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| From E-Learning V |
Fig.1. My computer is doing everything in French
Google now offers me search results in both English and French. Clicking on Wikipedia offered me the choice of selecting results that are only in French; I did this, with some trepidation as the change in what it offers as a result. Perhaps the unpredictability of it will do more good than harm. All the little instructions you get to surf the web are also in French now. At a glance you can see that generally a single word in English becomes a multi-syllable in French, or a phrase. I'll also find that in France the default would be the English anyway. I remember how, working in TV, no one said 'magnetescope' instead of 'video', for example.
I'm now forced to read in French and consequently obliged frequently to look up a word or a grammatical construction.
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| From E-Learning V |
Fig.2. Google Translate
I turn to Google Translate by default. I'd have this open and live on a Smart Watch if I could. With an earpiece giving me the word or phrase in whichever language I required. On its way?
In an instant, at the point of need, I have what I hazzard is an accurate translation; I'm talking about a single word, or a short phrase. Any doubt and I play around with the English translation then see how Google gives me that in French then call on buried memory banks to tell me if that sounds right.
'Le dos' is NOT how to describe the back of a house, for example.
So, I'm getting what I wished for. Will this however translate into a renewed confidence to both speak and write the language?
That's the plan.
Trouble with Java and OU Live
The L120 Student Forum on problems with JAVA now runs to over 45 responses. I don't need to tear my hair out, I can feel it curling up and dying in horror at the thought of having to sort out why my MAC and or Google Chrome are incompatible with JAVA because of the OS 7 operating system. My hope is that I can jump ship and use my wife or son's PC. I do not fancy having to delete OS 7 and reactivate OS 6, then use Safari, still to find that I cannot do the interactive exercises in Session 1, or take part in an OU Live session.
Keeping my learning French from my wife will prove trickier if I am at her computer speaking in French checking my pronounciation. I'm unsure my teenage son will want me anywhere near his computer: I'll ask.
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| From E-Learning V |
Fig.3. Rosetta Stone. Brilliant for fixing pronunciation and accents
Or I skip those bits. I've had a year using Rosetta Stone which has a considerable amount of accent and pronunciation software.