It's been quiet around here lately. I've had time on my hands, but I've been investing it in projects other than this blog. First, learning Arabic well demands hours of study each day. I had hoped I would learn quickly and naturally while in Jordan, but I'm finding it actually takes more deliberate effort than when I was at DLI. Second, I have never been satisfied with the flashcard software DLI uses, so I've been writing my own vocabulary management program that I think is far superior (see my previous geek project here). I'm designing it to benefit my fellow language students and make the language learning process easier, particularly for Arabic. I also want to showcase to the Department of Defense the value of grassroots, open-source development: that talented and creative individuals can sometimes match the capabilities of multimillion dollar government contractors, if the DOD can only find a way to harness them. I've been hard at work programming in my spare time and am hoping to release a working beta in the next couple months. Lastly, I'm a few chapters away from the finishing the novel I've been writing since the dawn of my time. My wife insists it's time I finally finish it. If it turns out to be any good, maybe I'll have some career options when the day comes that we all beat our swords into plowshares.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Quiet Around Here
It's been quiet around here lately. I've had time on my hands, but I've been investing it in projects other than this blog. First, learning Arabic well demands hours of study each day. I had hoped I would learn quickly and naturally while in Jordan, but I'm finding it actually takes more deliberate effort than when I was at DLI. Second, I have never been satisfied with the flashcard software DLI uses, so I've been writing my own vocabulary management program that I think is far superior (see my previous geek project here). I'm designing it to benefit my fellow language students and make the language learning process easier, particularly for Arabic. I also want to showcase to the Department of Defense the value of grassroots, open-source development: that talented and creative individuals can sometimes match the capabilities of multimillion dollar government contractors, if the DOD can only find a way to harness them. I've been hard at work programming in my spare time and am hoping to release a working beta in the next couple months. Lastly, I'm a few chapters away from the finishing the novel I've been writing since the dawn of my time. My wife insists it's time I finally finish it. If it turns out to be any good, maybe I'll have some career options when the day comes that we all beat our swords into plowshares.
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5 comments:
voice, voices?
If you're referring to the software, yes, voice is functional. You can attach .WAV clips to any word. I'm in the process of converting all the RapidRote sound files from the DLI curriculum and "1000 Media Words", but this is a tedious process that will require a couple hundred hours. Later I will try to add support for other audio formats.
No, I was answering the implicit question with answer on the other side of the card.
*Laugh*
Vote/votes. But voice works too
Is your software open source? Does it have sound? What platform are you using. I need something like it.
Try the following site for learning Classical Arabic
http://www.80percentwords.com/
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