Archive
How to use visual instead of aural cues during a Sanako oral proficiency exam
- This exam file has been authored with the Sanako Study 1200 TBA:authoring tool. It is displayed from the Sanako tutor application:
- images on a projection screen connected to the teacher computer,
- aural portion through the tutor-controlled Sanako student player and headsets.
- To protect the integrity and allow for reuse of the exam, only the initial instruction, example and collection of the results of an exam with visual cues are shown in this screencast
.
Protected: Sanako Study 1200 Final oral exam for advanced Business Spanish: A Job interview
Installing support for non-western languages in Windows XP
- You do not have them if your control panel / regional and language options looks unchecked like this:
- you need your Windows XP install disk
- The installer is not smart enough to find the i386 folder, nor to find all files around it.
- Just point the installer to the directory manually where you located the file in question.
- The initial directory it is lookiong for is /i386/lang. The 2nd directory it is looking for is /i386.
- Additional complication: files in the install source are compressed, and their filename is altered (e.g. “.ex_” instead of “.exe”). So it is “Go figure”.
- Hm, I could have sworn this was the first thing I did here. Are downgrades being slipstreamed? I hope I did this now for the last time. Update: No, I did not…
Independent study with free language learning materials from the FSI?
The Foreign Service Institute language learning materials – consisting of scanned documents and digitized audio of multiple courses per language – were still a heavily-advertised resource when I visited the Defense Language Institute in Monterey in 2006.
It is nice to see these resources be made available for free. It is also nice to see the progress that has been made not only in technological adaptation of textbook learning materials since these materials were made available (post WW II?).
This, however, comes at a cost. If you shun it, and do not take a course that works which requires (and entitles you to the use of) a textbook, here are easily accessibleviewable learning materials for a large set of languages, including many LCTL: Amharic, Arabic, Bulgarian, Cambodian, Cantonese, Chinese, Chinyanja, Czech, Finnish, French, Fula, German, Greek, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Igbo, Italian, Japanese, Kirundi, Kituba, Korean, Lao, Lingala, Luganda, Moré, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Shona, Sinhala, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Twi, Vietnamese, Yoruba.
The Forums , however seem to indicate that not too many still use these options. The transformation into a (technologically superficially) more modern format here is limited to very few languages and courses (and crashed my web browser).
I2speak.com: Web-based IPA Keyboard
The Sciweavers Team announces http://www.i2speak.com: “an online Smart IPA Keyboard that lets you quickly type IPA phonetics without the need to memorize any symbol code. For every Roman character you type, a popup menu displays a group of phonetic symbols that share the same sound or shape beneath typed character. Use arrow keys to select the proper symbol then hit the Enter button. I2Speak also supports the following features:
1. The Sampa English Keyboard lets you type English phonetics using Roman characters according to SAMPA (Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet) rules.
2. The IPA English Keyboard provides you with a full English phonetics keyboard. Press the symbol of interest using a suitable input device.
3. You can type directly on your physical keyboard or on the virtual on-screen keyboard using a suitable input device such as mouse or touch screen device.
4. You can change the keyboard symbols by selecting another layout from the list box located above the virtual keyboard.
5. For every keyboard layout, more symbols can be displayed by pressing the CAPS Lock.
6. When you hover the mouse over an English phonetic button, a slick tooltip will show some example English words.
7. You can save typed phonetics as an MS-Word file by clicking the Save button, copy them to clipboard using the Copy button, or post them to Twitter, Facebook, etc. by clicking the desired button.”
How to use a drawing tablet and Windows XP writing pad IME to write Japanese and Mandarin characters with autosuggest
- Our small group work spaces each now have a Wacom Bamboo drawing tablet installed.
- You can use these tablets in conjunction with the Windows XP writing pad IME to input Mandarin/Kanji character strokes and receive autosuggest options you can pick you character from which make not only writing faster, but also reward you for remembering your characters, expose you to more and help you identify the correct one from a list of options.
- Here is what the Windows XP writing pad IME and Wacom tablet looks like in action:
(behind the pen: our Japanese tutor). - Here is how to access Windows XP Japanese IME keyboard and handwriting:
- Open the application you want to write in, e.g. MS Word (the language input option is specific to the current window and defaults to”English-US international” in the LRC if you open a new window).
- In the taskbar, in the language toolbar section, select Japanese or Chinese or Korean.
- If only the language identifier is showing in the language toolbar, right-click on it and choose “Show additional icons”
- Select as input method for the chosen language from icon “Options” or “Tools”” , the “IME pad” / “Handwriting”
- Prerequisites
- you need to have the handwriting IME installed for Japanese or Chinese or Korean in Control Panel / Regional and Language Options / Text Input, and East Asian language support).
- For simplified Chinese, the IME Pad may not be checked to be displayed by default. Access the Tools icon menu to check it.
- For both simplified and traditional Chinese, if checked, the IME Pad becomes a separate top-level ion in the language bar.
- Some screenshots may help:
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Other ways to find help
If you cannot find it here, look there: 5,500 Language-Learning Links and Programs for learning or teaching 150 languages
Shortcuts:Our Lists, Our Maps, LRC Staff Moodle Site,LRC Project Moodle Site, 49erexpress, UNCC Moodle, Student Recordings: s:claslcslrcsanakostudent
Learning usage samples: Sanako oral exam, Kaltura webcam presentation, Dictation with speech recognition, Sanako written exam, Chinese and Japanese interactive stroke-order practice
Test the Sanako Installer, Webbrowser Popup Konfigurator for XP, or Windows7, faster LRC TeacherPC Log-in Let MS facilitate diacritics writing by installing for you US-International keyboard layout
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