Frequently Asked Questions
There are a lot of flash card programs around. Why did you write another one?
How does it work?
How do I use Vocabulary Cards?
Why did you modify Leitner's method?
Can I use it only for learning vocabularies?
Where is the manual?
How can I enter the vocabularies?
Is it bug-free?
I have a request for a new feature or I've found a bug!
Where do I get this great software?
There are beta versions on your download site. Is it risky to use them?
Is it expensive?
I would like to have this great program in my language XXX. Is this possible?
I have a dictionary XXX-YYY. How can I share it with other users?
Do you have also a PC Version?
There are a lot of flash card programs around. Why did you write another one?
I began to learn french in spring 2000. It was annoying to carry that stack of flash cards all the time with me. So I tried to find a flash card program on the internet, but none fitted with my requirements. I just wanted a replacement for these tiny flash cards made of cardboard. After a month the first version was fulfilling its purpose. So I used it on a daily basis. Some years later I wanted more features and implemented them. This was the moment the program came in a state worth to be shown to the public. Take it or leave it - I'm and many others are very satisfied with Vocabulary Cards. Since June 2004 it was downloaded over 20.000 times!
How does it work?
This program written for Palm handhelds helps you learning your vocabulary. It's similiar to the well known flash cards, but more flexible.
There are two learn methods: drill and learn.
Drill means you repeat a sequence of e.g. 10 cards over and over until you know them very well. Learn is the actual mode and represents an electronic version of the flash card box system. The box consists of five trays. After you have drilled in a specific card it gets into tray 1. After every correct check it shifts up until it reaches tray 5. After that the word can be considered learned and well known. Words which were not known correctly went back to tray 1.
How do I use Vocabulary Cards?
Select the learn mode by pressing the L or D button (or use the menu).
After the word is displayed try to recall the translation or answer and press the Show button (or the calender hard key or tab the center of the screen or press center on the 5-way navigator) afterwards to compare. If you are sure that you have known the word correctly press the Correct button (or the task hard key, i.e. the 2nd right button or right on the 5-way navigator). Otherwise press the Wrong button (or the memo hard key i.e. the right button or left on the 5-way navigator). 5-way navigator is only supported for versions newer than 0.4.3.
That's all.
Why did you modify Leitner's method?
From my experience I figured out that having control over the time period and the number of cards in each tray to be shown is an advantage. So I implemented this behaviour. Also I forget a lot of vocabularies when I learn them only once. That the reason I have implemented the drill modus. I usually learn a pack of 15 cards until a card was known seven times in a row. After that this card shifts into the first tray. Thus I am sure that I know them very well.
Can I use it only for learning vocabularies?
Of course not. Although it was mainly designed for this kind of learning topic you can use it for everything you want to learn. As an example: One of my users learns acupuncture point locations with Vocabulary Cards.
New: Starting with version 0.6.3 you can switch between the vocabulary flash card and the general flash card mode. Using the general mode Vocabulary Cards does not show e.g. the gender and the card sides are named "Question" and "Answer".
Where is the manual?
Up to now there's no manual available. Send me an email if there are questions.
How can I enter the vocabularies?
I've stored a few words in a sample dictionary to give you a starting state for playing (and providing a stable condition for my program ;-). Before you can learn _your_ vocabulary you have to create your own dictionary and input some words. This can be done by using the "New"-form in the program after creating a dictionary with Options->Dictionary->New. Entering a lot of text with the pen on the palm can be frustrating so I have written two import functions:
The first solution imports words from a memo:
It uses tabulator separated lines which can be easily created on the pc in e.g. Excel or OpenCalc. Just enter the words in your favorite program and export it into a tsv-textfile. Paste the content of this file into your memo application (e.g. Outlook) and sync. But beware: one memo can only contain 4k of data. If you have more, repeat the steps or use solution 2. In the vocabulary program select "Import from Memo" from the menu and press "Import".
The syntax for the import memo is:
First line (always!): VC-Import
2nd to nth line:
Word(Language1) TAB Word(Language2) [TAB Example(Language1)] [TAB Example(Language2)] [TAB Gender(Language1)] [TAB Gender(Language2)] [TAB Hint(Language1)] [TAB Hint(Language2)] RETURN
The items in Brackets are optional, but if you want to import one of these additional information you must provide all tabs in between. But don't print the word TAB oder RETURN, but use the real ones.
Here a simple example:
Haus TAB maison RETURN
Now an example with more info:
Haus TAB maison TAB TAB C'est l'example pour maison TAB n TAB f RETURN
(don't put in the TAB/RETURN as printed here ;-)
The second import solution is newly introduced with version 0.4.2:
Importing a database which is created by an Excel macro. The program (pdbc.exe) which creates the database from the excel output was provided by Eric Obermuhlner. Many thanks to Eric for allowing me to bundle PDBC with my software.
Importing this way is quite simple: fill out the fields in the excel sheet and press the converter button. If the hotsync program is found on your computer it will be started automatically afterwards. Otherwise you can find your import database in the same directory. After hotsyncing select "Import from Tool" in V-C and press "Import".
For users who use Linux or Mac OS this Excel macro does not work. Therefore we are currently developing a perl script which converts a csv-file directly in the import database. You can create this csv-file in many ways (OpenOffice, KOffice, Excel for Mac, text editors). A first version is already available.
Is it bug-free?
Are you kidding? Of course not! I'm a hobby programmer with little experience in C programming. The program runs stable on my palm for several years now without resetting it. I'm constantly checking new program versions with the Gremlin test feature in POSE (Palm Operation System Emulator) or Palm Simulator (for OS5.x). It is stable even after 8.000.000 events! Vocabulary Cards is compatible with Palm OS versions 3.0 up to 5.4. Running V-C on Palm devices with Palm OS 6 (Cobalt) seems to be stable, but up to now Palm provides no Gremlin feature for OS6, so my testing is limited to simulating common tasks manually on the Palm Simulator. But I don't think anyone out there uses OS6.0, because its vapourware ;-).
I have a request for a new feature or I've found a bug!
Send me an email. If it is a bug I'll fix it as soon as possible. New feature? Well, if it makes sense I'll try to implement it in one of the next releases.
I've gotten a lot of feedback from users regarding new features, handling and bugs since I published it in June 2004. Well, the bugs are gone (at least I hope so) and over 90% of the feature requests were implemented! Join the Mailing list and discuss about the future of Vocabulary Cards. It is up to you...
Where do I get this great software?
Quiet easy:
Select Download and download the file and install it on your Palm handheld with your prefered sync method (Hotsync, i-sync or pilot-xfer). If you encounter problems with the download try right click and select "Save link to disk".
There are beta versions on your download site. Is it risky to use them?
I would say no. They are marked as (unstable) beta versions, but the reason is mainly that they are incomplete in translation or design. Sometimes a function is newly implemented but not 100% correct in behaviour. Regarding stability: I always use these beta versions on my Palm and I had in the past years maybe 5 softresets resulting from using them (I had more resets from the buggy OS on my Treo in the past few month! ;-). Before I upload a beta version I check it with Emulator and Simulator for memory leaks and so on to ensure they run stable. Sometimes you will see a warning message with some cryptic content. These debug messages are intended to help me finding bugs and are usually harmless. To make a long story short: Try it! You will discover new features you may have missed before. If you find a bug or think that something should be implemented differently: send me an email and you will make me happy.
Is it expensive?
No, you get it for free!
The program is not restricted in any function (like cripple-ware) or has annoying messages. I'd like to publish it as care-ware, i.e. if you like Vocabulary Cards and want to spend voluntarily some money for it, you can donate it to a non-profit organization like the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF).
If you have donated, I'd be very glad to get an email from you. Thus I know that my software has contributed a little bit for a better world. But again - it's up to you.
I would like to have this great program in my language XXX. Is this possible?
Sure, if I find someone how is willing to spend half an hour to translate it. I don't speak every language, but translating these strings is an easy task for someone who speaks this language. You can download a text file with the strings to translate. Just translate the english strings on the righthand side of the equal sign into your language (try no to exceed the length) and send it back to me. After I have checked that all strings fit in length I will compile the new localized version. To pay tribute for your work I will mention your name in the About dialog and in Credits on the projects website!
I have a dictionary XXX-YYY. How can I share it with other users?
If you can get in contact personally: just beam it over. If you want to give it the community: I can publish it in the download section of the projects web site. Just send it to me and I'll upload it as soon as possible. Of course your name will also be mentioned. Thanks in advance for your generousity.
Do you have also a PC Version?
No. I have only the published version for PalmOS devices. If want you can try Teachmaster. This is a very good program running under Windows. There are some tips how you can run it also under MacOS or Linux. One user of Teachmaster has published a howto for exporting cards to Vocabulary Cards. Maybe the author will implement some import/export functionality directly into his program. We are in contact.
© 2000-2010 Günther Erhard