Introduction to the NVDA Pronunciation Dictionary for Vietnamese Players Who Love Chinese Games

In the Vietnamese gaming community, accessing Chinese games often faces challenges due to language barriers and the complex system of Chinese characters. To address this issue, I developed a pronunciation dictionary for NVDA that replaces the pronunciation of Chinese characters with Sino-Vietnamese phonetic transcription or translated phrases. This dictionary provides a more accessible experience without relying on other machine translation tools.

Note: This dictionary is specifically designed for Vietnamese users or those familiar with the Vietnamese language, and you will need to use the NVDA screen reader to use this translation dictionary.

Two Versions of the Dictionary

Version 1 – Pure Sino-Vietnamese Phonetic Transcription

• Pros: Lightweight, easy to integrate into the primary voice of NVDA.
• Cons: Since all terms are in Sino-Vietnamese, it may be difficult for those unfamiliar with it to understand.

Version 2 – Translated Phonetic Transcription

• Pros: Instead of translating individual characters, this version translates whole words or phrases into Vietnamese in a "translated" style, making it easier for users to understand while maintaining the structure of the original Chinese language.
• Cons: High latency due to the large data volume, not fully optimized yet, so it may not be suitable for regular daily use on main NVDA voices.

Origin of the Idea and Development Process

The idea for this dictionary started with Trung, a friend of mine and also the owner of this website. During a session playing a Chinese game, Trung suggested that I try using NVDA’s pronunciation dictionary feature to translate in-game content. At the time, I agreed, but after thinking it through, I realized that NVDA's pronunciation dictionary mechanism was a perfect fit for creating a "translation dictionary".

Shortly afterward, I started working on it. Initially, I faced major difficulties with over 22 million characters, which caused heavy lag in the dictionary. After multiple optimization attempts, I reduced the data size to 6 million characters, making Version 2 more feasible to use.

How to Install the NVDA Pronunciation Dictionary

To install the NVDA pronunciation dictionary, follow these steps:

1. Create a sample dictionary:
   • Switch to the voice you want to create a dictionary for.
   • Press NVDA + N to open the NVDA menu, then select Options → Pronunciation Dictionary → Voice Dictionary.
   • Click the "Add" button to add a new word. Enter any content in the sample and replacement fields, then press Enter twice to save.
2. Locate the sample dictionary file:
   • Press Windows + R, type %appdata%, then press Enter.
   • Navigate to the folder NVDA → speechDicts → voiceDicts.v1.
   • In this folder, you will see the names of various voices. Each folder represents a voice of NVDA. Open the folder corresponding to the voice you created the sample dictionary for.
3. Rename the dictionary file:
   • Find the sample dictionary file you created (it usually has a name combining the voice name and the voice, with a .dic extension).
   • Press F2, then press Ctrl + C to copy the file name of the sample dictionary.
   • Navigate to the folder where the translated dictionary file is located, press F2 to rename the dictionary file, press Ctrl + V to paste the copied name, then press Enter to finish.
4. Replace the dictionary file:
   • Copy the renamed translated dictionary file.
   • Paste it into the voice folder and select "Replace" when prompted by the system.
5. Restart NVDA: After completing the above steps, restart NVDA and check the result.

Target Users and Benefits

This tool is specially designed for Vietnamese players who love Chinese games but do not want to rely on other machine translation tools. With two versions available, users can choose the most suitable approach to enjoy the content more easily.

Currently, both versions are available for download:

• Version 1: Pure Sino-Vietnamese Phonetic Transcription
  Download Version 1
• Version 2: Translated Phonetic Transcription
  Download Version 2

I hope this dictionary will be useful for the Vietnamese gaming community and open up more opportunities for an enhanced gaming experience! 😊