Getting Started with Learning with Textsâ„¢
Author: Kyra Lee
Getting Started with
Learning with Textsâ„¢
Kyra Lee
Getting Started with Learning with Texts
Copyright © 2020 Learning with Texts The Apache® Software Foundation (ASF) owns all Apache-related trademarks, service marks, and graphic logos on behalf of our Apache project communities, and the names of all Apache projects are trademarks of the ASF. MySQL™ is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This documentation cannot be reproduced, distributed, or translated in full or in part by any means without our prior consent. For more information, address the creator of the application. We provide this document as is without warranty of any kind. Under no circumstances shall we be liable for any damages whatsoever, including and without limitation, damages resulting from business loss, which may arise from the use or inability to use this documentation.
Getting Started with Learning with Texts™ Copyright © 2020 Learning with Texts
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Getting Started with Learning with Texts
Preface This user guide is about Learning with Texts™ (Version 1.6.3), and is intended for new users who want get started and learn languages with the application. If you are using a different operating system, browser, device, or have configured your operating system differently than we have, some procedures, settings, or images that are shown in this text may differ from what you see on your screen. These differences should be very minor and should not affect your actions within the application. There are many methods for learning languages, but we believe that the best way to master a second language is to learn through texts. Learning with Texts™ is designed for the benefits of the public, which is why we remain an open-source and unlicensed software for everyone to use. The application is completely free and available to anyone with access to a computer and the Internet. Learning languages should be easy, so we made it easy. With Learning with Texts™, you can easily create and customize learning materials according to your preferences. You have full control over how you read, learn, and review with our application.
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Table of Contents Preface .............................................................................................................................. ii Chapter 1: Getting Started What is Learning with Texts? ....................................................................................... 1 Restrictions................................................................................................................... 1 The Home interface...................................................................................................... 2 Settings and Preferences.............................................................................................. 2 Configuring the display settings ............................................................................. 3 Chapter 2: Workspace and Languages Database....................................................................................................................... 5 Installing the LWT demo database ......................................................................... 5 Backing-up your database ...................................................................................... 5 Restoring your database......................................................................................... 5 Emptying your database......................................................................................... 6 Managing Languages .................................................................................................... 6 The My Languages interface................................................................................... 6 Navigating to the My Languages interface....................................................... 7 Deleting a language .......................................................................................... 7 Setting a “current� language ............................................................................ 7 Adding New Languages ................................................................................................ 7 The New Language interface .................................................................................. 8 To add a language with the Language Settings Wizard.................................... 9 To manually add a language............................................................................. 9 Chapter 3: Learn and Review About Texts ................................................................................................................ 11 The My Texts interface ......................................................................................... 11 Adding a text ........................................................................................................ 12 Reading a text....................................................................................................... 12 About Terms ............................................................................................................... 12 The My Terms interface ....................................................................................... 12
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Getting Started with Learning with Texts
Adding a term....................................................................................................... 13 About Tests................................................................................................................. 13 The Test interface................................................................................................. 13 Test formats ......................................................................................................... 13 Testing yourself on recognizing terms............................................................ 14 Testing yourself on recalling terms ................................................................ 15 Testing with a table ........................................................................................ 15 Appendix: Influences on the software Stephen Krashen’s principles in Second Language Acquisition.................................. 17 Steve Kaufmann’s LingQ system................................................................................. 17 Massive-Context Cloze Deletion................................................................................. 18 Index................................................................................................................................. 19
Kyra Lee
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Getting Started with Learning with Texts
Chapter 1: Getting Started What is Learning with Texts? Learning with Texts (hereinafter referred to as LWT) is a free and open source software designed for language learning. It allows you to learn a language by reading and listening to texts in that language. Its design was inspired by Stephen Krashen’s principles in Second Language Acquisition, Steve Kaufmann’s LingQ System, and Khatzumoto’s blog posts. See “Appendix: Influences on the software” on page 17. LWT allows you to learn multiple languages at the same time and gives you full control over how you want to learn them. You can import multiple dictionaries of your choice, choose the materials you wish to learn with, customize your workspace, parse and reparse texts, and test yourself according to your own pace and preferences. LWT allows you to import texts in languages you are learning. You can add, edit, and tag terms as you like. You can look up the word or sentence in a dictionary of your preference directly inside the application. This reduces the time and effort you need to define new vocabularies. You can also import audio clips to go with your texts and listen to them while you read.
Restrictions LWT does not support characters outside of the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP). Unicode characters that are U+10000 and higher are not supported. Most characters and symbols for modern languages are supported. Historical scripts, special symbols, and emoticons are not supported. The interface currently only supports English. However, you can set your first and second languages to any language. Your first language is reflected in the dictionary for translation. As of July 2020, LWT only supports web-based dictionaries and not printed ones. LWT is completely free, open source, and in the public domain. However, you need a local web server like Apache® or mySQL™ that resides in your machine to use the application.
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The Home interface The Home interface contains various menu items for easy navigation to other interfaces. Name
Function
Language
Lets you set a “current� language from your list of defined languages
My last Text
Shortcut to your last read text
My Texts
Brings you to view and edit imported texts
My Text Archive
Brings you to view and edit archived texts
My Text Tags
Brings you to view and edit your text tags
My languages
Shortcut to view and edit your languages
My Terms (Words and Expressions)
Brings you to view and edit your terms
My Term Tags
Brings you to view and edit your term tags
My statistics
Brings you to view statistics for your languages
Check a Text
Shortcut to checking a text for importation
Long Text Import
Shortcut to importing long text
Import Terms
Shortcut to importing terms
Backup/Restore/ Empty Database
Brings you to the Backup/Restore/Empty Database interface
Settings/ Preferences
Brings you to the Settings and Preferences interface
Help/Information
Brings you to the help page for information on LWT
Mobile LWT (Experimental)
Brings you to the LWT mobile application
Table 1-1: Home interface menu items
Settings and Preferences The Settings and Preferences interface has configuration options you can set based on your preferences. The overall look-and-feel of the application can be configured and may not appear as seen in this documentation depending on your setup, but general functionality remains the same. Since different devices have different default resolutions and display properties, the initial dimensions configuration may not appear properly. You can configure the dimensions of the Read and Test interfaces according to your needs. You can change how terms, sentences, and texts are displayed. You can also change the waiting time for the display of tests and their related messages.
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Figure 1-1 shows the Settings and Preferences interface. The groups you can configure are listed in the left column; descriptions of the properties for configuration are listed in the middle column; and the values of the configurations are listed in the right column. The groups framed in blue are configurations for the Read interface, and the groups framed in red are configurations for the Test interface. The values showing in Figure 1-1 are the default values.
Fig 1-1 Settings and Preferences interface
Configuring the display settings Refer to Figure 1-1 for the properties you can configure for the display. Some of the properties require the input of a whole number; others could be configured by choosing an option from a drop-down menu. To configure the display settings 1. Select a property you wish to configure. 2. In the right column next to the description of the property, enter a value. 3. Select Save.
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Chapter 2: Workspace and Languages Database This section helps you manage your LWT database. Your LWT is empty by default when you first install the application. To start using LWT for learning, you can install the demo database — which comes with a list of defined languages and sample texts— or define a language. You can also backup, restore, and empty your database to prevent data loss and try new things. We recommend that you regularly backup your database to prevent losing valuable data.
Installing the LWT demo database You can install the LWT demo database to start learning languages. Caution: Installing the LWT demo database will overwrite the existent database, and you may lose important data.
!
To install the LWT demo database 1. Navigate to the Backup/Restore/Empty Database interface. 2. Select Install LWT Demo Database. You are now in the Install LWT Demo Database interface. 3. Select Install LWT demo data base. An alert box appears, asking you if you are sure you want to install the demo database. 4. Select OK.
Backing-up your database Backing-up your database exports it to a gzipped SQL file. This is the file LWT will use to restore your database in the future. To backup your database 1. Navigate to the Backup/Restore/Empty Database interface. 2. Select Download LWT Backup.
Restoring your database Your current database will be replaced by the data in the specified file you have created from your last backup. To restore your database 1. Navigate to the Backup/Restore/Empty Database interface. 2. From the column next to Restore, select Choose file. 3. Browse for and select a backup file. 4. Select Restore from LWT Backup.
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Emptying your database Emptying your database deletes all existing data except for your settings and preferences. To empty your database 1. Navigate to the Backup/Restore/Empty Database interface. 2. Select Empty LWT Database. An alert box appears, asking you if you are sure you want to install the demo database. 3. Select OK.
Managing Languages You manage your languages in two interfaces — My Languages interface and New Language interface. LWT gives you a high amount of control over how you want to define and manage your languages. This section teaches you how to do that.
The My Languages interface The My Languages interface shows you your list of languages and related data in a table format. You must first define a language to view any data in this interface. Table 2-1 shows the functions of the listed items and related icons. Item
Icon(s)
Function Marks the languages available to be set as the current language
Curr. Lang.
Marks the current language Test
Shortcut to the test interface for the language Edit the language definition
Actions Delete the language Language
N/A
Texts, Reparse
Specifies what language the row of data is referring to Shows the number of texts available for re-parsing
Arch. Texts
N/A
Shows the number of archived texts
Terms
N/A
Shows the number of saved terms
Export Template?
Shows if the template is available for export
Table 2-1: My Languages Interface
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Navigating to the My Languages interface There are two ways you can navigate to the My Language interface. If
Then
You are in the Home interface
Select My Languages
You are not in the Home interface
From the Menu drop-down menu at the top of the page, select Languages
Deleting a language You can only delete a language if there are no texts or saved terms in the language. To delete a language From the Actions column for the language you wish to delete, select
.
Setting a “current” language Selecting a “current” language automatically filters your texts and terms to only show those in your “current” language. To set a “current” language From the Curr. Lang. column, select
.
You have set the language as your “current” language and
displays.
Adding New Languages LWT does not limit the number of languages you wish to add. You have full control over the definition of a language. You can pick and choose the dictionaries for defining new vocabularies; full sentence translation in LWT is also possible. As of July 2020, LWT only supports web-based dictionaries and not print dictionaries. See “Restrictions” on page 1. When you define a new language, you can also configure the display of future texts and terms according to your preferences. Both left-to-right and right-to-left scripts are supported in LWT. You can add a new language in the New Language interface by either defining a language manually or with the Language Settings Wizard. Tip: If you are adding a language for the first time, we recommend that you start with the Language Settings Wizard.
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The New Language interface The New Language interface is where you define a new language. You can manually fill in the input fields according to your preferences. Input Field
Function
Study Language “L2”
The language you wish to start learning
Dictionary 1 URI
Links to a web dictionary
Dictionary 2 URI (optional)
Links to a web dictionary
Google Translate URI (optional)
• For complete sentences translation • Default URI: "http://translate.google.com/?ie=UTF8&sl=..&tl=..&text=###"; links to the Google Translate site with your defined source and target languages
Text Size
• • •
Defines the font size of the text Helpful for logographic languages like Chinese Default value: 150%
Character Substitutions (optional)
• • •
A list of "from=to" items Default list: “´='|`='|’='|‘='|...=…|..=?”. “|” is a list separator
RegExp Split Sentences
• •
A list of characters that signify the end of a sentence Default list: “.!?:;”
Exceptions Split Sentences (optional)
• Lists of exceptions that do not signify the end of a sentence • Default list: “Mr.|Dr.|[A-Z].|Vd.|Vds.” • “|” is a list separator
RegExp Word Characters
• A list of characters or character ranges that defines the characters in a word • Varies depending the language
Make each character a word
• •
Makes each character a single word Helpful for logographic languages like Chinese
Remove spaces
• •
Removes all spaces from the text Helpful for logographic languages like Chinese
Right-To-Left Script
•
Must be set to “yes” for right-to-left languages like Farsi
Export Template
•
Shows if a template is available for export
Table 2-2: Input fields of the New Languages Interface
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To add a language with the Language Settings Wizard The Language Settings Wizard automatically set all language settings that are marked in yellow in the following screenshot.
To add a language with the Language Settings Wizard 1. In the New Language interface, select Language Settings Wizard. 2. From the first drop-down menu, select your L1 (first language). 3. From the second drop-down menu, select your L2 (the language you want to study). 4. Select Set Language Settings. The fields highlighted in yellow are now filled in. You can review and edit them according to your preferences. 5. Review and edit the settings as required. 6. Select Save. To manually add a language You can manually define a language in the New Language interface. Refer to Table 2-2 for the mandatory and optional fields. To manually add a language 1. In the New Languages interface, fill in the mandatory fields. 2. Optional: Fill in the optional fields according to your preferences. 3. Select Save.
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Chapter 3: Learn and Review About Texts As the name suggests, you learn a language with texts in LWT. You can add any texts you want to as learning materials. After adding texts, you start learning by reading and defining new vocabularies. All your texts are stored in the My texts interface, where you can read and test yourself on them. This section teaches you how to do that.
The My Texts interface The My Texts interface shows a list of your texts in a table format, but it is empty by default. You can add new texts and view information on them here. You can filter this list by language, title, or text tags. Table 3-1 shows the functions of the listed items and related icons. Item Mark
Icon(s) N/A
Function Marks the languages available to be set as the current language Read the text
Read & Test Test yourself on the text Print the text with definitions and translations Archive the text Actions Edit the text Delete the text Lang.
N/A
Specifies the language the information is referring to Shows that an audio of the text is available
Title [Tags], Audio, Src. Link, Ann. Text
Shows that a source link to the text is available Shows that an annotated text is available
Table 3-1: Items, related icons, and their functions
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Item
Icon(s)
Function
Total Words
N/A
Shows the total number of words in the text
Saved Wo+Ex
N/A
Shows the number of saved words and examples
Unkn. Words
N/A
Shows the number of unsaved words
Unkn. %
N/A
Shows the percentage of unknown words in a text
Table 3-1: Items, related icons, and their functions
Adding a text To add a text, you must enter a title and the text; other input fields are optional. You can save and open to immediately read the text. To add a text 1. In the My Texts interface, select New Text. 2. From the drop-down menu, select the language the new text is in. 3. Enter a title and the text. 4. Fill in the optional fields as you wish. 5. Select Save and Open.
Reading a text There are two ways to read an existing text in LWT. To read a text To
Do this
Read your last read text
In the Home interface, under “My Last Text�, select Read.
Read any text
In the My Texts interface, select under the Read & Test column for a text.
About Terms One of the main features of LWT is your ability to fully control how you define and save terms. Unlike other language-learning tools, you can split sentences and tag terms according to your preferences. Terms can be tagged with different colours and statuses. The great thing about this feature is that LWT highlights your saved terms whenever they appear in your current or future texts. The Terms features of LWT allows you to focus on new terms and ignore familiar ones. When you select a term, the application also immediately searches for the it in the dictionary of your choice and offers you its translation. What you enter as the translation of the selected term is completely up to you.
The My Terms interface The My Terms interface displays a list of your saved terms in a table format. This interface is empty by default. You can view and access information about your terms after adding them from your texts.
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Adding a term You can define terms and add them to your collection when you read a text. You must be reading a text to add a new term. To add a term 1. In the Read interface, select the term you want to define. A web dictionary, along with the chosen word and its definition, appears in the window at the bottom right of your screen.
2. Fill in the input fields. 3. Choose and select a radio button to represent the status of the term. Note: There are no specific meanings to the colours; you can tag the term according to your preferences. “WKn” is “well-known” and “Ign” is “ignore”. 4. Select Save.
About Tests Tests are only available for defined terms. Terms with a status of “ignore” or “wellknown”, and terms with a positive or zero score do not appear on tests. We suggest that you regularly test yourself in all the languages that you are learning to ensure continuous progress. There are different ways you cant test yourself with LWT. You can also test your understanding of words and expressions within or out of their context in the text.
The Test interface The Test interface is where your test takes place. You can only test yourself on one text at a time. During the test, a few things display at the bottom of the screen, showing you your progress: • a timer showing you the elapsed time • a process bar • a number of the total terms • a number of the terms that have not yet been tested • a number of the terms you got wrong • a number of the terms you got right
Test formats There are a few test formats you can choose from. Your test starts when you choose a test format. The two methods are recognition and recall. Training yourself to recognize a L2 (second language) term requires you to test yourself in the (L2 - L1) format, where you read a term in L2 and translate it to L1 (your first language). Training yourself to recall a L2 term from L1 requires you to test yourself in the (L1 - L2) or (... - L2) format, where you Page: 13
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read a term in L1 or recall a term in L2 solely from the context of the sentence. See “Appendix: Influences on the software” on page 17. You can also test yourself with a table. Your list of terms and expressions are presented in a table format, and you can configure the settings according to your preferences. You can hide or show these information about the term: • the option to edit it • the status • the term • the translation • the romanization • the sentence it appears in The screenshot below shows the test format options in the Test interface. The options framed in red are for testing within the context of the text, and the groups framed in blue are for testing out of the context of the text.
Testing yourself on recognizing terms You may test within or out of the context of the sentence. Refer to Figure 3-1 for the test format options. To test on recognizing terms 1. In the Test interface, select ..[L2].. or [L2]. 2. Select the highlight term to view the translation. A dialog box displays.
3. Do one of the following: • Select Got it! if you have the right answer. • Select Oops if you don’t have the right answer. • Select a status to assign it to the term.
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Testing yourself on recalling terms You may test within or out of the context of the sentence. Refer to Figure 3-1 for the test format options. To test on recalling terms 1. In the Test interface, select ..[L1].., [L1], or [...]. 2. Select the highlight term to view the translation. A dialog box displays.
3. Do one of the following: • Select Got it! if you have the right answer. • Select Oops if you don’t have the right answer. • Select a status to assign it to the term. Testing with a table You can test yourself with a table. You can also configure certain display settings for the test table. Tip: Hide either the content inside the Term or Translation columns to properly test yourself. To test with a table 1. In the Test interface, select Table. 2. De-select either the Term or Translation check-box. 3. Test yourself. 4. Select a blank space within the hidden column to reveal the answer. 5. Repeat step 3 and 4 until you are done the test.
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Appendix: Influences on the software Stephen Krashen’s principles in Second Language Acquisition Stephen Krashen is a linguist and retired professor at the University of Southern California. He argues that the key to second language acquisition is meaningful interaction (natural communication) with the target language. Learners should worry about the messages they are communicating, rather than the form and correctness of their speech. He believes that the best method to learning languages is to learn under a low anxiety environment, and with materials that you really want to understand. This method does not force early production in the second language that focuses on correcting production. LWT encourages you to learn from materials that interest you. Since you have full control over how you want to read, learn and review, you can interacts with your materials meaningfully and naturally. See more about Krashen’s theories here.
Steve Kaufmann’s LingQ system Steve Kaufmann is the co-founder of LingQ and an internet polyglot. LingQ is an online language learning system and Web 2.0 community with members around the world who help each other learn languages. He currently speaks 16 languages fluently and is continuing to learn. He developed the LingQ system to counter the fact that “traditional” methods for language acquisition are not effective. Kaufmann believes that language learners should learn from materials that interest them because that motivates them to understand them. He designed the LingQ system to expose learnings to the language they are learning. Exposing yourself to content in your second language drastically increases your vocabulary. After exposing yourself to content in the language, you learn to write and speak naturally. You can also track your progress to ensure you are improving. Here at LWT, we believe that Kaufmann’s LingQ system is helpful for second language acquisition. Our application helps you expose yourself to contents in different languages that interest you. You have complete control over what vocabularies you want to learn, and in what context they should be used in. See more about Kaufmann’s LingQ system here.
Massive-Context Cloze Deletion Massive-Content Cloze Deletion (MCD) is a testing format coined and popularized by Khatzumoto. Khatzumoto is the creator of the language-learning blog, “All Japanese All The Time (AJATT)”.
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MCD encourages you to read native materials in the target languages and test yourself within the sentence content you read it in (Khatzumoto). The terms you are memorizing are “clozed”, meaning that they are hidden so you have to recall their meanings (Khatzumoto). The reason why MCD is useful is because it forces you to recognize and recall terms and expressions in the target language through repetition (Khatzumoto). The MCD testing format is built into the Test interface of LWT. The purpose of this test format is to motivate you to keep learning. Imagine reading your favourite book in your second language and realizing that you recognize terms here-and-there! See “About Tests” on page 13. See more about Khatzumoto’s Massive-Context Cloze Deletion here.
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Index C configuration display of texts and terms 7 display settings 3
D database 5–6 backing-up 5 emptying 6 installing 5 restoring 5
I interfaces Backup/Restore/Empty Database 5 Home 2 My Languages 6 My Terms 12 New Languages 7 Settings and Preferences 2 Test 13
L Language Settings Wizard 9
languages 6–9 “current” language 7 adding 7–9 deleting 7 LingQ system 17 LWT demo database 5
M Massive-Context Cloze Deletion 18
S Stephen Krashen 17
T terms 12–13 adding 13 interface 12 tests 13–15 formats 13 interface 13 recalling terms 15 recognizing terms 14 table 15 texts 11–12 adding 12 interface 11 reading 12
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