Software of the Month Club 1996 June

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Anna's Language Tutor /~~~~~~~\ /XX XX X\ |XXXX XXXX | | XXX XXXX| \ X / \XXXX___/ by Abavagada Software Shareware version 2.2 Copyright (C) 1996 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction....................1 System Requirements.............1 Installation....................1 Usage...........................1 Main Screen.....................2 Selecting a Language............2 Using a mouse...................2 Main Menu.......................2 Files...........................2 Select a Language..............2 Exit the Tutor.................2 Drills..........................3 Sound..........................3 Timer..........................3 Questions......................3 Translations....................3 Change options................3 Globe...........................3 Change speed..................3 Help............................3 Print...........................3 Printing reading material.....3 Printing drills...............3 Printing translations.........3 Selecting Items.................4 Submenus......................4 Creating your own data..........4 Readings........................4 Drills..........................4 Translations....................4 Adventures......................5 Memory Game.....................5 Verbalizer......................5 Phraser.........................5 Wheel Game......................6 Customization...................7 Interface.....................7 ESL.........................7 Fonts.......................7 Future Watch....................7 Registering.....................7 INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS "ANNA'S LANGUAGE TUTOR"? 1 Anna's Language Tutor is a totally user definable language teaching tool. It has been designed to be flexible and adaptable, allowing a user to create lessons for language teaching from any language to any other language using a variety of different methods, including readings, drills, translations, games, verb helpers, and a phrase builder. The entire textual interface may be altered so as to become the same language as the users. It has font capabilities on EGA/VGA machines to accommodate different alphabets. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ■ IBM Compatible, running DOS 3.3 or higher. ■ Color or monochrome monitor. EGA/VGA needed if fonts are to be used. ■ Diskette or hard drive. ■ Mouse (optional). INSTALLATION You should have the following files: LANGTUT.EXE - Anna's Language Tutor. LANGTUT.DOC - This file. LANGTUT.OVR - Various parts of the Tutor. LANGTUT.CFG - Configuration file for the program. LANGTUT.UTX - File containing text for interface, which may be altered. *.LTC/*.LT? - Files containing data for languages. The only files needed are "LANGTUT.EXE", "LANGTUT.OVR", and any language files (i.e., with ".lt?" extension) that you wish to use. Other files may be in existence, including files with the extensions of: ".utx" - Text provided for the program by a user. ".xtc" - Index for a language file. ".f16" \ ".f14" |- Files containing font data ".f08" / USAGE To start Anna's Language Tutor, type in LANGTUT at the DOS prompt and hit [ENTER]. After a few seconds, the opening screen should appear, showing the copyright notice and date. When the program is ready, it will prompt the user for a key press. Pressing any key (or clicking the left mouse button) will start the program. 2 Main Screen The Main Screen, from which the entire program is based, will appear. It will be immediately replaced (temporarily) by the Language Selection Screen, so the user may select a language unit to use. Selecting a Language Depending on the installation, one of two screens are possible for selecting a language. To select a language, the user moves the cursor, using the mouse or keypad, through the directory. Only files with the extension ".ltc" and directories will be shown. Once a user has chosen the language they wish to work with by pressing [ENTER] or clicking the left mouse button, the screen will disappear and be replaced by the main screen as the language is loaded. If the configuration is set for the second screen, a large, revolving globe will appear. As the user moves through the list of languages, they may appear in red on the globe on where they are primarily spoken. Using a mouse The Tutor has mouse interface capability (or MIC) as well as keyboard (KEY) control. Almost everything that can be done by the KEY can be done by the MIC. For the most part, the MIC is the same as other MIC programs. The top line of the main screen contains info about the Tutor. The second line is the Main Menu. On the left side is a small globe, beneath which is a list of items to select from. On the right side is information about the program or whatever the designer of this language unit has decided to include. On the bottom line is a line of text to prompt the user and a real time clock. Main Menu GETTING ABOUT Press [F10] to access the Main Menu (second line of the screen). From here, a user may select from one of the choices below: Files Under this menu a user may 1) Select a language: The language selection reappears and allows the user to choose a new language unit to use. The one they choose will replace the current one loaded in the Tutor automatically. 2) Exit the Tutor: This option allows the user to end this session with the Tutor and return to DOS. 3 Drills Under this menu a user may 1) Sound: The user may select whether to turn the sound for the drills on or off. 2) Timer: The user may select the time limit for a drill (0-99). Selecting a time of 0 means the drills will not be timed, which is useful for users who are just getting started in learning a language. 3) Questions: Sets and override for the number of questions to be asked during a drill. A setting of 0 will disable the override, and the normal number of questions will be asked. Translations Under this menu a user may 1) Change options: These are the toggle switches for the translation screen. Turning these on or off determine what will be shown during the reading of a translation. ([ENTER] turns ALL of them on or off on the actual translation screen. Globe Under this menu a user may 1) Change speed: This selects the globe rotation speed. Help Under this menu a user may 1) Help: Get information on how to use the Tutor. 2) About LANGTUT: Read about the Tutor itself. 3) About Abavagada: Read about the company who wrote the Tutor. Print Using this command, a user may, in certain areas of the Tutor, print out information to a printer or a file. Areas that may have things printed from are: 1) Printing reading material: In the reading sections, whatever text is currently open for reading is printed. 2) Printing drills: During a drill, using this option will print a drill with the same features as the one being used. However, note that the printed drill will not be the same as the one currently being asked (since each question is chosen randomly as it is asked), and the printed version will also contain an answer key. 3) Printing translations: The full text of the untranslated text will be printed exactly as it appears on the translation screen. 4 Selecting Items On the left side of the Main Screen is a list of items from which a user may select from. Upon selecting an item (by pressing [ENTER] or double- clicking the left mouse button), a different feature of the Tutor will start, based on how the language unit has been designed. The different features are described here in detail. Submenus For each item from the list of items of the Main Screen, a single submenu may exist. An item may then be selected from this submenu the same as the from the item list. NOTE: There can only be ONE submenu for each item of the item list, and submenus DO NOT have submenus. CREATING YOUR OWN DATA Since this is a shareware version, the manual for creating your own modules has not been included. Upon registering, you will receive a digital copy (diskette or e-mail) of the technical reference manual, which goes into the details necessary to create and edit your own language modules. Readings Using These are the basic study areas. Histories, stories, vocabulary, phrases, or anything else that a person must read and study can be put in this format. It will appear in a scrolling window for the user to read at their own pace. Drills Using This is where the user may practice what he has learned. This section will show the person so many items, each with certain, possible answers, and the person must choose which they feel is correct. The program keeps score. From the Main Menu, time may also be selected for how long each item is viewed, 0 being not timed at all. Pressing F5 or clicking on the pointer in the upper right corner of the drill screen will change the size of the drill screen. Translations Using Once a user feels confident in reading and understanding the language, they may practice their skills in this area. A bunch of text is shown, and the user may read through it at their leisure. If they come to a word they need help on, they may easily view the meaning, pronunciation, any notes, and a translation of the phrase or sentence it is used in. Pressing "=" will bring up a complete translation for the user to read. 5 Adventures Using These are like a cross between translation screens and drills. In this area, the user reads a text in the language they are learning, much like the translation section. They can view any words meanings, pronunciations, notes, and phrase translation. At the end of the text are a list of choices, which the user may select from by pressing a number, 1-5. This will then move the user to another text, with more options, and so on. The contents of an adventure can be anything from a simple conversation to an exploration of Paris or New York City or Rome. Memory Game Using The memory game is a unit for training connections between vocabulary words in a not-drill fashion. In a normal game of memory, a deck of cards is dealt out, face down. The players then take turns flipping over pairs of cards. If the cards match, the player gets to turn over another pair. If they don't match, the pair is turned face down again and the next player has a turn. In the Tutor version, a match is between the same words in one language and the other. For example, the word "bear" would match the word "orso" in Italian. In the upper left corner of the screen are a few commands the user may also use to affect the game. The first is [ESC], which will end the game at any time and return to the main screen. Next is the [NEW] command (KEY: N), which restarts that particular round of the game, resetting the scores to before the match was started. The third is a sound toggle (KEY: S). When it is selected and sound has been off, a beep will be heard, indicating that the sound is now on. Selecting it again will turn the sound off. Verbalizer Using The Verbalizer is a unit for viewing verbs in their various conjugations and tenses. Using the up and down arrows, or clicking on their mouse equals on the screen, will move through the list of verbs. Using the left or right arrows (or screen equals) will change the tenses of the current verb. Phraser Using The Phraser is a unit for allowing the user to practice building phrases from a group of vocabulary words. A phrase in the users native tongue will appear, and they must then select from a list of words in the new language and construct the phrase properly. They may add and delete words, edit the order the words are in, and clear the entire phrase out to start again. When the phrase is built to what the user believes is correct, they may then "submit" it for grading. The Tutor will then show them the correct answer, what words they missed, what words they added in, and give them a grade in percentage correct. 6 Wheel Game Using This is another game which can help with vocab recognition and spelling. It is based loosely on the American game "Wheel of Fortune". Players take turns spinning the wheel and guessing a letter of the puzzle. If they correctly guess a letter, then they earn the number of letters that appear times the number on the wheel, and they get another turn. If they guess incorrectly, they lose the amount on the wheel and it is the next players turn. The winner(s) is the one who has scored the most once the puzzle is solved. Use the space bar to spin the wheel. Pressing a key while the wheel is spinning will stop it. Pressing "?" will give the player a hint to the puzzle. Pressing "S" will toggle the sound affects on and off. Pressing "ESC" will end the entire game and return to the Tutor. 7 CUSTOMIZATION Interface ESL To provide the Tutor with a truly multilingual adaptability, the text of the interface itself may be altered by the user. For example, for a French speaker learning Italian, not only may a French-Italian language unit be created, but all of the text for the Tutor may be translated into French, so English is not required to use the program. This may be of special interest to English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, for with this, they may create language units from a foreign language INTO English. Therefore, the student can study in their own language without leaving their own. To do this, the language unit designer need only to copy the file "LANGTUT.UTX" to a file for their unit with the extension ".UTX". For example, to create a unit to teach English to Italians, for which the language unit is called "ITAL-ENG.LTC", copy "LANGTUT.UTX" to "ITAL- ENG.UTX". Then, simply translate all of the text in quotes in the "ITAL- ENG.UTX" file to Italian. Fonts Many languages use alphabets different from the Latin alphabet, for which a PC is usually using. For this reason, users of EGA/VGA monitors may create their own fonts to use in the Tutor. Future Watch OTHER PROGRAMS: In the future, I want to combine this program with some others I am working on, so as to have a whole "Cultural Machine". This would allow anyone to view timelines, histories, pictures, maps; hear music, language, and sounds from different world cultures; study languages, customs, beliefs, etc; and just about anything else that might help people to learn about the world we live in. I encourage anyone to send me their feelings about what I have said, comments (criticisms or suggestions) on this program, or any help they might have to offer to me: Abavagada Software Erik Zidowecki RR 2 Box 279 Litchfield, ME 04350 USA mycroft709 @ AOL REGISTERING Also, remember that registrations of $10 dollars or more will receive the "Anna's Language Tutor Technical Reference Manual", which will go into great detail about how to create your own lanuage modules for use with the tutor. See the included form "REGISTER.FRM".