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A CD-ROM-based course designed for native speakers of Spanish that includes video and audio recordings, exercises, games, and a 350-page textbook to help learners improve listening comprehension, grammar, and writing skills. Like in its English-based counterpart, Learn to Speak English, each lesson begins with a setting and a dialog. The settings follow a visitor to the U.S. through customs, getting a hotel, exchanging money, to furnishing an apartment and shopping for food. The students can expand their study of the language presented in the settings and dialogs through the use of cultural notes, vocabulary study (hear the word, definitions, notes about usage), grammar notes, exercises (fill in the blank, sentence writing, scrambled sentences, listening dictation), pronunciation work (listen to the model pronunciation, record voice and play back), and a test of both grammatical and functional language knowledge. The Windows version uses speech-recognition technology to evaluate pronunciation on a scale of 'Tourist' to 'Native.' QuickTime movies show cultural points of interest in the US. System 7 or higher is required on the Macintosh version.
Pronunciation program based on contrastive analysis. Offers an all-languages version as well as specialized versions for Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish. "Vowels in Space" uses the device of an animated vowel space diagram with digital recordings of many example words to help the student sharpen English vowel pronunciation and perception. Selected contrasts are practiced in a number of interactive game settings, including puzzles, treasure hunts, image completion, space battles and simulated bowling. The program customizes instruction, adapting the instructional sequence to the user's skill level. Students can override the selection process and choose the contrasts they wish to work on themselves. A detailed log and a progress chart record work over time. The program can be used in self-study or instructor-led mode.
A set of 12 Heartsoft products, including Billiards 'n' Homonyms (vocabulary game), Bubblegum Machine (sight work with key words), Coin Changer (practice recognizing the value of coins and bills), Electric Math Chalkboard (uncover a picture by answering math questions correctly), Electric Coloring Book (keeps students within the lines), Great American States Race (social studies game about the US), Memory Master (concentration with letters and numbers), Reading Rodeo (literacy game), Sleuth Master (a mastermind game - guess the hidden 4-number code), Spinner's Choice (a version of Wheel of Fortune - guessing words or phrases in categories), Tommy the Time Turtle (practice in telling time), and Word Capture (wordsearch puzzles). The ESL version includes copies of each program in Spanish. Network/site license for $400 lets schools add copies as their needs grow.
Now part of Classworks, a comprehensive classroom management tool. This component is an interactive reading program with 48 stories on topics of interest to middle school aged children. The program include a student management system to track student progress through the lessons. Multilingual audio capability so that students can hear a translation of the text in any of eight different languages.
A creative writing CD-ROM, which lets you or your students write, direct, and play your own animated shows with talking characters. You select the scene, you direct the actors, you write the dialogue, you choose the music and special effects. You can screen it in the theater by clicking on the projector. There's even an Idea Machine which provides story starters, plot twists, and dialogue suggestions based on the scene you've chosen and the specific personalities of your characters. Uses computerized voices; sometimes you have to fiddle with spelling to get them to sound right. (SA) Formerly sold by Theatrix, it is good to see this title reappear.
Like its predecessor Hollywood, Hollywood High has students write and direct an animated show with talking characters. The settings and characters are high school-oriented, so this is more attractive to teens but less useful for adults than Hollywood. Students select the scene and characters, place and move the actors, write the dialogue, and choose the special effects. Because it uses synthesized rather than digitized voices, they can be odd. It's possible to tweak the spelling to improve the pronunciation, but the point of this is the dialogue among the learners creating the show, not the end result itself. This is not recommended as a listening skill builder, but it's a great tool for discussion at the computer. CD-ROM. Formerly sold by Theatrix, it is good to see this title reappear.
A suite of programs for creating exercises that will run using a web browser, either online or offline. Programs include JQuiz, to make multiple choice and short-answer quizzes; Jcloze, to create gap-filling exercises; JCross, to create crossword puzzles painlessly; JMix, for scrambled sentences; and JMatch, for matching exercises. Graphics and audio can be added easily. Menus (and content) can be in English or any of several other languages. The real power of the program is that it is so easy to create exercises that students can create them for each other. Version 6 includes the option of subscribing to a web-hosting service. A version with all the features, but limited in the number of items in an exercise, can be downloaded from the website. The full version is free of charge for those working for publicly-funded non-profit-making educational institutions, who make their pages available on the web.
Interactive multimedia software for workers in the Hotel Industry who want to improve their English. Go into different hotel departments and learn the language you need to perform your job successfully in English. Watch videos and hear dialogues showing typical hotel situations and interactions. Or, focus on specific language functions to facilitate correct language use and enrich your vocabulary. 5-CD-ROM set; titles can be purchased individually.
This program uses animation, sound, and graphics. Students learn the vocabulary with various exercises, then run the hotel. They need respond to requests from guests and send the appropriate person: room service, housekeeping, maintenance, or the bellhop.
Graphics, text, and sound are used in exercises and tests to help students learn the rooms of the house, furnishings for each room, and six prepositions of location. The HouseKey Activity requires the student to use the vocabulary to find five keys hidden in a house. Finding a key in one room allows access to the next. The program offers help with verb choice, prepositions, and spelling, and includes a glossary with sound.
Designed for adult learners. Topics include reading labels, menus, and job ads; managing money; working with want ads and job applications; and travel-related reading. Activities include crosswords and other puzzles. CD-ROM.
Topics include writing skills for resumes, employment forms, business letters, lists, memos, social security applications, bank account applications, and driver's licenses. Some voice instructions. Also offers an Internet link to useful websites. CD-ROM.
14-disk set of listening comprehension exercises running under HyperCard. Provides extensive sentence-level practice in listening to the types of speech that students are expected to comprehend in an academic setting. Learners listen to a question recorded in high-quality, digitized native speech and choose an appropriate graphic as the answer or type in the correct response. Textual reinforcement is presented only after the student has responded. Suitable for classroom work or independent study. In a laboratory setting, headsets are recommended. Questions require thought as well as language skill to answer correctly, making them more interesting than the usual listening practice.
14-disk set of listening comprehension exercises with extensive sentence-level practice. Focuses on the type of language students are expected to comprehend in an academic setting. Learners listen to a question (digitized recording), then choose an appropriate graphic or type in the correct response. Students see the text only after they have answered the question. Headsets are recommended in a lab setting.
A series of templates that teachers can customize easily for classroom use. Karaoke Conversations is high on the fun factor. They are available for download from http://edvista.com/claire/hypercard/templates.htm.
For people who have had trouble with HyperCard, this is extremely easy to use and requires only that you be able to point and click. You can produce programs to help your students in vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation (it has voice), lifeskills, reading, and writing.
Please click on an option below.