Why do I see nonsense characters or strange boxes?

This is likely due to the fact you don't have the correct locales or language packs installed for your operating system!. Vocab Builder uses Unicode, most specifically UTF-8, to display characters and your operating system needs to be able to display these characters. Install the correct languages for the database you're trying to use, or create, in order to view these characters correctly. Most operating systems have support for languages spoken natively in your country, like French and English in Canada or English and Spanish in the USA, but other languages with characters not found in these countries can't be displayed. Your operating system will substitute other characters it CAN display instead.

Linux: Ubuntu, Debian, Arch and Fedora can easily install new locales/language packs through their respective repositories.

Windows: The default character encoding for Windows since at least XP is UTF-8. Installing new languages should be easy to do. There is a lot of help to be found on the Internet on how to do this. You will likely require your original install CDs/DVDs.

Nac OS: OSX uses UTF-8 by default too. Help exists on the Internet on how to install additional languages for your system.