Our bilingual dictionaries work inside our web browser. Browse the internet and get the definition of any word at the touch of your fingers!
Read this in 简体中文, 繁體中文, Deutsch, Français, 日本語, Português, Español, Tiếng Việt or Pусский.
How do I use the web browser?
Free News Sites for English Learners
Free News Sites for Mandarin Learners
Free News Sites for Spanish Learners
Free News Sites for French Learners
Free News Sites for Vietnamese Learners
Let our web browser help you help your students!
How do I use the Woodpecker web browser?
The Woodpecker web browser functions like your standard browser, with the added ability to tap on any word or phrase to see its definition in your chosen language.
Get Started: tap the menu button then select bookmarks
Free use of our touch-activated dictionaries is available on WoodpeckerLearning.com and multiple sites we highly recommend for language learners. These include 5 sites in English, 4 in Chinese, 4 in French, 3 in Spanish, and 3 in Vietnamese. See below for a full list of our recommended websites for each language.
Do you have recommendations for other sites we should add? Get in touch: team@woodpeckerlearning.com
Looking to browse even more sites? You can purchase the browser add-on (in-app purchase) for unlimited web browsing and dictionary look-ups across the web, for life.
Link on/off Button
In the top page bar to the right of the URL you’ll find a chain icon (if you don’t see it, scroll up to reveal the page bar). Tap this chain icon to turn off links (icon will become a broken chain). Tap the icon again to turn links back on (icon will become a connected chain). When links are off, you can lookup words that are in hyperlink text. Remember that if a link takes you off a recommended or bookmarked page, you’ll be prompted to purchase the web-browser to continue looking up words.
Content Codes
Your teacher may have provided you a content code with their preferred sites for language learning and/or a Google Drive folder with lesson plans. You will find these sites in the bookmarks section after you enter the content code into the app. If you have a content code, go to Settings to add the content code and unlock additional sites.
If you are a teacher and want to provide your students with additional sites, please get in touch with us: team@woodpeckerlearning.com. We can help create a content code dedicated for your students. Check out more ideas for using the app with your students here.
Free News Sites for English Learners
We have five news sites for English learners where our dictionary functionality is available without making an in-app purchase. Below are descriptions of each of them summarised from Wikipedia.
NPR (National Public Radio) is an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. It can be found at www.npr.org
BBC News is a department of the British Broadcasting Corporation with over 2000 journalists. The BBC is a semi-autonomous corporation authorised by a Royal Charter making it operationally independent of the government. Its website is at www.bbc.com.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian federal Crown (government) corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster. Its news site is at www.cbc.ca/news.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is Australia’s national broadcaster, funded by Australian taxpayers but specifically independent of Government. Its news site is at www.abc.net.au/news/
RNZ is the New Zealand public service radio broadcaster. It is a Crown (government) entity which is taxpayer funded via the Broadcasting Commission which operates independently of the government. Its website is at www.radionz.co.nz
Free News Sites for Mandarin Learners
We have four news sites for Mandarin learners where our dictionary functionality is available without making an in-app purchase. Below are descriptions of each of them summarised from Wikipedia.
Southern Weekly or 南方周末 is a weekly newspaper based in Guangzhou, China. It is distributed throughout Mainland China and topics include News, Defense, Current Political Situation, Economy, Environment, Culture, Supplement, and Commentary.
Lianhe Zaobao or 联合早报 is the largest Singapore-based Chinese-language newspaper. It is published by Singapore Press Holdings. Its website is at www.zaobao.com.sg
The Central News Agency is the state-owned news agency operated by the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its website is at www.cna.com.tw
BBC Chinese 中文网 is the BBC’s Chinese Language service available in both traditional and simplified characters.
Free News Sites for Spanish Learners
We have three news sites for Spanish learners where our dictionary functionality is available without making an in-app purchase. Below are descriptions of each of them summarised from Wikipedia.
Agencia EFE, S.A. is a Spanish international news agency owned by SEPI, a Spanish state holding company. It is the world’s largest Spanish language news service. Its services include a Spanish edition, an Americas edition and a USA edition.
CNN en Español (stylized as CÑÑ) is a Pan-American Spanish-language news channel, owned by WarnerMedia. Its website is at cnnespanol.cnn.com.
BBC Mundo (Spanish for BBC World) is the BBC’s service for the Spanish-speaking world. Its website is at bbc.com/mundo.
Free News Sites for French Learners
We have four news sites for French learners where our dictionary functionality is available without making an in-app purchase. Below are descriptions of each of them summarised from Wikipedia.
France 24 (pronounced “France vingt-quatre”) is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris. Its channels are aimed at the overseas market, similar to BBC World News. Based in Paris, the service started in December 2006. Its website is at france24.com/fr.
The website at ici.radio-canada.ca serves ICI Radio-Canada TēLē, the Canadian French-language free-to-air television network and Ici Radio-Canada Première, the Canadian French-language radio network. They provide news and information and are part of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known as Société Radio-Canada in French), the public broadcaster of Canada.
RTBF (Radio-Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française) is a public-service broadcasting organization delivering radio and television services to the French-speaking Community of Belgium, in Wallonia and Brussels. Its website is at rtbf.be.
SWI swissinfo.ch/fre is the French version of a ten-language news and information platform produced by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Its content is Swiss-centred, with top priority given to in-depth information on politics, the economy, the arts, science, education and direct democracy. Switzerland’s international political, economic and cultural relations are other key points of focus.
Free News Sites for Vietnamese Learners
VnExpress is a Vietnamese online newspaper, run by FPT Corporation – the largest IT service company in Vietnam. Its website is at vnexpress.net.
VOA Tiếng Việt is the Vietnamese service of Voice of America. Its website at voatiengviet.com (note that it is blocked inside Vietnam).
VOV5 – VOV World targets foreigners and Vietnamese living overseas. It is run by Voice of Vietnam, the government-owned broadcaster. Its Vietnamese language website is at vovworld.vn/vi-VN.vov.
Let our web browser help you help your students!
If you have a content code, then go to settings and type it in. After you have entered a content code, go to the web browser and either go to bookmarks or just open a new page. You will then see the name of the owner of the content code and a list of websites where you can use our dictionaries without making an in-app purchase.
If you are a teacher, we can create a content code for you to send to your students. Your nominated learning materials will appear inside our web browser. Learning materials can consist of web sites, Google docs, blogs or any other form of HTML text content. If you want a content code to send to your students please email us at team@woodpeckerlearning.com.