HOW TO USE THE SUPER DUPER VOCAB TUTORER
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The idea of the super-duper vocab tutorer is to help you to learn
individual words from a foreign language (at the
moment spanish, french and english) by playing the
sound of the words and allowing you to view a translation of them
into your language (only english currently).
To use the program you type a command (such as the letter 'w'
plus the [enter] key) in the top 'text box' (which has
'Enter a command' written above it) and the program responds
by doing something (playing a word, or translating a word etc).
In the 'message box' which is the large text box on the web page,
the program normally tells you what command it has just
executed.
A QUICK EXAMPLE OF USING THE PROGRAM
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When the web page loads you will see a message in the larger
text box saying how many words are available.
Step 1.
In the smaller text box (which has 'Enter a Command' written above it)
type the letter 'w' and then press the [enter] key. Dont type any
spaces or tabs and use lower case, please.
You should hear the sound of a randomly selected
spanish (or french etc) word being spoken. If not please see the
'Questions' section below.
Step 2.
In the smaller text box (I'll call it the 'command-box' from now on)
type 'a' and press the [enter] key. You should hear the same word
being spoken again.
Step 3.
In the command-box type 'v' and press the [enter] key. In the
larger text box (I'll call it the 'message-box' from now on)
you should see the text of the word that was just played. The text
is in the original language. It is not translated.
Step 4.
In the command-box type 'x' and press the [enter] key.
You will be redirected to a web-page (www.wordreference.com) that
contains the dictionary definition of the word which you have just
heard (and viewed). When you are finished reading the definition
press the 'back' button on your browser.
Step 5.
In the command-box type 'w' and press the [enter] key.
A new randomly selected word is spoken.
Step 6.
You can continue entering commands (letters plus the [enter] key)
into the command box in any order that you like.
SOME QUESTIONS:
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WHAT IS A COMMAND (IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS PROGRAM)?
A command is just a letter or word which you type into the
'command box' (the small text box) plus the [enter] key
and which makes the program do something.
I TYPED A COMMAND AND NOTHING HAPPENED?
Make sure that the cursor was in the 'command box' which is the
smaller text box which has something like 'enter a command'
written above it
Make sure that you pressed the [enter] key after typeing the
letter in the command box.
Make sure that you didn't type any spaces or tabs before or
after the command (ED: This should be fixed).
Make sure that you didn't use capital letters for the command.
The command should be lower case.
I TYPED A COMMAND AND NOTHING HAPPENED EXCEPT THAT I SAW A MESSAGE
SAYING 'SORRY THE PROGRAM DOESNT UNDERSTAND THAT COMMAND'
Make sure that you didn't type any spaces or tabs before or
after the command (ED: This should be fixed).
Make sure that you didn't use capital letters for the command.
The command should be lower case.
Make sure that the command that you typed in the command box
was a 'valid' command for the program. You can see what are
the valid commands by typing ? and [enter] into the command
box. The message-box will then display a list of the
valid commands
I TYPED THE COMMAND 'w' AND I SAW THE MESSAGE
'2 [Command: w] MAY BE SHORT DELAY'
BUT I DIDNT HEAR ANY SOUND. WHY?
This question could have a number of answers.
In order to hear the sound you need all of the following
things:
1. to hear the sound you need a 'sound-card',
To check if you have a sound-card look at the back of your
computer and see if there are 3 small round holes in a row,
often with coloured rings. If not buy a sound-card and
have it installed into your computer. If you dont want to do that
you could investigate programs that play sound files through the
dodgy built-in speaker and please tell me the results of your
experiments. But you probably won't be able to use this web-based program.
On a Microsoft Windows computer, if you have a sound card correctly
installed you will usually see a small yellow speaker icon in the
lower right hand corner of the screen.
2. you need speakers connected to that sound-card (or a set of
headphones).
Obtain speakers or headphones and plug them into the small round
hole which says 'line out' or which has a little picture of
headphones next to it or something like that.
3. you need the volume on the speakers to be turned up sufficiently.
There should be a knob on your speakers. Twist it. You also may need
to change the volume using a piece of software. On Microsoft
Windows PCs this software can sometimes be found using the menus
start-->programs-->entertainment-->volume-control
also you may be able to see the software by double-clicking on
the small yellow speaker icon which is usually in the bottom
right hand corner of the screen.
On computers running Linux you may be able to find the answer to
the question of how to adjust your speaker volume by consulting the
'Linux Cookbook' which is available at
www.dsl.org
4. you need the correct plugin or activeX object to be installed in your
browser. For the netscape browser version 4.61 you need the 'LiveAudio'
plugin that allows the browser to play 'wav' format audio files.
If you need the LiveAudio plugin search on the internet for
'npaudio.dll' and then copy it into the netscape 'plugin'
directory. The LiveAudio file is also available at
www.geocities.com/matth3wbishop/projects/npaudio.class
The file name extension is '.class' instead of '.dll' because
the Yahoo Geocities web-site system will not allow file name
extensions of '.dll'. If you want to use this file you will have
to rename it to 'npaudio.dll' before or after you copy it to the
netscape 'plugins' directory.
With the Netscape Browser you should be able to find out what
the plug-in directory is by choosing from the menus
Help --> About Plug-ins
You will then see a list of plug-ins that are currently installed
and the directory in which they are installed.
The 'LiveAudio' plug-in is an old plug-in and does not appear to
be available from the Netscape web-site. From some preliminary testing
the LiveAudio plug-in does not appear to work with later
versions of the Netscape Navigator Browser.
The Real Audio plug-in may work with more modern browsers and
in addition is able to play .mp3 format files. Also, it is possible
to script this plug-in using Javascript according to information found
at www.cookwood.com. However this program, is not able to use the
Real Audio plug-in currently <2003>
For the Internet Explorer browser you need (I think) an 'ActiveX object',
but Internet Explorer should automatically install this if it is not
already. In other words for Internet Explorer this shouldn't be a problem.
There are probably other reasons which I have not mentioned why
the sound file will not play. The Audio tutoring program has only been tested
successfully on Microsoft Windows PCs running IE 4,5,6 and Netscape 4.61.
On computers running an 'Apple' operating system, the Javascript for
the program does not seem to work.
WHAT IS A 'LESSON' IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS PROGRAM?
A lesson is just a set of words (usually about 50).
The program only plays the words that are in the current
lesson. This is because it is probably easier to
try and learn a small number of words at once in order
to give your-self a sense of progress and achievement.
WHAT ARE THE 'LESSON' LINKS AT THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF
THE WEB-PAGE FOR?
These links are to allow you to load a new set of
(usually 50) words into the program. The program will
only play the words in the current 'lesson'. This allows
you to just practice a manageable number of words at once
and allows you to monitor your own progress in remembering
those words.
HOW TO I LOAD A NEW LESSON (GO TO A NEW LESSON)?
Click on one of the links on the right-hand side
of the vocab-tutor web page which says something
like 'lesson n' where n is some number.
WHEN I FIRST LOAD THE VOCAB TUTOR WHAT LESSON AM I IN?
You are in the 'all lessons' or 'all words' lesson which
means that all available words are loaded and will be
played by the program.
WHAT'S THE WIDE BUT THIN TEXT BOX NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE
THAT SEEMS TO CONTAIN A LIST OF URLS? WHATS IT FOR?
Really you dont need to worry about this box. It just contains
the urls that the program uses to play ('speak') the words.
If you are feeling adventurous you can cut and paste your own
urls of sound files in the and then type 'load' in the
command box. The program will then use your sound-urls instead of
its normal ones. But you normally wouldn't need to do this.
I NOTICE THAT AFTER I TYPE 'w' PLUS [ENTER] THERE IS A DELAY BEFORE
THE WORD IS 'SPOKEN'. WHY IS THIS?
This is because the sound-file of the word has to be downloaded
from the internet before it can be played. That is why the first time
that you play a word there will be a delay but the next time that that
same word plays it should play instantaneously. It plays instantly
the second time because your Internet Browser will have probably
'cached' the sound-file in a particular directory on your hard disk.
It is possible that your browser does not cache any files in which
case the sound-file of the word or phrase will be reloaded from
the internet and so there will be another delay.
For most Internet Browsers it is possible to set the way that your
Browser caches files. For many versions of Microsoft Internet
Explorer you choose
tools --> internet options
and then click the 'configuration' button in the
'temporary internet files' box in the 'general' tab.
In a Spanish version of Internet Explorer that would be
herramientas --> opciones de internet
and then
archivos temporales de internet
For Netscape Navigator you can choose from the menus,
edit --> preferences
If the cache for your Internet Browser is set to 0 bytes or to
a small number of KiloBytes then you will experience more delays
using this program than otherwise.
YOU SEEM TO BE USING SOUND FILES THAT WERE CREATED BY OTHER PEOPLE AND
ARE STORED ON OTHER PEOPLES SERVERS. ISNT THIS A LITTLE BIT RUDE NOT TO
SAY WRONG?
Yes in a sense it is wrong, but since this is a non-commercial
and education project I feel reasonably justified.
WHAT TYPES OF SYSTEMS HAS THIS WEB PAGE BEEN TESTED ON?
Microsoft Windows PCs (Win 2000) with the browsers
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.7, 5, 6
Nescape Navigator 4.61
Apple Macintosh (OSX)
Browser ? The sound files are not playing, and the
javascript is not working as it should. For example when
messages are displayed after a command the iWordCounter
variable is undefined and printed out as NaN. Also
the sCurrentWord variable is undefined
Linux
The Javascript appears to be working but I have not
heared any sounds.
Other Unixes
Completely untested
SUGGESTED WAYS TO USE THE LANGUAGE TUTOR
Use the 'w' command to play the next random (or sequential)
word. Listen carefully to the word and repeat the sound
to yourself as faithfully as you can. Try to imagine how
the word is spelt even if you dont know what it means.
Use the 'a' command to play the word as many times as you wish.
With some languages it is easier to know how the word is spelt
than others. For example, Spanish is generally considered easier
to understand phonetically than French.
Once you have had a guess at how the word is spelt, use the
'v' command to view the text of the word and see how accurate you
were. By looking at the spelling of the word you may be able to
work out what the word means.
Finally use the x command to translate the word into your own
language (at the moment, only english)
OTHER NOTES AND COMMENTS
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At the url
http://www.geocities.com/matth3wbishop/spanish/vocab-sp.txt
http://www.geocities.com/matth3wbishop/spanish/vocab-fr.txt
there is also a vocab tutor which is written as a script
designed to be run in a unix shell. The user interface is
approximately the same the web version.
However at the moment the script uses some programs which
are not standard in the unix shell, such as a file called
wav.exe which is the program which actually plays the sound file.
This is actually a windows program. (This is because I
developed the program in a 'cygwin' shell on a windows
pc). It should not be difficult to adapt the program to
run in a 'standard' unix shell, but I havent done this yet.
The program does not 'test' the user in any way. There is no
real measurement of the users progress. This is in accordance
with the authors philosophy of learning.
IDEAS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPEMENT OF THIS PROGRAM (WEB PAGE)
In my opinion, the basic unit of language comprehension is
the phrase rather than the word. This program needs to include
phrases in order to be truly useful. Learning vocabulary by
itself is not very useful unless combined with other techniques,
in my opinion.