One highlight of the new feature of 2nd generation of Kindle Paperwhite is the Vocabulary Builder, it is a nice tool for foreign language learners. But many users find that this tool only works for purchased Amazon Kindle books, for those downloaded or sideloaded books this tool is unaccessible.
Recently I found a tip which can make Vocabulary Builder also work on non-Amazon books.
The reason why you can’t make Vocabulary Builder work for the sideloaded books is Kindle regards those books as Personal Documents, not standard eBooks.
Therefore, if we can make Kindle regard the transferred eBooks as standard Kindle books, then we can use Vocabulary Builder on the non-Amazon books.
And the answer is simple, converting the books to AZW3 files. Then we can “cheat” Kindle and make it think these books are purchased Amazon Kindle books.
There are many ways we can convert an eBook to AZW3, like the free online services, Calibre, and many other softwares.
This post takes Calibre as example.
1. Load the book into Calibre, I suppose this book is downloaded from some channels, so it should be DRM-free, which means, it can be converted freely.
2. Click the convert button and choose azw3 as output format.
3. After the conversion process finishes, plug your Kindle to computer with USB cable, the Calibre should detect your Kindle automatically.
4. Send this converted AZW3 file to your Kindle.
5. Open your Kindle and read this book, you will find the Vocabulary Builder is working on it now.
