I want to talk about Firefox’s language add-ons and extensions, but first a word about Firefox in general. You may have noticed the links on my site stating that I recommend Firefox. I thought that I should at least provide some information as to why I recommend it, before my readers go and download it.

Why do I like it? Well, I’ve checked out numerous browser reviews, none of which explicitly state that Firefox is the fastest web browser.

So why do people say Firefox is so fast? Well, it’s because it seems fast. Firefox loads the top part of a webpage faster, and for this reason, it seems faster to the end user. And unless you read webpages from the bottom up, then that means that Firefox is the best choice of browsers for you.

Kinda reminds you of Hamlet doesn’t it?

Gertrude: Why seems it so particular with thee?

Hamlet: Seems, madam! nay it is; I know not ’seems.’

Similarly, Firefox cares jack-sheeat about “seems,” because in this case seems = is.

Who gives a damn if the bottom of the page hasn’t loaded yet?
You’re reading the top of the page, right?

And if you find that Firefox is still not fast enough for ya, here’s a Firefox speed tweak!

Firefox Extensions and Add-ons: Chinese Translating Software

Another reason I like Firefox, is because there is a cool add-odd you can install, called Fox Lingo. I sometimes use it when trying to get the gist of a difficult Chinese article. It doesn’t produce excellent English text, like most translating software, but it’s not bad.

Here’s a screen shot of FoxLingo in action:

For your reference, it supports 45 languages, but I just use it for Chinese, and occasionally Japanese. With neato little add-ons and tweaks, I definitely think Firefox suits my needs. Especially with the language software.

Depending on your specific needs, your choice of browsers might differ. But for anyone who needs language software, Firefox with Foxlingo may be a good choice.

Firefox with Rikaichan add-on, Japanese Character Annotation

Given the current available options for Chinese Character annotation, I was very impressed with this Firefox add-on for Japanese Character annotation. I do plan to study Japanese soon, and this seems like it will be a very useful tool.

Here’s a screenshot of the tool at work on the Japanese engadget site. You just hover your mouse over the characters, and voila!

I wonder if this can be done with Chinese? The closest I’ve seen thusfar is newsinchinese.com. I highly recommend that site as well.

In anycase, there are more than enough reasons to give Firefox a go. Especially if you have any interest in Asian Language study. So if you’re sold on Firefox, please feel free to give it a try.

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