Hachette Livre International launches Alter Dico iPhone application: the first africa-oriented french dictionay illustrated in real time by users

Hachette Livre International, in partnership with the AUF (Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie), is launching Alter Dico, a digital encyclopaedic dictionary in French, including proper names and proper nouns, focused primarily on Africa and its French-speaking countries.

The application, boasting some 130,000 words, including 10,000 from Africa, offers the intuitive ergonomics and functionalities of a digital dictionary, including dynamic input, access to definitions in notes (including conjugated verb forms), the ability to send definitions by e-mail or publish them on a Facebook page, adjust font size and screen brightness, as well as a number of more entertaining options such as the ability to generate random clouds of African words or organize favourites.

The dictionary’s most distinctive feature is the inclusion of a wiki photo

that allows users to participate in this collective intellectual adventure by illustrating definitions with photos taken on their iPhones or drawn from their Facebook pages. As it develops over time, the application will thus become a collective work enriched with its users’ varied perspectives on the French-speaking world.

To find out more:
Take the quiz on Facebook to test your knowledge of French from other cultures. Do you know the meaning of “chocobiter”, for example, or the expression “deuxième bureau”?
Find the answers at: http://apps.facebook.com/quiz-alter-dico/

To publicize the release of Alter Dico, Hachette Livre International is organizing a photo competition in partnership with Jeune Afrique, the leading media platform for the latest news about Africa, starting on 15 March 2011 on the website www.jeuneafrique.com.

• Available at the App Store for €3.99
• Special introductory price of €0.79 from 10 to 24 March 2011