Visual Understanding Environment is created by Tufts University as “a concept and content mapping application, developed to support teaching, learning and research and for anyone who needs to organize, contextualize, and access digital information”. They succeeded in making a Java-based program that runs on most operating systems and allows great creativity in brainstorming and visual organisation of material.

Features

With VUE you can:

• Make mind maps and charts
• Format easily and annotate items
• Use layers
• Analyse charts
• Add semantic relations
• Share your work
• Export in several image formats and PDF (the latter is usually available only in commercial apps)
• Map the content dynamically and use “outside” sources
• Make presentations

Speech production process "mapped" in VUE (Adapted from Lever)

This just a beginning, and for the full list of the features visit the VUE feature page. What we particularly like and wish to mention here is the “presentation mode”: by creating “pathways” (the order in which nods/items are trigged) users can “replay” the path in full screen. This, together with annotations allows seamless presentations, just like in the Power Point. Even without annotations and keywords users can have rudimentary presentations.

Other mindmapping software

We discovered VUE just recently. For some time we used XMind, but we did not like it because it requires paid version for some usable export options. The chance was then given to FreeMind, also a very good application, but we did not like the interface. Office applications not being suitable for mind maps we ventured into Wikipedia discovery – and found VUE.

The VUE homepage lists many tutorials, and that is where you can download this great program.

Related posts:

1. KVocTrain – free vocabulary training the Linux way
2. BBC Teaches Languages – For Free
3. Babbel.com – language learning platform

Stand-alone app

WordWeb is stand-alone application. You can download it from the official site, install and use without internet connection. It comes with WordNet database created by Princeton University. The database itself is very good, and you will rarely need any other explanations. However, if there is a need, upgrade is available for additional money.

Synonyms, antonyms, types – widening and narrowing meaning

WordWeb Pro is not only a dictionary, but thesaurus as well: very easy to use synonym, antonym finder. Here is the example for word “site”:

WordWeb tabs with different dictionary content

This screenshot illustrates many things. We can see that “site” is pronounced similarly as “cite” and “sight”. Tab type of lists words like “computer”, “position”, “parcel of land”, while tab types contains, amongst others, words “active site”, “camp”, “ground zero”. The first tab lists less specific words, second most specific words, so you can narrow or widen your search. Of course, there is a list of synonyms, in this case “internet site”, “place”, “website” and so on.

IPA transcription not available in default dictionary

There is one thing I feel represents major drawback: there is no IPA transcription. WordWeb with its default database (Princeton) displays nonstandard phonetic transcription (so “site” is /sIt/). I have not used Oxford or Chambers English Dictionary with WordWeb, which are also available as additional purchases, so I don’t know which transcription is used there. However, on brighter side: most of the headwords have pre-recorded pronunciation, in British and American English,  available as separate (free) download.

Language treasure in tabs

In other searches, WordWeb will display different tabs, depending on the search:

Synonyms Words which mean the same in some context
e.g. close is a synonym of shut.
Antonyms Words meaning the opposite in some context
e.g. big is an antonym of little
See Also Mostly related word forms and compounds
e.g. cut gives see also cut off, cutter, etc.
Type of Shows less specific words.
e.g. a comedy is a type of play
Types Shows more specific words.
e.g. flower has daisy as one of its types
Parts Shows words for part of an object
e.g. tree is one of the parts of a forest
Part of Shows words for a collection or the whole
e.g. bumper is a part of a car
Similar Words with meanings that are close
e.g. big is similar to huge

(Taken from WordWeb help file.)

We used WordWeb’s built-in anagram option to create a puzzle: “New meshing ‘twixt cowl”. Can you solve it? Hint: see the address bar!

Windows integration, options

The program integrates nicely with Windows. Just highlight a word and press shortcut keys to pop up the definitions. If the explanation is not enough, you can click on Wikipedia tab, which will show proper page on world’s most used reference site. It is also possible to use full text search, solve anagrams, add own definitions and create word lists (great for learning). You can use it with Microsoft Word and other processors.

Optional dictionaries

If default dictionary does not suite your needs, you can buy additional ones:

Oxford Dictionary of English
Chambers Dictionary of the English Language
Chambers Thesaurus
New Oxford American Dictionary
Australian Oxford English Dictionary
Canadian Oxford English Dictionary

It really is great dictionary, thesaurus – and more

If you are looking for great dictionary / synonym / antonym tool – you should try WordWeb Pro. Indeed, there are many free sites out there, and word definitions are easy to find, but you have to have internet connection and be patient with all those ads. WordWeb Pro works offline, with powerful dictionary tool just a shortcut away.

Free version is available here.

Related posts:

1. MSDict Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary (PC) – reviewed
2. Top Five English Phonetic (Phonemic) Charts
3. Beolingus – Great Online German Dictionary

Internet is hefty media and we have witnessed its power unleashed in vast world of social sites, visited by millions of users daily. They are bases on new concept called Web 2.0 and introduce great amount of pictures, sounds, videos, comments and communication. Some of the concepts are used in Bosuu.com and we are here to give you an overview of how this service can help you learn new language.

Busuu.com is created as an online meeting place around interactive courses, lessons and exercises where you can talk and collaborate with natives speakers.

Let there be Tree

When you register you will have your own Learning Garden that list all languages you learn as trees which grow gradually as you progress through the courses. It is a great visual tool that motivates younger learners but those mature as well. You will be rewarded with small tokens that symbolize your progress. It is also possible to take a look of other peoples’ threes and see their progress.

Languages on Busuu Tree – French, Italian, German

Four languages are available at this moment: French, Italian, German and English and the staff announced plans for adding more, even the elusive Busuu language the site is named after.

For each language there are several ways to go through the lessons. You can do them one by one, by choosing the level of difficulty or by selecting the grammar sections or topics that interests you.

Busuu main page with Language Tree

New words are presented with an image which helps in acquiring, especially for visual types of learners. Of course, you can hear the word spoken by native speaker, and if you are a premium user, you can hear it in the context (an utterance). This will greatly help you master your pronunciation and get sentence rhythm.

Premium users can download lessons in PDF, print it and work offline – this is not available for common users.

It would be more interesting and of more benefit to have different lessons for each language: here the content is the same, only in different language. This negatively affects motivation in some users, wile others will appreciate familiar context. However, acquiring foreign language is also learning about culture and differences, and users all over the world would appreciate diversity in this globalized society. It would be very refreshing to learn about Maria from Sicily or Amelie and Jacques from Paris…

Test and mistakes

After the vocabulary training and short texts you can work on tests and see how well you are doing. The things that you find more difficult will be saved, so you can review later.

The name of the site comes from the Busuu language of Cameroon, which according to an ethnological study from the 80ies is only spoken by 8 people.

Multiple-choice comprehension test, one of many test teypes on Busuu

Hidden value and native speakers

One of the best things about Busuu is the interaction between native speakers and learners of foreign language. This “linguistic productivity” and communication is essential for successful acquisition of a new language.

In some lessons learners have to write on a topic in the language they are learning. This is not daunting as it seems because useful phrases are available and “students” must be creative and work on their own. Learners’ written work is then available for native speakers to edit and show mistakes. This great interaction can further be enhanced by voice chat and webcams – chat windows even contain useful phrases for conversation.

We really hope that this interactive “native speakers – learners” system will further be improved because of all its potential.

Go for it!

Would we suggest Busuu.com? Definitely. Go and meet people, share views and talk – in foreign language. Gauge your progress in Busuu Garden, and let friendly commnity of native speakers help you in your learning.

Busuu.com is a free online community for learning languages. Users have access to audio-visual learning material covering several topics. Additionally, language skills can be directly improved together with native speakers from around the world. Users connect via an integrated video-chat with other users of the community while at home. Each user is not only “student” of a foreign language but also a “teacher” of his own mother tongue. The start-up was founded in Madrid at the beginning of 2008. The company has been nominated Official Project of the UNESCO during the International Year of Languages. - from Busuu.com.

Related posts:

1. Babbel.com – language learning platform

Listening problems in EFL

What are the problems regarding listening in language acquisition? We will use the list from an article Barriers to Acquiring Listening Strategies which states that major listening problems are:

1. Lack of control over the speed at which speakers speak ,
2. not being able to get things repeated,
3. the listener’s limited vocabulary,
4. failure to recognize the “signals,”
5. problems of interpretation,
6. inability to concentrate, and
7. established learning habits.

Benefits of using Reader and recorded narration

By using reading materials and recorded narration, learners can address some of the problems. For example, the learners can gradually train themselves to read faster, they can repeat the recording when they like and as often as they like. Further, learners are not under pressure to know unknown words, as they can at their own time work on the text and then again on the listening.

A CD accompanying Macmillan Reader

The listening material is very important in dealing with the proper pronunciation, stress, accent and sentence rhythm. This is great way to acquire pronunciation, especially if learners can record themselves and then compare their own reading with the narration on the CD.

Introducing Macmillan Readers Series

Without any wish to promote it as the best available, we will in short describe Macmillan Readers series. The series consists of booklets with CD that contains recorded material spoken by professional actors. It is published at six levels, and each level has structure and vocabulary that suits learners’ ability. More difficult words are explained within text, or shown in the pictures. According to the publisher, the texts are “retold versions of popular classic and contemporary titles as well as specially written stories.”

Back cover of the book indicating a level

The number of words is different at each level:

Starter, about 300 basic words
Beginner, 600;
Elementary, 1100;
Pre-intermediate, 1400;
Intermediate, 1600 and
Upper, about 2200 basic words.

The readers contain a glossary and comprehension exercises as well. You can visit Macmillan Readers
on a bookstore site for further information. Feel free to suggest similar products in the comments bellow.

Related posts:

1. Phonetic Reader – Improve Your Pronunciation and Prosody
2. Babbel.com – language learning platform
3. Top Five English Phonetic (Phonemic) Charts

After registration you will be welcomed by uncluttered home page from where you can choose tutorials and exercises. Because Babbel.com is a modern site, it is loaded with pictures and good voice samples (“listening material”) by native language speakers.

Vocabulary sets and learning unknown words

Here you can learn words related to a specific topic, such as meeting people, art, weather, food, music etc. After choosing the vocabulary you are guided through the tutorial in several stages. The site will present you in more than one way the words you are learning, and after that you can solve simple and amusing test. If you opt in for the e-mail notifications, you will get a remainder to review your more challenging words.

Learn words related to specific topic

Learn – Real-life language, Grammar and Exercises

Steadily growing number of tutorials available in Learn section of the site is useful in getting an overview of basic grammar and in seeing how the language functions in real life. The section is presented through mini lessons which consist of language material (audio and pictures) and, again, different tests where you can see how successful you are acquiring your new language.

Interactive language lessons (Tutorials)

Community and Language Learning

The site is still being developed, but community plays one of the major parts. You can see what users are online, what languages they are learning and so on. There is an option to get in touch with “learning partner” and improve the learning by working together. However, it is obvious that this needs more work, from technical aspect and available content. It would be good to have voice and video chat, and more multimedia content to motivate learners.

To connect with other users you can also use Chat and Board, available in French, English, Italian, German and Italian (at the moment when this article is being written).

Language learning platform with potential

Babbel.com is a platform with great potential, and being free it is worth trying. We hope that the team behind the site will work more on interactivity within context. It is obvious that learners need more exposure to the language, more content with target language, especially topics related to the culture of the countries where the foreign language is spoken. Also, it would be great to see how potentials of community can be used not only in an interactive part, but in the creation of the content as well.

At the moment, Babbel.com is great for intermediate users that wish to refresh their basic knowledge of foreign language, but we hope to see more content with in-depth language exposure that will benefit all learners.

Beolingus is not just another online dictionary with more ads than headwords; it is full-scale reference with useful examples. The project is created by the Chemnitz University of Technology and it has been online since 1995. According to the site, Beolingus offers 396,000 word translations German-English, 112,000 word translations German-Spanish, 42,000 word translations German-Portuguese. We should also mention 37,000 synonyms of German words and more than 14,000 English, 6,500 German, and 10,000 Spanish quotes and aphorisms. Many of these great things are based on other projects and seamlessly incorporated into the site.

Beolingus Dictionary - Homepage and features

What we really like and what we find particularly useful is German-English example sentences and German / American pronunciation. This makes definitions more interesting and easier to remember; and there are no uncertainties about the pronunciation.

Example search explained - sehen

However, this is not all. Beolingus offers:

• Special subjects – Expressions and words related to many specific areas such as Holidays, Family Members, Love, Games, Grammar…
• Grammar reference – simple Preposition guide and link to another project
• Abbreviations

Beolingus will assist you with German spelling, make your search easier with use of wildcards and offer an easy way to enter umlauts, in case you do not have German keyboard layout installed. You can even embed it in your own website or place in on Google Homepage, or maybe open it in small window so you can have more space for your work. Two thumbs up!

The address is http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/

Related posts:

1. MSDict Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary (PC) – reviewed
2. BBC Teaches Languages – For Free

The visitors will appreciate Steps, full-scale multimedia language course for free. For example, Italian Steps is available as 12 weeks course grouped around everyday communication topics. Every lesson is summerised with useful revisions in form of Challenges.

A language test: multiple choice.

Welcome in Italian

No matter whether you would like to refresh you foreign language knowledge, learn new stuff or just for kicks sound Greek – BBC Languages is not to be missed easily because of its linguistic richness and modern approach.

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1. KVocTrain – free vocabulary training the Linux way

Update: KvocTrain is no longer maintained. Initially, it was part of KDE Education Software, but it was later replaced by Parley or KWordWiz.

The installation of KVocTrain on Ubutu Linux was very simple: you will find the program in Add/Remove Software, under Education section. After the installation, run the program from Applications > Education. A vocabulary trainer is not useful without a dictionary, and luckily, the program allows download of some pretty useful dictionaries.

KVocTrain supports many dictionary types

In the above example, words for the SAT preparation are installed. This dictionary contains over 5000 entries the program uses to test your knowledge. However, before the testing begins, you must set the number of entries per lesson (Vocabulary > Assign Lessons). There is one more required option which tells the program how many lessons to display in a single session. Go to Settings > Configure KVocTrain > Threshold > Lesson settings.

KVocTrain allows different types of “flash-cards”: multiple choice, synonyms, antonyms, entering definitions, part of speech, etc. However, this is available if it is supported by a dictionary you have downloaded (or created yourself). In our example, I have selected Learning > Word > Create multiple choice > From definition:

Multiple choice questions

Or, you can make questions that require typing in of the answer:

KVocTrain - Random Query

Aside from use as a language learning application, KVocTrain can be used to devise non-language  tests, such as for music or anatomy (there are tests ready for download in the program). With high-quality dictionaries easily available in the program’s options this software is a great tool to improve your language.

Get KVocTrain from Add/Remove Dialogue in your Linux distribution, or visit KVocTrain Homepage.

Useful links:

• KVocTrain Homepage on Sourceforge.net
• KVocTrain on The KDE Education Project

Related posts:

1. MSDict Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary (PC) – reviewed

1. Macmillan Phonetic Chart

This tool is provided to us by Macmillan Publishers and we have selected it as one of the best phonetic charts online. The outlay is very simple and straightforward. After clicking on a symbol, the phoneme is articulated, followed by a full word in which the phoneme occurs.  Macmillan Phonetic Chart is available as offline content, in form of a simple program that comes in two flavors. The first version displays the phonemes in small window. The second, on the other hand, uses full screen, which is simply perfect for presentation (realia) in a class. One of the things we would like to see is written form of spoken example word. The software is free for use.

2. Phonemic Chart by British Council

The forerunner on our list is Phonemic Chart by British Council. This simple software uses clear outlay with nicely grouped and uncluttered vowels, consonants and diphthongs. After clicking on a phonetic symbol, the sound of the phoneme is played.

Phonetic Chart by Macmillan

We think that written word in which the phoneme is used or word read after the phoneme (like in Macmilan’s Chart)  would be more natural than isolated symbol. We place this tool on the second place because of its simplicity and the fact that download versions are available both for MS Windows and Mackintosh.

Chart by British Council

3. Sounds of English by BBC Learn English

The third place is reserved for BBC English. The most basic of all in the list, this tool is opened in a browser window and it is not available offline as a separate application. The chart itself is simple with clearly articulated phonemes. We have decided to select it because of quality content that is available on the same place if you decide to hang around – pages named Pronunciation tips. BBC is in the top of the game, with great lessons on English pronunciation. Each of the sounds is explained in a separate lesson, accompanied by video content. Another great site from BBC.

Chart by BBC Learn English

4. The Phonetic Chart by EFL Productions

On this site the phonemes are presented within the words, and isolated phonemes cannot be heard. It is great companion to previously mentioned charts, because it is possible to hear the phoneme in the context. However, the content is available online only. If you wish to use it on your computer offline, you will have to buy it. It would be good to mention that the software offers simple pronunciation quiz and phonetic diagram (both available online). The downside is somewhat strange voice recordings and not-so-friendly design for your eyes.

Phonemes by EFL Productions

5. The Sounds of English by Antimoon.com

This page is the least interactive of all listed here. When a user clicks on a word, the pronunciations are played as mp3 recording (whole words are read, and not the phonemes). We decided to include the site here because it offers American and British versions of the pronunciation. To more advanced students, extra explanations in plain English will be of use and great introduction to International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The content is available online only, unless you are ready to save each file individually.

This closes our list for time being. Do you know of any great online phonetic charts? Feel free to share in the comments.

Use

MSDict Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary is compact software contained in 11 MB installation file. After the setup, small window will await you, divided into three sections. On the left pane headwords are listed, while right one contains the details. Above are navigation and filtering buttons that list previous or next entry or filter the content. Unfortunately, in order to print the content you will have to use copy/paste and a text editor, since printing is not implemented. Browsing the menus reveals options we have already seen in similar products, like “always on top” or “load on startup”.

Automatic word search when new content is discovered on the clipboard is included and functional – to some extent. This “Automatic Clipboard Translate” is likely to cause the frustration, because of the way it works. Upon copying an Italian word, the software looks it up and marks it in the list, but in order to see the definitions and explanation, you have to click on the headword. We expect that the program automatically lists the definitions. Needless to say that this is poorly done and it will prove to be of little use: one might as well paste the word directly in the software, which makes clipboard monitoring needless, and a whole process waste of time.

Content

MSDict Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary is an Oxford dictionary. Users seeking, above all, quality reference will be pleased that the acclaimed publisher has yet another software edition. Even more, Mobile Systems offers Oxford dictionaries and reference software for several portable platforms (PalmOS, Pocket PC, Symbian etc.).

All headwords have stress notation within the word itself (for example: dizio’nario). While there is no pronunciation or IPA translation, there is a humble English and Italian pronunciation guide. It is minimal and thus good as a reference only. The explanations and meanings are formatted for legibility: part of speech is marked with bigger font and different color, Italian headwords and phrases are in bold, while abbreviations and notes are in gray italic.

The content covers “over 80,000 words and phrases, and over 100,000 translations” (quotation from the publisher’s site) which is great for this dictionary class, with the observation that more examples of usage would be welcome.

Technical overview

Surprisingly, technical realization of this dictionary is not very good. For a simple software like this, installation and settings should be flawless. Unfortunately, we have encountered issues on Windows XP SP2, where installation procedure fails to set up the program correctly for the users. During our testing, only the administrator could start the MSDict and load the Italian dictionary. We were also disappointed to see that the program does not offer basic learning aids, like bookmarks, wordlist or simple flashcards tool.

Good side of the thing is that MSDict is lightweight program that will not infest your computer with unwanted software.

Conclusion

Is this dictionary worth the money? It depends. If you are a beginner or an intermediate level learner of Italian language this type of dictionary is for you, but will you like the product? No doubt, Oxford stands as an authoritative reference, but is that enough for the software? We think that in terms of use and technical quality users deserve better products. The glitch with clipboard makes automatic search unusable, which slows down the work. This would be the biggest flaw of the MSDict Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary. We could also mention the inability of the program to look up correctly a word copied with surrounding space characters.

If you need good low-weight Italian e-dictionary by an established publisher because you are unable to use the Internet language resources, and in the same time you find looking up in printed editions too time consuming – buy this product. Our opinion is that you will be satisfied, especially if you do not deal with Italian language frequently.

Other uses might wish to try other products, especially until all bugs are resolved in this program and more functionality is added. If you consider the price and compare it with the program’s doubtful usability, you could try the original Oxford Pocket Dictionary which has richer extra content. We hope that Mobile Systems will continue to deliver good software, both for mobile devices and, of course, personal computers.

Links

MSDict Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary homepage (opens in new page).

Sceenshot of the main window