Using iPad/tablet in language learning? (Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies) Language Learning Forum

Using iPad/tablet in language learning?
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Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies

20 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3

nakrian keegiat
Diglot
Groupie
Thailand
Joined 4906 days ago
70 posts - 172 votes

Speaks: English*, Thai
Studies: Russian

Message 17 of 20

29 December 2012 at 8:58pm | IP Logged

kujichagulia wrote:

Would it be worth it to get a tablet for use mainly in an offline situation? I know that I could use AnkiDroid offline, and I could do things like read PDFs or e-books, and I could take notes on the train. But is that worth it? Does anybody here use their tablets offline often, with no Internet?

I have wireless internet set up at home, so using a tablet at home connected to the Internet is no problem. However, I would like to use it to maximize my study time on the train, and of course I wouldn't have an Internet connection there.

I use mine offline quite a bit: watching movies, reading pdf's, apps, reviewing vocab lists, etc.
1 person has voted this message useful

Jeffers
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4908 days ago
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Speaks: English*
Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German

Message 18 of 20

29 December 2012 at 11:57pm | IP Logged

I don't use an iPad, and I don't want one (because Apple are so picky about what they
want you to use). But there is one app which makes me wish I had an iPad: there is an
app available for the TV5 programme 7 jours sur la planète. The app has videos (news
reports), transcripts and games to play based on vocab from the news reports, and it is
updated every week. Why, oh why can't these people make apps for android???
1 person has voted this message useful

jacobsenmd
Diglot
Newbie
United States
buildingpeace.net
Joined 4346 days ago
2 posts - 9 votes
Speaks: Arabic (Written), Arabic (Levantine)
Studies: Turkish

Message 19 of 20

31 December 2012 at 11:49pm | IP Logged

I rely on my iPad extensively for language learning, and wrote an article about the subject a few months ago.
Because I'm a new member and the forum rules are filled with dire warnings about dropping URLs I will omit the web
address, but I'll paste the article below.

I have two additions since I originally posted the article. First, Anki 2.0 is a fantastic improvement on the original
and now serves all my vocabulary needs. I've also begun using Evernote to store and organize my Turkish texts. I'm
still a beginner and comprehensible material is a challenge to find, so every comprehensible text I find is valuable
and goes into Evernote, such as clipped news articles or photos of passages from my textbooks. The passages sync
across all my devices, so it's very easy to review old material whenever I have a free minute. They are also dated and
geotagged, so it's an excellent record of my language progress.

---
I’m always on the lookout for language learning resources, and have tried just about every program I can find to
make my Arabic learning more efficient. Here are some of my favorite apps to derive maximum benefit from an iPad
or smartphone.

1) TuneIn Radio Pro. This app lets you listen to radio stations all over the world, in virtually any language. I’ve
logged countless hours on BBC Arabic, and enjoy listening to Arabic music from across the region. If you pay for
the Pro version, you can even record and playback. This is perfect for language learning, when repetition is
necessary to build comprehension.

2) Franker. I am a big fan of translation plugins for web browsers, which let you translate individual words or
sentences. Once you have the comprehension to understand the majority of an article, these plugins let you quickly
identify the words or phrases you don’t know. Instead of trolling through a dictionary, you can spend the majority
of your time actually reading in the native language. Look-ups are instantaneous. Unfortunately the closed nature
of iPad apps means that translation plugins don’t and can’t really exist. However, Franker is the next best thing I’ve
out. The app has a self-contained web browser, in which you can highlight text and get an instant translation. My
only gripe is that the formatting for right-to-left languages gets messed up, although it is still intelligible.
3) Tap Translate. This isn’t really an app; it is a pricey means of installing a bookmarklet in Safari, which then lets
you translate a single word instantaneously by clicking on it. It does more or less what I described above, but only
for single words. The advantage is that works seamlessly with Safari.

4) Vocabulary management. I have spent years looking for a vocabulary app that I actually like, and have yet to find
it. There are some very powerful tools out there, but each one has a critical weakness, which is why I’ve spent years
trying to write my own. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to finish it, so I’m stuck using the imperfect tools
already in existence. Here are a few of the best ones:

4a) Byki. Byki is the civilian version of RapidRote, which is the vocabulary software that the DOD utilizes. It is an
atrocious piece of software, suffering from all the bloat and the lack of innovation that you would expect from a
company with a lucrative government contract. It is slow and cumbersome, does not sync between devices, has no
spaced repetition system (SRS) for reviewing past vocabulary, and forces you to pay for a separate copy of the
software for each language you want to learn. However, it has the best algorithm I’ve encountered for learning new
lists of words. As much as I despise RapidRote/Byki, I’ve never found a better solution for learning vocab. Also,
military members can download vast amounts of vocabulary lists for free from the company website (which you can
access from Joint Language University). Unfortunately, it is expensive and time-consuming if you want to get this
vocabulary onto your mobile device. You must buy Byki Deluxe (the expensive civilian version of RapidRote), go
through a cumbersome browser-based process to upload each list to Byki’s servers, then re-download them onto
your mobile device. I still use Byki to learn new wordlists and study new languages.

4b) Mental Case. Mental Case is an elegant program for Mac OS/iPhone/iPad that hints at what Byki/RapidRote
should be. Syncing could be improved, but is far better than with Byki. The interface is attractive and inputting new
words is easy. My complaint is that the scheduling and quizzing of words is confusing, and is designed to fit the
programmer’s very specific vision for how his software should be used. I don’t particularly like the quizzing
interface or algorithm.

4c) Anki. Most hard-core polyglots who use vocabulary software seem to prefer Anki. Instead of teaching you
individual lists of words like Byki, it is designed to manage enormous, constantly-growing vocabulary sets using a
spaced repetition system. It has versions for almost any hardware platform you can imagine, and the syncing works
well once you set it up with Dropbox. The software seems extremely powerful, but I’ve never felt comfortable with
it for two reasons: (1) the interface was designed by an engineer and feels like a complicated machine, not an
elegant piece of software and (2) although its algorithm is excellent for retaining words, it is poor for learning new
words. Most people who use Anki for retention use a different solution for learning new words.

4d) Numbers. I’ve gotten so frustrated fiddling with SRS software that I’ve just started logging new vocabulary in
Numbers, the spreadsheet app that is part of Apple’s iWork suite. It is a simple and elegant app, syncs seamlessly
with iCloud, and makes it easy to export vocabulary into SRS software later.

5) Easy YouTube Video Downloader. This isn’t an iPad app, but a Firefox plugin for your computer. It adds a
“Download” button to every YouTube video, which allows you to save the video in an .MP4 format that you can save
onto our iPad. I have built up a large collection of Arabic clips this way.

6) GoodReader. This is one of the best PDF readers out there, and is perfect for reading foreign texts or parallel
texts.

7) iQuran HD. This is a great app for Arabic, because it lets you view multiple English translations of the Quran
parallel to the Arabic text. It also allows you to hear various various recitations.
6 persons have voted this message useful

Random review
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5782 days ago
781 posts - 1310 votes

Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German

Message 20 of 20

23 June 2013 at 3:00am | IP Logged

iguanamon wrote:

I prefer to read on my Kindle dedicated e-ink reader. While the Kindle e-ink will take
scanned pdf's, unfortunately, it doesn't render them in a very readable way without cropping the pages
and altering them. It's a hassle. Some simply formatted, ocr'ed, pdf's can be converted with Calibre
software into Kindle mobi format quite well.

I prefer my tablet for pdf's with associated mp3's. For those who don't like to read on their desktop or
laptop computer, the tablet is much more comfortable and portable. A tablet eliminates the expense one
would spend on printing and binding FSI/DLI pdf's and allows for simultaneous listening and reading with
mp3 capability more comfortably. Downside: not good in the outdoors there's too much glare, eyestrain is
still a problem with tablets. Upside, internet, podcasts, mp3's, pdf's.

Just wanted to say that, similarly to what happens with FSI AND DLI courses, I've discovered that the De
Agostini/Globo courses suddenly become much more practical on a tablet.

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