kindle paperwhite chinese english dictionaries

kindle paperwhite has many built-in dictionaries. for a learner of both English and Chinese language, you may want to make full use of this feature. if you have a kindle running in English (US) as your default language like me, your should have no difficulty locating the “Modern Chinese-English Dictionary”. This dictionary is hardly enough for a keen learner, for e.g. it doesn’t even have the pronunciation (hanyu pinyin) of the words!

Sometime having access to a full Chinese-Chinese dictionary is useful. To get this, you will need to do a ‘workaround’. The option for 现代汉语词典 (Xian Dai Han Yu Ci Dian) appears in my case after I:

1. set the language of my kindle to 简体中文
2. reboot into 简体中文 interface (with internet connection enabled)
3. go to ‘default dictionary for each language and you should now see 现代汉语词典 under the Chinese section.
4. select 现代汉语词典 as default dictionary
5. set the language of my kindle back to English (US)
6. reboot back to English (US) interface

and you should now have access to BOTH 现代汉语词典 and Modern Chinese-English Dictionary (:

a photo of my kindle with English interface with 现代汉语词典 activated:
140726-kindle chinese dictionary

[update 27/7]
i may have found a FASTER and easier way to install the dictionaries.
1. logon to your amazon account
2. go to “Manage your content and devices”
3. click on Show –> Dictionaries and User Guides
4. select the dictionary you want, and “Deliver” it to your kindle
5. enjoy (: