Monday, April 20, 2009

Online lessons and software

I've just come across this great software for Mac OS X and Windows platforms called BYKI . There's a free and deluxe version and I've just downloaded the versions for French and Turkish. Both needed to be downloaded separately but once set up, run from the one program. I'm really starting to remember new words - no small ask to assist Miss Sieve-for-a-Memory!
Maybe I'll upgrade to deluxe in a year - I really just need the repetition in order to remember vocabulary, plus the phrases in there are fantastic. I'll look a little closer later, but whether I do will depend on if the fee is per language. Because later it would be great to learn even more - and if it's a one-off fee, then BYKI is good value. Will wait and see.

Felt good whizzing through the first few French lists! Although there were a few phrases I wasn't familiar with, such as "Où se trouve...?" for "Where is ...?" I think that last year I used a mangled form of phrasebook French, that on reflection, aimed to be as concise as possible while retaining the core meaning!

....actually, no. I'd copied phrases from a band member's phrasebook and I'd lost my copy and was getting around Paris without it as best as possible hahaha it was so much fun. Guess I can't point my poor French on substandard "phrasebook pedagogy"!

I think the difficult thing with taking language comprehension to the next level (i.e. to begin to engage with the culture) is the non-literal use of language. I guess though, that it depends on whether you have a constructivist view of language.

For a more in-depth study of Turkish, these have been some good finds currently out there:




2. Immensely comprehensive resource for students of Turkish - a bit tricky to navigate due to its depth. Try using the links in the header: