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Tango Blaster 0.7.2 - 2007-03-08 04:26:11

New Release

I've just added Tango Blaster V0.7.2. This new release is a minor revision of the previous 0.7.1. New features include statistics, maximisation's option and also pop ups for fields that are too long.

Short cut keys

Remember, whilst testing yourself, you can always use the "Z" and "X" keys as shortcuts for "show/incorrect" and "correct" respectively.

What is Tango Blaster? - 2007-03-07 08:33:36

What is Tango Blaster

Welcome to Tango Blaster. Tango Blaster is a program that I wrote and use to learn Japanese vocabulary and Kanji. Having spent a number of years experimenting with different methods of learning, I finally concluded that there is no and cannot be a better way of learning large lists of words this quickly.

Welcome - 2007-03-07 08:28:13

Welcome Back

Welcome to the new look site. I've finally finished the first part of my new PHP content management system and here is the result.

Old Site

If you're looking for something on the old site, it should a still be available or will be very shortly, but some of the links have changed.

On Learning - 2007-03-07 06:38:30

On Learning

One thing that I first want to point out is that the most effective way of learning new vocabulary is not from a list at all, but from putting yourself in real life situations where the word comes into context and has a distinct situational meaning to you. This will allow it to stick in your mind and also provide examples of its usage so that you know how to string it into a sentence.

But

However, we are not all lucky enough to be surrounded by such a real life environment and also this system takes a considerable amount of time. Most language students are required to learn large lists of vocab, especially for tests. Subsequently, a different method must be applied (though ideally in parallel to the above).

Most effective way?

So based on the fact that a list must be learned, we then come to the question, what is the most effective way. First look at the goal. How will this list need to reproduced from memory. If the answer is sequentially in order, then go away and read the list 100 times. Usually though, we will need to be able to translate the word in one or both directions on the fly. To achieve this, we will need to create hooks in our mind that bind the two (or 3 in case of Kanji and pronunciation) words together. This can be done by simple looking at them continuously, but normally the greatest problem to overcome is knowing what needs to be learned and concentrating on the the ones that we are least comfortable. To efficiently manage our time, we should target learning specifically to what we need to learn.

Computer can help! - 2007-03-07 05:40:51

A Computer Program Can Help!

This is where a computer program such as Tango Blaster can REALLY HELP. I spent hours with paper lists and yes I did manage to learn a lot, but I ended up wasting valuable time reading down words on the list that I already knew and this caused me to get bored and skip ones I didn't. Also, after a while I began learning the order which was really dangerous as taken out of this order, I found it much harder to produce the answers.

The solution

The solution is to have a program that can dynamically create lists, filter out what you know, leaving a core list of subject to be studied and then to be able to shuffle the data in order to test your 'on the spot' knowledge. Also, the other benefit is that it allows you to quickly select which part of the the data you want to be prompted with and which part to reproduce. I have found through bitter experience that simple knowing a word from Japanese > English, does not mean you can then reproduce it back the other way in a real life situation. it is VERY important to learn words both ways round in order to be able to use them.