| Your computer can be used as a creative tool in your | | | | users to submit new words and expressions. (Be |
| quest to learn a foreign language. Some innovative | | | | aware that not all user submissions will be 100% |
| ideas can turn your language education into an | | | | accurate.) The best dictionaries will clearly indicate |
| entertaining, truly memorable experience.* Audio | | | | 'verified' user submissions and will mark colloquial and |
| ModificationMany companies produce software | | | | dialect expressions appropriately.Are you a poet? Help |
| packages that enable you to transform your voice (or | | | | is as close as your computer. Online language |
| someone else's). You can make your voice feminine, | | | | resources include helpful rhyming dictionaries. An |
| masculine, or robotic. It can be raised to a high pitch or | | | | internet search for 'rhyming dictionary French', 'rhyming |
| lowered to bass tones.So how does this help you | | | | dictionary German', 'rhyming dictionary Spanish' etc. will |
| learn a new language?Many foreign languages (French | | | | give you good results.Try to rely on accredited |
| and German, for example) assign gender to nouns. | | | | educational sites (domains ending in .edu) when doing |
| When learning new vocabulary, why not record | | | | grammar research. For instance, if you are looking for |
| feminine nouns in a female voice, masculine nouns in a | | | | Hungarian verb conjugations, try a search like |
| male voice, and neuter nouns in a robotic voice? This | | | | 'Hungarian verb conjugations site:.edu'. Although at the |
| approach can also be used with other types of | | | | time of writing the previous search doesn't work at |
| vocabulary learning. Perhaps you could record a list of | | | | MSN, it does work at Google, Yahoo!, Ask.com, and |
| German dative verbs in a woman's voice and a list of | | | | many others. The 'site:edu' portion of the search |
| German accusative verbs in a male voice. You can | | | | restricts results to domains ending in '.edu' - which are |
| even take audio files that have been recorded by | | | | usually universities and other similar educational |
| other people and make them more interesting by | | | | institutions.* Online Chatting and Video |
| morphing voices or adding sound effects.An internet | | | | ConferencingVideo-cams, VOIP, microphones . . . put |
| search for 'voice cloaking' or 'voice modification | | | | them all together and talk with foreign friends from all |
| software' will provide numerous resources to choose | | | | over the world. Using a language in conversation is |
| from.* Don't Just PrintIf you own a color printer you | | | | probably the quickest way to learn.Whatever you do, |
| can spice up your vocabulary lists with bursts of color | | | | remember that the more senses you stimulate during |
| - perhaps feminine nouns in red, masculine nouns in | | | | the learning process, the more firmly imprinted the |
| blue, and neuter in dark grey. You might want to | | | | learning becomes. Turn your language education into a |
| highlight irregular verbs in another color - or perhaps | | | | fun-filled sensory experience and you will probably |
| apply bold or italics to make them stand out on the | | | | stick with it. If it becomes monotonous, you may lose |
| page. Experiment with various fonts and weights.* | | | | interest.Kathy recommends the links below for a |
| Websites and Online SourcesEvery language student | | | | couple of helpful pages that may be useful in your |
| should have at least one online dictionary bookmarked | | | | quest for language education:* German-English short |
| (preferably several). Each dictionary will work a little | | | | stories in parallel translation.* A list of search engines to |
| differently. Some provide audio clips. Others will allow | | | | help with the searches mentioned in this article. |