[vox] Fwd: [OT] Learning with flashcards

[Bill Kendrick]

Pete posted this from a non-sub'd addr, so it was discarded...

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Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2006 09:29:23 -0800
From: vox-bounces at lists.lugod.org
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The attached message has been automatically discarded.
Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2006 09:29:21 -0800
From: Peter Salzman <p at cbreak.com>
Subject: [OT] Learning with flashcards
To: Linux User Group of Davis <vox at lists.lugod.org>

Suppose you want to learn a language, so you write a flashcard program.  The
user creates the flashcards and the program tests the user.

Consider "the car".  In Spanish, there are 3 synonyms for this word:
"el automovil", "el carro", and "el coche".

Does anyone have any thoughts on how synonyms should be handled by a
flashcard program?

For example, suppose the user is given "the car" and the user answers with
one of the 3 synonyms that is not necessarily the word that the program is
testing for.   Should the program:

1. call the answer correct if it's in a list of synonyms. 

2. keep asking the tester to think of another synonym for car till the user
   answers with the word that the program is asking about.

3. Display the set of initial characters that make the choice unique. For 
   example, I would've been giving "the car" and the application would
   display "el co" if it were asking me about "el coche", since that makes
   the choice unique. 

Any thoughts?

Pete


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-- 
-bill!
bill at newbreedsoftware.com
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/