The Chapter Viewer
The Chapter Viewer is designed for reviewing an audiobook one sentence at a time, considering its pronunciation, translation and grammar. It consists of two audio panels, where audio files can be loaded or recorded, and a sentence window. The sentence window can be configured to show a picture of the novel being studied.
To use the Chapter Viewer, you first need an appropriate chapter file, designated with a '.chp' ending. For instructions on creating these, read the help file 'Linking to a book chapter'. The .chp file should reside in the same folder as your Cerebware.exe file, along with the English version of the chapter, marked with a '.eng' ending.
To get the Chapter Viewer started, you can use the Testing menu (choose Testing... Chapter Session) or the Sound menu (choose Sound... Practise). The chapter file can then be loaded via the Chapter menu. For instance, choose 'Load Spanish Chapter' and then look for 'LSDVP1.chp' in the file chooser, which looks something like this:
Select the chapter file you are interested in, and the audio and text of the first sentence will be loaded automatically. You do not need to load individual audio files when reviewing a chapter, and so you should not need to touch the 'Audio File...' button.
The '.chp' file is just a text file, and can be edited in a text editor, but it must conform to a specific format. Basically, each sentence of the chapter must appear in its own paragraph, with an empty line between consecutive sentences, like this:
1. El Cementerio de los Libros Olvidados
2. Todavía recuerdo aquel amanecer en que mi padre me llevó por primera vez a visitar el Cementerio de los Libros Olvidados.
3. Desgranaban los primeros días del verano de 1945 y caminábamos por las calles de una Barcelona atrapada bajo cielos de ceniza.
The sentence numbers (1, 2 and 3 in the above sample) are not used by Cerebware, but make it easier for human readers to compare sentences between the foreign and English versions. Renumbering the sentences has no effect, unless it is accompanied by changes in the paragraphing. Note that the chapter file does not contain, or even refer to, any audio. Instead, the sequence of paragraphs dictates which audiofile is loaded with each sentence: the link is achieved by giving each audiofile the appropriate name. If the chapter name is X.chp, for instance, then the first sentence is associated with an audiofile named X.1.au, or X.1.mp3. The second sentence is associated with an audiofile named X.2.au or X.2.mp3, and so on. The chapter file does not need to specify the type of audio file; the program simply looks for an appropriately named file in the audio subfolder, which should reside within the same folder that holds the .chp file and Cerebware.exe.
To get to the next sentence, click the >| button. To jump ten sentences, click >>|. To go to sentence 23, type this number in the window between the arrow buttons and hit enter. To get to the next sentence featuring the letters 'hombre', put this in the search box and press 'Search'. If you would like to test your audio comprehension without seeing the foreign text, change your preferences under the View menu within the Chapter Viewer. Choose View... and then deselect the Sentence Window checkbox. If you want to view the English without seeing the foreign text at the same time, select 'English by itself'. If you would like to add a note about a sentence of interest, click the 'Add Note' button. If this button is purple, and simply says 'Note', then that means the sentence is already annotated. Notes have no significant effect on the flashcard aspect of the program, but are like notes scrawled in the margin of the chapter. If the note contains a web address, the Note button will appear as pale purple with blue writing. To follow the address, hold the control button down while clicking on it.
Note that the viewer is designed for listening to single sentences at a time. For listening to whole chapters, you might be better just loading the source mp3 file into your favourite mp3 application, such as iTunes.
If you have a microphone, you can also try to copy the source audio. Hit 'Practise', and it will enter the following four-step sequence:
- Play the source audio
- Record your attempt to copy it
- Play the source again
- Play your imitation.
If you want to review the definitions that apply to each sentence, you have two possible approaches. One is to obtain a .lst file that already has the appropriate sentence tags in it, indicated by curly brackets {| sentence-tag }. You can then load this list file into the Chapter Viewer by choosing Definitions... Load List File. This will enable you to see the definitions, but the program will not keep track of which ones you know; nor will it test you on them individually. A better way is to link the book chapter to your own vocab file, which is your personalised learning record or flashcard set.
How do you get your own vocab file? Start within the main Cerebware window by choosing File ... New ... Spanish - or whatever language you are learning. This creates an empty vocab file. Then import an appropriate list file. (Choose File... Import List ..., and click on a .lst file such as La Sombra.lst.) List files are basically text files with colons between the foreign word and the English definition, but a variety of tags can be added. The important part for linking the vocab items to the Chapter Viewer is the sentence tag, which can be indicated with curly braces:
cerraba : I shut ; I would shut ; I used to shut [imperfecto] {| LSDVP1.24}
el ojo : the eye {| LSDVP1.24}
los ojos : the eyes {| LSDVP1.24}
hablar : to speak ; to talk {| LSDVP1.24}
The tag 'LSDVP1.24' indicates that this item is associated with the 24th sentence of the chapter 'LSDVP1.chp'. For more information on tag syntax, see List File Syntax.
Once you have a vocab file and it has some words in it, you have the choice of learning the individual flashcards in a Standard Test Session (reached by clicking the Test button) or reviewing whole sentences in the Chapter Viewer via a Chapter Session (reached under the Testing Menu). These methods are complementary, and even without the Chapter Viewer the Vocab Trainer will play and display each new sentence when the relevant vocabulary item first appears during standard flashcard testing. The Chapter Viewer merely provides an alternative to standard testing, and provides a quick way to review many sentences in quick succession, in context. To use this approach, open the vocab file first and then the Chapter Viewer. The relevant vocab items will automatically appear under the Definitions menu, coloured according to whether they are known (blue), partly unknown (black), or known but 'stale' (in need of revision, red). After listening to the sentence and trying to translate it, check the English version with the English button and then click on any individual definition to tell the program you now know that word.
Note that the Chapter Viewer does not provide a means to change the link between vocab items and sentences. If you want to link a word to a source sentence and its audio, you either need to indicate that within the .lst file before you import the list into your vocab file, or you need to edit the link within your own vocab file, using the Edit Dialog (see 'Using the Edit Dialog'). Editing the lst file changes the link for everyone who ever uses the same list file. Editing your own vocab file only changes it for you. The Viewer does provide shortcuts for linking items to grammar lessons and online content, though. To use this feature, choose Chapter... Add grammar link, or select 'Add grammar link' in the definitions menu.
For more information, and for help in splitting your audiobook into sentences, contact Cerebware.