Copyright ⌐ 1991-1998 Jason Sluzevich. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Shareware: US $16 Individual; US $175 Site License
User╒s Guide
About the Browser
About the Dictionary Pane
About the Conjugation Pane
About Quizzing
Menubar Reference
Contacting the Author
About the Browser
After the program loads, the Browser window appears containing the dictionary pane (at the top) and the conjugation pane (at the bottom).
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About the Dictionary Pane
At the top of the Browser window is the dictionary pane. It contains the alphabet with a pointer marking the current position in the dictionary. Below the alphabet is a scrolling list of the verbs and definitions. A double black line separates the dictionary pane from the conjugation pane below.
ÑTo find a verb or definition:
Select whether to display Spanish verbs or English definitions via the popup menu and then begin typing. Notice that the find command is dynamic with each additional letter generating a new list of matching verbs or definitions. The conjugation of the verb with the closest match is displayed below. If dynamic find seems slow on your Mac, you may revert to a more traditional Find command. Select Preferences (under the Edit Menu) and unclick Enable Dynamic Find. When dynamic find is not enabled, you will need to press return or enter to begin a search.
ÑTo conjugate a verb:
Double click a verb or definition. The full conjugation of the verb appears in the conjugation pane below. Arrow keys may also be used to navigate.
ÑTo move to another dictionary division:
Click on an alphabet letter; alternatively, you can drag the pointer to the letter of interest. Notice that when searching for a verb or definition, the Browser will automatically jump to the appropriate place in the dictionary.
ÑTo expand/shrink the dictionary pane:
Move the arrow over the double black line separating the dictionary and conjugation panes. The cursor changes to a hand. Then, click and hold the mouse button to drag the divider up or down to make the dictionary pane smaller or larger.
ÑTo view the dictionary using a Spanish-To-English format.
Select Display Verbs using the popup menu. With this option, Spanish infinitives are listed first and verbs are alphabetized using the Spanish alphabet.
ÑTo view the dictionary using an English-To-Spanish format.
Select Display Definitions using the popup menu. With this option, English definitions are listed first and all definitions are alphabetized using the English alphabet; accordingly, the Ch, Ll, and N-tilde letters are unavailable.
About the Conjugation Pane
The bottom portion of the Browser window contains the conjugation pane which holds the conjugation of the active verb. The active verb is displayed in the right hand corner. Clicking on the active verb highlights the corresponding entry in the dictionary pane. The conjugation of the active verb is grouped into three divisions: simple, command, and compound. Each tense table may be expanded or collapsed by clicking the arrows next to each table label. Related tenses are displayed in color coded tables: blue for indicative, yellow for imperative, and mauve for subjunctive. Participles are coded in grey. The compound tenses take the color of their parent tense except for the progressive tense, which lacking a parent tense, is coded green. You can customize these colors using the palette selector via Preferences in the Edit menu.
The conjugation pane makes use of contextual menus to select operations appropriate to a given tense. El Verbo Simple╒s contextual menus work like those found in the Mac OS 8 Finder.
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1. Move the arrow within a tense box of interest.
2. Hold down the Control key. The arrow changes as seen in the picture to the right.
3. Press the mouse button. A popup menu appears allowing the following operations:
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ÑTo save a tense:
Select Save. A dialog box appears allowing you to confirm your choice and select a file name. To save the entire conjugation of the active verb, select Save Conjugation... from the File menu.
ÑTo get information about a tense:
Select Get Info. The grammar and usage guide appropriate to the selected tense automatically opens.
ÑTo copy a tense to the clipboard:
Select Copy to Clipboard. The tense is pasted to the clipboard. To view the tense, choose Show Clipboard from the Edit menu.
About Quizzing
El Verbo Simple contains user configurable vocabulary and conjugation quizzes. To begin either activity, select the appropriate menu item under Quiz in the menubar.
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ÑTo take a quiz:
Click the Start button. The quizzing session begins. Your performance is presented in numeric and graphical form. To stop, click on the Stop button. (The start button turns into a stop button after a quiz is begun). At the conclusion of a quiz, a performance profile is generated listing the characteristics of the quiz along with a detailed score report. The performance profile may be printed to personalize and document the results of a quizzing session
ÑTo change quiz options:
Click the Setup button. A dialog box appears allowing the selection of quiz options. For conjugation quizzes, you can select the tenses and subjects you are interested in drilling. You can also choose between a multiple choice or free response quiz. For vocabulary quizzes, you have the option to match verbs to definitions or vice versa.
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For either type of quiz, you also can select a lesson and take a quiz on a subset of the verbs contained in the dictionary. Two sample quiz lessons (Common Irregular Verbs & Common Stem Changing Verbs) are included with El Verbo Simple. To load a different quiz lesson, click the Use Lesson button which is located in the Lessons panel as illustrated above. You will then be prompted to choose a lesson file. Alternatively, any lesson file can be double clicked in the Finder and loaded automatically.
ÑTo return to the Browser:
Click the Quit button.
ÑTo create a quiz lesson:
Quiz lessons provide the ability to test students on a subset of verbs and definitions. To create a new lesson, choose New Lesson under the File menu. A floating windoid appears:
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The question tab contains a scrolling field containing all the items included in the lesson. To add a verb or definition, first select the item in the dictionary pane and then click the Add icon button. To remove a verb from the lesson, select an item in the question list and then click the Remove icon button. The option tab allows you to specify how the verbs and definitions in the lesson will be tested. These options mirror the settings found in Quiz Options dialog box (e.g. whether the quiz should be multiple choice or free response, what subjects should be tested, what tenses should be tested, etc.). When a lesson is loaded, these settings are used for the quiz until changed by the user. After creating a lesson, select Save Lesson... under the File menu and choose a name for the lesson file.
ÑTo edit a quiz lesson:
Choose Open Lesson... under the File menu. A dialog box will appears asking you to select a previously created lesson. You can then add or remove additional questions and further refine the testing methods.
Menubar Reference
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Apple Menu
Ñ About El Verbo Simple...
Lists the copyright information and credits. Clicking the Info button provides basic information about your computer, the conjugator revision number, and the total size of the dictionary.
File Menu
Ñ New Lesson
Creates a new quiz lesson file. See About Quizzing for more details.
Ñ Open Lesson....
Opens a previously created lesson file for editing. See About Quizzing for more details.
Ñ Save Lesson...
Saves the current lesson file.
Ñ Save Conjugation...
Exports in a tab delimited file the active conjugation. The complete conjugation is always saved.
Ñ Print Conjugation
Prints the active conjugation. To print portions of a conjugation, select the Expanded Conjugation option under Preferences and expand the conjugation tables of interest using the arrows next to each table label.
Ñ Close Window
Closes the top window. Not applicable to all windows such as the Browser.
Ñ Compact Dictionary
Compresses the dictionary to the smallest possible state. This command is useful after a large number of verbs are either deleted or added to the dictionary.
Edit Menu
Ñ Show Clipboard
Shows the current contents of the clipboard.
Ñ Preferences...
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Controls whether the user is :able to print (i.e. conjugation charts or performance profiles), able to add/delete verbs, or able to create/edit quizzes. Also provides options for color customization of the conjugation pane and disabling off Dynamic Find (helpful for slower Macs). All preferences may be password protected allowing for easy administration of El Verbo Simple in lab environments.
Verb Menu
Ñ New
Allows the user to add a new verb to the dictionary.
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1. Enter any Spanish verb using the infinitive (e.g. ar,-er,-ir) form of the verb. To make the infinitive reflexive, click the Reflexive button to append an 'se' ending.
2. Enter the English definitions associated with the infinitive. After each definition, click the Add button. Each definition entered is automatically prefixed with "To" and displayed in a list. The total number of definitions is displayed in a counter in the bottom right hand corner. At any time, you may select a definition and remove it by clicking the Delete button. Click OK when finished; the verb is then added to the dictionary and conjugated.
Ñ Delete
Allows the user to delete any verb or definition in the dictionary.
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First, select a verb or definition in the dictionary pane. Then choose this menu command. An alert box asks you to confirm your choice. Remember that when deleting an verb (or definition), the associated definitions (or verb) are also removed.
Ñ Conjugate
Conjugates the currently selected verb in the dictionary pane.
Ñ Show Grammar Guide
Toggles the visibility of built-in in grammer guide.
Quiz Menu
Ñ Vocabulary...
Selects a Spanish verb vocabulary quiz. See About Quizzing for more details.
Ñ Conjugation...
Selects a Spanish conjugation quiz. See About Quizzing for more details.
Ñ Use Lesson....
Opens a quiz lesson and immediately begins a quiz session using the test methods specified by the lesson file. This menu command is equivalent to double clicking a quiz lesson file in the Finder.
Contacting the Author
E-Mail: jcs@kagi.com
Web Page: http://biomed.med.yale.edu/~sluzevjc/verbo.html
The author welcomes your feedback. New verbs for the dictionary are always appreciated and any contributions will be acknowledged. Send your questions, comments, and bug reports to jcs@kagi.com or visit the web address specified above.
