The exported file has format like below. You don't have to use the same tool as me, but make sure you follow this format.

wordA
wordB
wordC
...
wordLast

Output file format

The program will read each line in input file then look up the vocabulary and output with following format:

Word1 FunctionLabel
Def1
Def2  
...
;
Word2 FunctionLabel
Def1
Def2
...
;

Noted that the keyword and its function label are seperated by a tab character (\t). Other elements are seperated by new line characters (\n).

How to use

1. Replace your key in credentials.py file.

   key = 'input-your-key-here'

2. In terminal, change directory to this repository directory.

3. Use python3 to run the program.

   python3 Main.py

   1. Provide the file that contains vocabulary you want to look up.

   Enter the file contains vocabularies: book1.txt
   

   Be aware that you should put the file in the same directory or provide absolute path.

   2. Wait until program terminated.
   3. Open the file starting with DefAdded_ to check result.

4. Or you can use command line argument to address your file. like below example.

   python3 Main.py book1.txt book2.txt

5. In your favorite flashcard app, import the file just created by the program and set semicolon (;) as card-seperated character.

   Quizlet

Known issue

1. Some past-tense vocabularies couldn't be found.
2. There're special marks {bc} in definition.

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2019 Chun-Hung Brian Liu

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.