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SCALAE VERBORUM ET CETERA (shareware version 2.10) ┌─────────┐ ╔═══════════════════╗ ┌─────┴───┐ │ (R) ║ MEMBER: ║ ──│ │o │────────────────── ║ Educational ║ │ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of ║ Software ║ │ │ │─┘ Shareware ║ Cooperative ║ └───│ o │ Professionals ╚═══════════════════╝ ──────│ ║ │──────────────────── └────╨────┘ MEMBER SCALAE VERBORUM ET CETERA (Latin Word Ladder) consists of three programs for MS-DOS (IBM and IBM-compatible) computers, which are intended to help students learn Latin vocabulary quickly and easily. The disk comes complete with three fully developed programs, a file creation module which includes a 3400 word dictionary, 12 sample vocabulary files, and a complete manual on the disk. New files can easily be written using the dictionary, making the program an excellent companion for learning the vocabulary in any textbook or in conjunction with any lesson plan. The program requires an IBM or IBM-compatible computer using DOS version 2.0 or later and 384K available memory. Copyright 1994 Portions of the program Paul R. Widergren Copyright 1982-88 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Microsoft Co. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This software and user's guide are copyright 1994 by Paul R. Widergren. They are protected by both United States copyright law and international treaty provisions. All Rights Reserved. Scalae verborum et cetera was created and compiled using Microsoft QuickBASIC 4.5. MS-DOS, Microsoft Mouse, Windows, Microsoft Visual Basic, and Microsoft QuickBASIC 4.5 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. IBM, AT, and XT are registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. PKWARE, PKZIP and PKUNZIP are registered trademarks of PKWARE, Inc. PLEASE READ THE LICENSE AGREEMENT AND LIMITED WARRANTY PRIOR TO USING THIS SOFTWARE. Use of this software indicates your acceptance of the terms and conditions of the license agreement and the limited warranty. LICENSE AGREEMENT SCALAE VERBORUM ET CETERA is offered as shareware. Shareware is not free software, but is a distribution system whereby the user is free to try the software for a modest fee before buying it at the full registration fee. You are free to copy this program for your own use and copy it or load it onto bulletin boards. Shareware vendors may distribute the shareware version of this program (sv210s.exe) to others to others for a modest distribution fee (up to $10) as long as all program and data files remain intact, but the author retains all rights to the program. Please understand that the program is not free, and is not in the public-domain. If after a reasonable time, you are regularly using the program at home or in the classroom, you are expected to register it by purchasing a registered copy for $29.95 from the author of the program. You will then receive a copy (either 3½" or 5¼") of the most recent version of the program, including the file editing module, the most recent version of the dictionary, and the a viewer to help read the manual. Note to Latin Teachers: One registered copy is expressly considered a site-license. This is done to increase the usefulness of the disk for educational purposes. If you buy my programs and have access to an IBM computer lab, you may then legally make multiple copies of this program for all your students to use on multiple computers. You may even let students take the program home and use it there. You may write (or have your students write) files to practice the vocabulary you are currently working on in class. UNCONDITIONAL LIMITED WARRANTY Scalae verborum et cetera diskettes are guaranteed to be free from defects in materials and workmanship. Disks, which are returned to me will be replaced, no questions asked, with the most current version of the program. The warranty will be limited to replacement of the physical diskettes and shall not encompass other damages, including but not limited to loss of profit, special, incidental, consequential, or other similar claims. The user accepts the program "As Is" in lieu of all other warranties and conditions, expressed or implied. Copies which are obtained from shareware vendors or bulletin boards are out of my control and the user agrees to accept these programs "As Is" in lieu of any warranty or condition, expressed or implied. I am, however, interested in discovering possible sources of corrupted versions of this program and welcome any information which will allow me to supply the source of the faulty version of this program with the newest update and correct the problem. I will replace the disk with the most current version of the program. INTRODUCTION Scalae verborum et cetera consists of three computer programs for IBM-compatible computers to aid in learning Latin vocabulary and several important grammar concepts quickly and easily. The disk comes complete with three fully-developed, menu-driven programs, a file-creation module, a 3400 word dictionary and 12 sample vocabulary files. The registered version also includes a on-line manual reader and may include additional vocabulary files; however, the shareware disk and the registered version of the disk are not substantially different. Older versions (such as v. 1.0) of the disk may still be in circulation. Users who order registered copies will always be sent the most current version of the program, the data files, and the most updated version of the manual. Scalae verborum et cetera includes: Scalae verborum: Learn vocabulary quickly and easily. The disk contains 12 sample files grouped according to declensions and conjunctions. Using the file editor and the dictionary you can easily make additional files to accompany the textbook you are using. In addition, numerous variations of the program can be attempted by resetting the values on the format screen. 3 levels are possible for each file. Quiz: Uses Scalae verborum files, but this time you have to type the words in. Either Latin-English or English-Latin. Verb files can also test the principal parts of the verb. 3 levels possible. Ita est!: Select twelve words from one of the files and test your memory. The dictionary and file creation module has also been included in order to make it easy to make new files and edit old ones. The dictionary includes 3400 words and contains most of the standard vocabulary to be found in elementary and intermediate Latin textbooks. All you need to do is find the Latin word in the dictionary, tag it, and then save the completed file to the disk. Afterwards it is possible to modify the file and assign levels of difficulty to each word (3 levels possible). GETTING STARTED Scalae verborum et cetera is distributed on a single archived file which will first have to be "unzipped". 1. To load Scalae verborum to a hard-disk: C:\>md\scalae - make a new directory on the hard drive. C:\SCALAE>a: - change back to the drive the disk is in. For the shareware version: Most shareware vendors currently sell programs which use PKWARE's .zip standard. To unzip the program, you will have to have a copy of PKUNZIP, which is available from the large on- line services, or any number of shareware vendors. C:\SCALAE>copy a:wl312s.zip c: C:\SCALAE>cd\pkware <- subdirectory containing pkunzip C:\PKWARE>pkunzip c:\scalae\wl312s.zip c:\scalae C:\PKWARE>cd\scalae C:\SCALAE> For the registered version: The program is distributed as a self-dearcing .exe file (Yoshi .lzh standard). No program is need to unzip the file, rather when you run the program it unzips itself. This has beem done primarily to compress the dictionary so that the entire program fits onto one 360k disk. C:\SCALAE>wl312 c:\scalae - the archived file will then copy all files from a: to c:\scalae. 2. To run the program, type: C:\SCALAE>wl 3. The text of the manual file is contained in the file manual.doc. To print the manual.doc or order.doc files, type: C:\SCALAE>type manual.doc >lpt1 or C:\SCALAE>type order.doc >lpt1 or load the file into a word processor and print it using the word processor. 4. Using Scalae verborum with WINDOWS. Scalae verborum is not a Windows program and does not require Windows to use. It can, however, be launched from the Windows interface in Real or Enhanced Mode without a problem. See your Windows guide for further details on how to run a non-windows program. THE MAIN MENU Loading a program from the menu: After the program has loaded, the main menu with the blue background will appear. Highlight one of the three programs by pressing the up or down arrows to the right of the keyboard and ENTER to load that program. If a mouse is present, programs can also be loaded by moving the mouse up and down and then pressing the left mouse button. Press ESC to leave the program entirely. Quick Help from the Main Menu: Press the function key f1 to read the help screens. The help screens contain a description of the "hot keys" applicable to the program and give general directions for running the program. Pressing f1 anywhere in the program will cause the program to display help screens applicable for that part of the program. To create new files or modify old files: Press the function key f2 access the file-editor. See below (Creating New Files) for more information as to how to create and edit files. Changing Default values for the program: The default values for the program also can be changed and the changes saved to the disk by pressing f4 from the main menu. See Appendix B for further details. Changing the speed of the program: If the message in the box in the bottom right-hand corner of the blue main menu is scrolling by too slowly or too quickly, this indicates that the program itself will also run more slowly or more quickly than intended. Press f4 and change the value in the Default menu. See Appendix B for further details. To read the manual documentation on the disk: If you have the registered version of the disk, press f10 and a convenient and easy to use document reader will appear and display the text you are currently reading. For shareware users, load the manual into a word processor or read using the type command at the DOS prompt. C:\SCALAE>type manual.doc |more To exit the program: Press ESC to return to the DOS prompt. SCALAE VERBORUM Description: Scalae verborum is a versatile and multi-faceted program designed for learning vocabulary quickly and easily. The student matches the word in the box by picking out its equivalent from among the words in the "ladder". The program utilizes an efficient algorithm for learning vocabulary. Words which are known are not repeatedly tested, but are withdrawn from the stack. Words which are not known appear again and again. The game pauses periodically, but essentially continues until all words in the file have been correctly matched on the first try. In addition, the program can be formatted in several different ways to add variety. To load the program: To load and run the program, highlight the option Scalae verborum in the main menu and press ENTER or the left mouse button. The directory of files currently on the disk appears. Use the up and down arrows or the mouse to highlight the file you wish to practice (The English meaning of the names of most of the files included with the disk can be found by pressing f1 - Help when the file list is active). When you are ready to proceed, press ENTER or the left mouse button. The format menu then appears. The format menu is set to the default set-up values (To change default set-up values, see Appendix B). To change the format of the game before starting, see the section "Formatting Scalae verborum" below. When you are ready to proceed, press ENTER or the left mouse button. Remember pressing ESC at any time will take you back to the main menu. After the words are loaded, the game will appear, formatted to your instructions. At the bottom of the screen are the words "Press any key to continue." Press any key or the left mouse button. Arrows will appear next to the ladder and the game begins. To use the program: To line up the arrow to the proper word, use the up and down arrows to the right of the ENTER key. Press ENTER when you think you have the correct answer. If you have a mouse installed, move it up and down and press the left mouse button. If your answer is correct, the word in the box and the corresponding word in the ladder will be replaced by new words. If the answer is not correct, nothing happens. After three wrong answers the correct answer flashes and disappears. The object is to "zap" the file as quickly as possible. After two minutes (default), the exercise pauses and the clock and the point total are reset. The words "A New High Score!" appear in the box if a new high score for this practice session has been reached. Press ESC to end before all words have been answered correctly on the first try. Almost the whole file has been answered correctly when slashes begin to appear in the ladder. After all words have been answered correctly, the game ends with a congratulatory message. Formatting Scalae verborum: Scalae verborum is the most complex program and requires some experimentation to discover the variations possible in the format menu at the beginning of each round. To reformat Scalae verborum, highlight the option to be changed in the format menu and then press the SPACE bar or the right mouse button. The value will change to another value or toggle between two values. When the option is set to your liking, use the arrow keys to highlight another option. When all values are set the way you want them to be, press ENTER or the left mouse button to continue to the game. Pressing ESC when the format menu is showing returns the program to the main menu. Formatting options: 1) Level default = 1 By using the Modify Old File option of the file creation module, files can be given three distinct levels, by including and excluding words within a given file. The files included on the disk are differentiated into beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. The beginning level is the default level. To change the level to a more advanced and challenging one, press the SPACE bar or the right mouse button. Press ENTER or the left hand mouse button to continue. 2) Words default = 5 The number of words in the ladder is currently set to five, but can be set to any value between two and nine. Highlight the option Words and press the SPACE bar or the right mouse button until the desired number of words is reached. Press ENTER or the left mouse button to continue. The default value can be permanently changed by altering the value in the default set-up menu described in Appendix B. 3) Time: default = 2:00 minutes The program is currently set to make a pause every two minutes in order to give the player a rest and reset the point counter and clock. The length of the game, however, can be set to any value between one minute and nine minutes and thirty seconds. Press any key until the option Time is highlighted and then press the SPACE bar or the right mouse button until the desired time is showing. Press ENTER or the left mouse button to continue. The default time value can be permanently changed by changing and saving the value in the default set-up menu described in Appendix B. 4) Latin: default = left The program is currently set so that the Latin word is in the box on the left and several English words are in the ladder. This format can be reversed so that the Latin words are in the ladder by highlighting the option Latin and pressing the SPACE bar or the right mouse button to toggle the value to right. Pressing f10 again will toggle the value back to left. Press ENTER or the left mouse button to continue. Ending or changing Scalae verborum: It is possible to exit Scalae verborum at any time by pressing ESC. In addition, it is possible to change to a different file at any time by pressing the function key f2 or to change the format by pressing the function key f5. If this is done, however, the program starts over using the new file or new format. As described above, the program continues with short breaks until all the words in a file have been correctly answered on the first attempt. Words which are known are withdrawn from the stack. Words which are not known repeat again and again until they are correctly answered on the first attempt. After all words have been correctly answered, the program ends with a congratulatory message. The goal of every player is to continue until all words have been correctly matched. QUIZ Description: Using the same files as Scalae verborum, the player is now asked to type the correct response. Most files quiz the English-Latin or Latin-English equivalents of each word. A hint to the correct answer is given with asterisks. If the correct answer is not known, press f10, find out what the answer is, and go on. To load the program and choose a file: To load and run the program, highlight the option Quiz in the main menu and press ENTER or the left mouse button. A sub-menu with a choice of all the files available for Quiz will then appear. Choose one of them and press ENTER or the left mouse button again. To set the format values: Like Scalae verborum, it is possible to set up Quiz in a variety of ways. The level can be set by highlighting Level and changing the setting with the SPACE bar or the right mouse button. The length of the game (default: 2 minutes) can be changed by highlighting Time and changing the setting with the SPACE bar or the right mouse button. The position of the words (Top - above in the box or Bottom - below and tested) can be changed by highlighting the appropriate word and changing the setting with the SPACE bar or right mouse button. After all settings are correct, press the ENTER key or left mouse button to go on. The default values for most files have Latin in the box and English being tested, but it is also possible to have the English words above in the box and type out the Latin forms. To use the program: A randomly selected word appears in the box at the top of the screen. The correct answer is hinted at by asterisks below. The player then types the correct answer on the keyboard, using the backspace key to correct mistakes. After the word has been typed in, it is evaluated. Any letters that do not match the correct answer are replaced by an asterisk. After the typed response is totally correct, the sliding reward Bene! is triggered, and the point total is increased. Like Scalae verborum, incorrect and partially incorrect responses recycle and are tested again, correct responses are removed from the stack. The program can be interrupted at any time by pressing ESC. To change the format of the exercise or the file at any time: Several function keys are active even during the course of the game. They are: f1 - to overview the HELP screens. f2 - change to a different file and start over. f5 - reformat the game and start over. f10 - to find out the answer to unknown items and go on. ESC - Exit the game and return to the main menu. Like Scalae verborum, Quiz is not intended as a test. Making mistakes are to be encouraged. Rather than suffering over a response, the appropriate action if a player does not know the answer is to press the f10 button, notice what the answer is, and go on. Since the word will come up again in the course of completing the file, the player then has a second chance to answer the question correctly. Typing Latin Macrons is the same as for the file editor: Press the ALT key in conjunction with the vowels a, e, o, i, or u, to produce the vowels with a circumflex accent, which is admittedly a poor excuse for a macron. Macrons, unfortunately, are not part of the IBM character set, and cannot be produced easily, and therefore, I only have used macrons sparsely. The character ê is used to show the infinitive ending for second conjugation verbs (-êre) and the character û is used for the genitive singular form of fouth declension nouns. ALT-a produces â ALT-e produces ê ALT-i produces î ALT-o produces ô ALT-u produces û To End the Program: Every two minutes the word FINIS appears in the sliding box and "Press any key to continue" appears at the bottom of the screen. The program pauses until a key is pressed. Then the clock and point totals are reset to zero and the exercise continues. The program can be interrupted at any time by pressing ESC, but otherwise continues until all words in the file have be correctly answered. Whenever all words in a file have been completed, the program stops, displays a congratulatory message, and exits to the main menu. The length of the game can be changed by changing the value in the default menu. See Appendix B for further details. ITA EST! Description: Ita est! is a memory game. Twelve words are selected from a file and then hidden behind 24 boxes. The object is to match up the word pairs. The game can be played by one or two players using either the keyboard or a mouse, and the object can be to find the English equivalent to the Latin word, or simply to find two occurances of the same Latin word hidden behind boxes. Loading program: To load and run the program, highlight the option Ita est in the main menu and press ENTER or the left mouse button. A menu with a choice of all the files available for Ita est! will then appear. Choose one of them and press ENTER or the left mouse button again. The file is then loaded into a viewer. Notice that for this game, all grammatical information has been disabled. This is primarily do to the fact that the words must fit into boxes 20 spaces long. Tag twelve of the bright white words by pressing the SPACE bar or the right mouse button. Note that the computer will BEEP if you try to tag a word which is not included in the current level or if you try to tag more than twelve words. To change the level so that other words in the file are included, press the f10 function key. When you have tagged the words you want to use, press the ENTER key or the left mouse button to go on. If you have tagged less than twelve words or none at all, the computer will randomly select the remainder for you from the words included in the current level. The twelve words which have been selected will then appear on the screen along with their English equivalents. Press any key or the mouse button to continue. Now the format box is visible. To change the number of players, press the SPACE bar or the right mouse button. To change the format from LATIN : ENGLISH to LATIN : LATIN, use the arrow keys or the mouse to highlight the second option and do the same. When you are finished, press ENTER or the left mouse button to start the game. Playing Ita est!: If the mouse is enabled in the default menu (cf. Appendix B), then the cursor will appear. Move the mouse to any box and press the left mouse button. The first choice will be uncovered. Then select a second box and press the left mouse button or ENTER. The second choice will appear. If the two choices match, you score a point and go again. If they do not, they are covered up again, and the other player (if two players have been selected) gets a turn. The game continues without interruption until all word pairs have been matched and a winner is declared. A check mark (√) indicates whose turn it is, and the current score (Nr. found:) and elapsed time (Time:) are also indicated at the bottom of the screen. If the mouse is disabled in the default menu (cf. Appendix B) or there is no mouse present on the computer, then a box appears around the numbers of each box instead of a cursor being visible. Use the arrow keys to move this box to the desired choice and press ENTER. Exiting or changing the program: It is possible to exit the program and return to the main menu at any time by pressing ESC. To receive help on playing the program, press the f1 (Help) function. To change to a different file, load new words and start over, press the f2 (Files) function key. To view the Latin words and their English equivalents currently hidden behind the box, press the f5 (List) function key. Finally, to change the format of the game, and start over with the same words, press the f10 (Options) function key. If the mouse is enabled, moving the cursor to the appropriate spot on the command line at the top of the screen and pressing the left mouse button has the same effect as pressing the function keys. CREATING NEW FILES Using the Password: The file create module and the default screen are supplied with a password to provide a moderate amount of protection from unwanted alterations of the word files and default values. The default password is "sv". Whenever the password is set to the default, then pressing ENTER or typing "sv" will gain access to the desired module. The password can be changed to anything else through the default menu. Once the password is changed, then these modules can only be accessed through the new password. See Appendix B for instructions for changing the password. Using the menu: To create a new file or edit a previously existing file, press f2 from the main (blue) menu and enter the appropriate password. The File creation menu with three File Management Options will appear. Highlight the appropriate choice by moving the mouse or pressing the arrow keys and press ENTER. If you choose to access the dictionary, the dictionary viewer will appear. If you choose to create a new file, the program will ask you to type in the name of the new file, which must be different than the file name of any data files currently on the disk. If you choose to modify an old file, the program will display a menu of the data files currently on the disk. Choose the file to be modified and press ENTER or the left mouse button. Access Dictionary module. The most expedient way to create new files for use with the game on the program is to use the dictionary. Highlight Access Dictionary and press ENTER or the left mouse button. The Dictionary viewer will appear. To create a file, tag the words in the dictionary which you want included in the file by pressing the SPACE bar or the right mouse button. An X should appear in the center column next to the box. The fastest way to tag words is to use the FIND command (f4). Using the FIND (f4) command: Press f4 and type in the Latin word. It is not necessary to type in the entire word in order to find a word in the dictionary. Often the word can be located after only typing the first three or four letters of the word. Press ENTER. The word which is the closest match will now be highlighted in red. If this word is not correct, the word you desire to tag should be close. Move the red strip using the arrow keys or the mouse to the desired word and tag by pressing the SPACE bar or the right mouse button. Saving a file: Files should be at least 15 words in length and no longer than 250 words. After all the words have been tagged, press ESC to save the file. A box with the question Save File? Y / N will appear. To leave the dictionary and save the file press Y. To leave the dictionary without saving press N. To return to the dictionary without saving press ESC to cancel. If you press Y to save the file, the program will then ask you to input a name for the new file, which must be different than any other file on the disk. Enter the new file name and press ENTER. The file will then be saved to the disk and the tags will be cleared from the dictionary as control is transferred back to the main file creation menu. The file can then be modified and levels can be assigned to the words in the file by using the using the Modify Old File option. Other means of finding a word in the dictionary: Pressing a key on the keyboard will display the first word in the dictionary which begins with that letter. For example, pressing "t" displays the word tabella. The arrow keys and movement of the mouse scroll through the words one by one. The PgUP and PgDown keys move through the list 15 words (one page) at a time. Restricting words available for a file: For best results, nouns, verbs, adjectives and other parts of speech should be kept in separate files. To ensure that verbs do not appear in noun files, or adjectives in verb files, the words active for tagging can be restricted by pressing the f10 (Options) function key. Highlight the option Highlight with the arrow keys or the mouse. Change the option by using the SPACE bar or the right mouse button. Press ENTER or the left mouse button to return to the dictionary. Now the words which do not belong the category you have chosen (for example, NOUNS) will be dimmed, and tagging them will cause the program to beep. Help: Press the f1 (Help) function key to receive help for any part of the dictionary. Press any key to continue to the next help screen. Viewing a word in the dictionary: Press f2 (View) and a box with the complete information including part of speech about the word appears. Press any key to return to the dictionary. Editing words in the dictionary: Great care has been taken to assure the information in the dictionary is as accurate as possible, but typographical errors do occur and there is often more than one way to translate a word. It might become desirable to update the dictionary with corrected information. This should be done with care, however, because the changes are immediate. To edit the dictionary, press the f10 function key and highlight the Mode option. Press the SPACE bar or the right mouse button to toggle the option between VIEW and EDIT. When the Option is on EDIT, press ENTER or the left mouse button. Now the command line has the word EDIT by f2 and words in the dictionary can be changed. When you press f2 now, you see the view box with all the information. However, it is now possible to edit the information in each box. To change what is in a box, type the corrected information. The old information will disappear, and the new information will appear. After the corrected information is entered, press ENTER to continue to the next box. If the information is correct and does not need to be edited, simply press ENTER to continue to the next box. After all the boxes have been edited, the part of speech information can also be changed by highlighting the correct choice and pressing ENTER. To return to the dictionary with the information updated, go through the entire process once and then press ESC. The dictionary viewer will reappear with the correct version saved for future use. Obviously, it is important to make changes with care and to guard from attempts at humor by pranksters. Always make a back-up disk and hide it away in case someone corrupts or deletes the dictionary or any of the files. Use a password to bar unwanted entry from the file creation menu. Words not in the dictionary: If you create a new file in the dictionary, you might have several words from your vocabulary list which are not in the dictionary. The dictionary contains over 3400 of the words most commonly found in beginning and elementary textbooks, but is by no means, totally inclusive. There is unfortunately no provision to add words to the dictionary at this time. However, words can be added or deleted from a saved file using the Modify Old File option. Therefore, simply tag all of the words which are in the dictionary (which will be most of them), save the file and add the rest afterwards using the Insert option (f5) of the Modify Old File module. Exiting the dictionary: If no words have been tagged, pressing ESC returns control immediately to the main File creation menu. Press ESC again to return to the blue main menu, and a third time to exit the program to the DOS prompt. If words have been tagged, then the programs asks you if you wish to save them in a file before returning to the main File creation menu. A file must contain at least 15 words and no more than 250 words. Recommended length is fifty to one hundred words in each file with some level differentiation to distinguish, for example, active from passive vocabulary. Create New File: Highlight the second option, Create New File, and press ENTER. Then type in the name of the new file and press ENTER again. Once the program has gone to the edit screen, type in the Latin word and then press ENTER. Then type the English equivalent and press ENTER. When all forms have been entered, the message "Press ESC now to exit and save file" appears at the bottom of the screen. If you want to add more words press any key to continue. If all words have been entered, press ESC. The program will display the message Update file? Y/N at the bottom of the screen (fig. 22). Press Y and the file will be saved to your disk. Modify Old File: To modify an old file already saved on the disk, highlight the third option and press ENTER or the left mouse button. A box with the names of the files on the disk will appear. Highlight the file you wish to modify in the usual way and press ENTER. The program then asks you if you wish to sort the file according to alphabetical order. It is normally a good idea to sort the file, although it might take a few seconds. After the file has been sorted, it will appear on a view screen much like the dictionary viewer. It is then possible to scroll through the words in the file using the mouse, the arrow keys, the keyboard, the PgUp/PgDown keys or the Find (f4) command as described above for the dictionary. Since these files contain between 15 - 250 words, it is obviously much easier to scroll through the entire file than with the 3400 word dictionary, making the Find (f4) option less necessary here. Editing a word: Find the word you wish to change. If it is misspelled or the English translation is not quite right, press the f2 (Edit) function key. To edit the word, type the new form in and press ENTER. If no change needs to be made, press ENTER without typing anything and the cursor moves to the next box. After all changes have been made, press ESC to return to the viewer with the changes updated in the list. Unlike the dictionary, no part of speech information is included. Overly long items: Vocabulary words or phrases must fit into boxes and must therefore be no longer than 30 letters in combined length. If the program beeps, look at the entry. The word or phrase you have just entered is too long. The entry automatically erases itself. Retype a shorter entry. Adding a word: If a word is missing from the list, it can be added. Press the f5 (Insert) function key. A blank EDIT screen appears. Type the Latin word in the first box, press ENTER, and then the English equivalent in the second box, and press ENTER. Mistakes can be corrected by pressing the BACKSPACE (<-) key just above the ENTER key on the keyboard. If both (or, in the case of verb files, all) forms are correct, press ESC to return to the viewer. If you now want to tag the word, press the SPACE bar (cf. Tagging levels of words below). If the added words are not in alphabetical order, save the updated file to the disk and then reload it and sort it so that the FIND (f4) function will continue to work. Adding Grammatical information: It is standard to learn the genitive singular forms and gender of nouns and the four principal parts of verbs when learning Latin words and so the appropriate grammar information has been included in the the words in the dictionary. In order that the program has the capability of deleting this information when it is not desired as in the program ITA EST!, the following conventions should be followed: 1) do not use commas 2) do use dashes, ie. femina -ae f. or amo -are -avi -atus 3) for irregular forms, put TWO spaces between the root form and the second form, ie. ager agri m. or sum esse fui futurus When deleting the grammar information, the program looks for either a dash or two spaces. Deleting a word from a file: If there is a word in the file, that you do not want in the file, press the f6 (Delete) function key. A box will appear asking you if you are sure you want to delete the highlighted word. If you do, press Y and the word will disappear from the list. If you made a mistake and want to keep the word in the list, press N and the word will not be deleted. Setting the levels for each file: Each file can be differentiated into three distinct levels, by tagging the words for each level. For the files included on the disk, the levels are divided approximately into beginning (25 words), intermediate (50 words), and advanced (entire file). There is, however, no reason why other criteria (Level one: 3rd conj. verbs, Level two: 3rd-io verbs) could not be applied. When a file is first created using the dictionary or the Create File module, all words are tagged. To tag or untag a word, highlight the word and press the SPACE bar or the right mouse button. Words that are tagged will appear in a bright white while untagged words are dimmer. To switch from one level to the next, press the f10 (Level) function key on the command line at the top of the screen. Notice also that the level currently showing and the number of tagged words in that level are indicated to the right of the file name under the command line at the top of the screen. After the levels have been set, you are ready to update the modified file. Updating modified file: When all corrections have been made, press ESC. The message Update file? Y/N will appear in the middle of the screen. Press Y and the modified file will be saved to your disk. Press N and the file will not be saved. WARNING: Saving the modified file to the disk will overwrite the old file. Be sure to make one or several back-up copies of the original disk in order to preserve older versions of data files intact in case of error or tampering. Use a password to prevent unauthorized persons from entering the file creation module if necessary. CONCLUSION I hope you enjoy this program. As a high school Latin and German teacher, I have found it to be helpful in practicing vocabulary in a relatively painless and profitable way. Despite the rush toward proficiency-based instruction (though perhaps less so in Latin), I have yet to see a textbook without a dictionary or glossary and vocabulary lists. Many people have different learning styles and are frustrated when confronted with texts with a high degree of unknown or unlearned vocabulary. This program does not claim to perform miracles by itself, but it has the flexibility to sensibly be used in conjunction with a number of textbooks and tapes and is also suitable for home, self-study and review, providing an viable alternative to pieces of paper folded in half and flash cards. I welcome any critique, comments, and ideas for this or future foreign language programs. If there are still any errors in spelling or forms (Latin or English) in the word files or the dictionary, I would appreciate learning about these errors so that they can be corrected for future editions of this program. January 28, 1995 Paul Widergren P.O. Box 13 Delafield, WI 53018 Tel: (414)569-5740 INTERNET:74632.612@compuserve.com APPENDIX A Typing Latin macrons while using the file-editor or the program Quiz is easy: ALT-a produces â ALT-e produces ê ALT-i produces î ALT-o produces ô ALT-u produces û APPENDIX B Default Values Screen: f4 Password: The file create module and the default screen are supplied with a password to provide a moderate amount of protection from unwanted alterations of the word files and default values. The default password is "sv". Whenever the password is set to the default, then pressing ENTER or typing "sv" will gain access to the desired module. The password can be changed to anything else through the default menu. Once the password is changed, then these modules can only be accessed through the new password. Speed of Program: Default value = 1 Computers process information at different speeds. The present program was created on a 25 MHz 386-AT. If the message in the box at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen is scrolling by too slowly or too quickly, change the value in the default screen. Press any key until the arrow is next to the option Speed of Program and then press the SPACE bar to change the value. A smaller value (.25) will speed up the program. A larger value (8) will slow down the program. Press ESC to leave the default menu, and Y to save the new values to the disk. Suggested values: 8088 - .0625 286 - .25 386 - 1 486 - 4 or higher Video Mode: Color/Mono Default value = Color Press any key until the arrow is next the option Video and the press the SPACE bar to toggle the Video from Color to Mono in the program Scalae verborum et cetera. This is primarily in order give the highlight bars contrast when using a monochrome monitor or a laptop with a monochrome monitor. Press ESC to leave the default menu and Y to save the new values to the disk. Mouse: Enabled / Disabled Default value = Enabled If the computer does not have a mouse, the mouse value should be disabled in order for Ita est! to work properly, although under normal circumstances the program should detect that no mouse is present and set this value automatically. Press any key until the arrow is next to the option Mouse and press the SPACE bar to toggle the option from Enabled to Disabled. Press ESC to leave the default menu and Y to save the new values to the disk. Password: Default value = sv Press any key until the arrow is next to the option Password and then press the SPACE bar. A question mark appears next to the old password. Type the new password next to it and press ENTER. Press ESC to leave the default menu and Y to save the new password on the disk. Thereafter it will be necessary to type in the new password to access the default values screen and the file creation module. To change the program so that it is not necessary to type a password, change the password back to "sv". Grammar info: Default value = Enabled The genitive singular and gender of nouns and the principal parts of verbs have been included in the the files on the disk and for the words in the dictionary. If you do not wish to focus on the extra grammar information, but rather only on the vocabulary words themselves, you might wish to disable the grammar information in all the programs. Press any key until the arrow is next to the option Grammar and then press the SPACE bar to toggle the option from Enabled to Disabled. Press ESC to leave the default menu and Y to save the new values to the disk. Note that the grammar forms are always disabled for the program ITA EST! Rungs in Ladder: Default value: 5 There can be anywhere between two and nine words in the "ladder" next to the box in the game Scalae verborum. Changing the value in this screen changes the default number of words in the ladder. Press the SPACE bar until the desired number of words is obtained. Length of Game: Default value: 2:00 minutes During the game Scalae verborum, there is a pause every two minutes to give players a short rest and to reset the score for competitive purposes. The default value is two minutes, but the length of the game can be permanently changed by pressing the SPACE bar until the desired length (1 minute to 9 minutes 30 seconds) is obtained. Restoring the Original Default values (CTRL-R): Press CTRL-R (for Restore) to restore the values of the defaults to the value they were when the program was created. Saving new default values: When all desired changes have been made, press ESC to exit. In the box to the right, there will be the message Save new Values? Y/N. Press Y to save the new values, any other key to ignore the changes. If new values have been saved onto the disk, the games will be formatted according to the new default values. APPENDIX C Error messages and what you can do about them: Drive not Ready: Either the disk is not in the drive, or the door to the drive is not closed. Reinsert disk. File not found: You are trying to load a data file that is not on the disk. Illegal Function Call: If a file is created on a word-processor and there are extra blank spaces in the file or at the end of the file, this error might occur. Make sure the last word in the file is the actual end of the file. Input past end of file: You are probably attempting to load a file which is not a valid Scalae verborum data file. APPENDIX D What is shareware? Shareware is a marketing method which offers low risk both to the authors of quality software and to you - the user. Shareware programs are fully-functional (not demo) programs which rival commercial programs, but which have been made available to shareware vendors, bulletin-boards (BBS's) and computer clubs for distribution. The distributors then make the programs available to you for a nominal cost for preview. Shareware programs are not free, or in the public-domain. The method of distribution is intended simply to make the program accessible and available for preview. If you like a program, and use it for an extended period of time, you are expected to register the program buy usually by sending a registration fee directly to the author. So, please register my shareware you continue to use, as this is the only way I receive any payment for my work. When you register you will also receive the following: 1) A disk containing latest version of the program, registered in your name. 2) An on-line manual reader making it easier to read the manual for the program. 3) A site license which allows the registered owner to make as many copies as needed to be used at one site. This is particularly useful for Latin teachers and schools. 4) Telephone, mail, or E-mail support to help in installing or operating the program. 5) Notification of new programs and updates. APPENDIX E How to Register: An order blank is contained in the file order.doc. To print the file, type: C:\SCALAE>type order.doc >lpt1 or load the file into your word processor and print it. If you are a CompuServe member, you can also register this program by the CompuServe Shareware Registration Service. GO SWREG and follow the directions. Scalae verborum et cetera is Shareware Reg. #4164. The registration fee will be automatically charged to your CompuServe account and you will receive the registered version in the mail in a few days. APPENDIX F Other Programs currently available from Paul Widergren: A. Wortleiter und so weiter (v. 3.12). (CompuServe SWREG #4160) Wortleiter und so weiter consists of several computer programs for IBM-compatible computers to aid in learning German vocabulary and several important grammar concepts quickly and easily. The disk comes complete with three fully-developed, menu-driven programs, a file-creation module, a 7200 word dictionary and 25 sample vocabulary files. The registered version also includes a on-line manual reader and may include additional vocabulary files; however, the shareware disk and the registered version of the disk are not substantially different. Older versions (such as v. 2.12) of the disk may still be in circulation. Users who order registered copies will always be sent the most current version of the program, the data files, and the most updated version of the manual. Wortleiter und so weiter includes: Wortleiter: Learn vocabulary quickly and easily. The disk contains 25 sample files grouped according to topic (Clothes, Geography, Animals, Travel). Using the file editor and the dictionary you can easily make additional files to accompany the textbook you are using. In addition, numerous variations of the program can be attempted by resetting the values on the format screen. 3 levels are possible for each file. Quiz: Uses Wortleiter files, but this time you have to type the words in. Either German-English or English-German. Verb files can also test the principal parts of the verb. 3 levels possible. Gut so!: Select twelve words from one of the files for a "Concentration"-type memory game. The dictionary and file creation module has also been included in order to make it easy to make new files and edit old ones. The dictionary includes 7200 words and contains virtually all of the standard vocabulary to be found in elementary and intermediate German textbooks. All you need to do is find the German word in the dictionary, tag it, and then save the completed file to the disk. Afterwards it is possible to modify the file and assign levels of difficulty to each word (3 levels possible). Registration fee: $29.95 plus $2.00 shipping and handling. A. Es ist um die Zeit (CompuServe SWREG #4161) Es ist um die Zeit is a new series of programs of a slightly different type. The computer is used primarily as a discovery tool. Rather than the computer asking the questions and the student giving the answers, the student has the questions and the computer gives the answers. The registered version of Es geht um die Zeit comes complete with three menu-driven programs. The programs incorporate simple animation and graphics and require an IBM or IBM-compatible computer with a graphics monitor (at least a 286 AT-computer and EGA color monitor recommended). Es geht um die Zeit includes: Wie spät ist es?: Explore the German way of telling time using an animated cuckoo clock. After the student is sufficiently acquainted with the necessary vocabulary and concepts through self-discovery, he or she can test themselves using one of two modules: Stell die Uhr! - given a time in German, set the clock to that time by pushing the appropriate function keys. Wie spät ist es? - Type in the time indicated on the clock. Kalender: The program is a perpetual calendar which can be set to display any month from January 1600 on. It can be used to learn about and practice the days of the week, months of the year, birthdays, historical events, and future events. For example, most students do not know what day of the week they born on. The computer can determine that in a flash. Convert: The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world not to use the metric system. Germans use the metric system almost exclusively, so it is instructive for American students to know information about themselves in the metric measurements of meters, liters and kilograms as well as feet, gallons, and pounds. Convert is a tool to make these conversions simply and easily. There are conversion tables available for: Temperature (fahrenheit - centigrade) Distance (miles - kilometers) Height (inches - centimeters) Weight (pounds - kilograms) Liquid measure (gallons - liters) Money (dollar - DM (resettable to current $ rate)) Registration fee: $19.95 plus $2.00 shipping and handling. B. Autogrammatik I. Adjective Endings (SWREG #4162) II. Passive Voice (SWREG #4163) Two difficult topics when learning German are adjective endings and the difference between active and passive voice. The Autogrammatik series is intended to address these topics with two easy-to-use programs. I. Adjective endings: Fill in the correct adjective endings and receive immediate feedback. The program can be set from easy (one case / definite article only) to difficult (all cases / all articles and personal pronouns). An on-line dictionary and help in the form of charts are available at all time. This program probably contains the most succinct explanation of German adjective endings that you will see anywhere! II. Passive voice: Given either an active or a passive voice sentence, write the complement. The program can be set from easy (change verb only / present tense) to very challenging (change complete sentence / all tenses of the verb). An on-line dictionary and help is available at all times. Registration fee: $19.95 each plus $2.00 shipping and handling. All programs include a site license that allow you to make as many copies as you need for your home or work site. APPENDIX G ┌─────────┐ ┌─────┴───┐ │ (R) ──│ │o │────────────────── │ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of │ │ │─┘ Shareware └───│ o │ Professionals ──────│ ║ │──────────────────── └────╨────┘ MEMBER Paul R. Widergren is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at: 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 USA FAX 616-788-2765 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. APPENDIX H ORDERING INFORMATION: Scalae verborum et cetera (registered version 2.10) Registration fee: $29.95 plus $2.00 shipping and handling. Wisconsin residents please add 5% sales tax. To print an order form for Scalae verborum et cetera and the other programs mentioned in Appendix E: C:\SCALAE>type order.doc > lpt1 Paul R. Widergren Tel: (414) 569-5740 P.O. Box 13 CompuServe: 74632,612 Delafield, WI 53018 America On-Line: PWidergren INTERNET: 74632.612@compuserve.com After June 1995, my address and telephone number may have changed. If you are unable to E-Mail me, please contact me care of the following address or check the address in the advertisement in the current issue of the magazine GERMAN LIFE, where I advertise my German programs: 1209 Widergren Drive Rockford, IL 61108