It is quite understandable that users want to get advice and recommendations from internet sites, but frequently people intentionally post misleading or malicious comments advising people not to use a certain site. Negative comments may be from a disgruntled client. But they may also be simply malicious. Or they may be posted by a competitor wishing to affect the sales of a competing site. How do you know then that the advice or recommendations are not biased?

With handsonturkish.com it is very easy to validate the website and check whether this is a serious website with serious content.

Who owns the Handsonturkish.com?

Handsonturkish.com belongs to Pendragon Educational Publishers Ltd, a UK-based company that specialises in the development of language learning courses and related products. The address of the company is clearly given at the bottom of the home page. The company has proper offices and colleagues who work there.

Can you contact the website?

The website has a contact us page with an online form. The contact page also gives a company phone number.

How do I know the quality of the courses is good?

Firstly, you can do a taster course “First Steps Turkish” which gives you an impression how the full course of Turkish is structured.

Secondly, the project has been developed with the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union.

How do I know my payment is secure?

HandsonTurkish.com works with secure payment gateway, 2Checkout.com. No credit card details are stored by Arabic Online or Pendragon Educational Publishers. Furthermore, no private data is sold or passed on to third parties for advertising purposes.

What syllabus does the Turkish course follow?

Our Turkish course meets the requirements of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), which is the internationally-recognised benchmark for assessing language learning achievements. By subscribing to handsonturkish.com you can be sure that you are following an internationally recognised syllabus leading to internationally-recognised outcomes.

The post Is Handsonturkish.com a genuine website? appeared first on HandsOnTurkish.

Foster a Positive Outlook

Prepare yourself to get things wrong. In order to store new vocabulary in your long term memory, you generally have to learn and then forget words up to seven times. Therefore, be persistent and accept that you are unlikely to be fluent after a couple of hours of practice. Language learning is all about delayed gratification where, with a good dose of perseverance, you will eventually find yourself communicating in this new language, which is a feeling of achievement like no other. If you can accept this challenge, you will have a better outlook towards learning languages.

Create Stronger Neural Networks

Take advantage of your brain’s natural psychological processes to embed language in your memory. This means, when you come across a new word or idea, try and link it to ANY word or idea you already know – the more ridiculous or rude, the more you will remember it.  I know it seems silly at first; and when I initially came across the idea of making associations to aid memory, I rejected it as cluttering the mind with too much unnecessary information. However, later on, I realised the real value of using previous learning to strengthen new neural connections. Rather than confusing the brain, associations do the opposite.

Make Language Learning into a Habit

Everyone knows that little and often wins the language learning race. However, instilling this in practice is a lot harder than it seems, despite all the best intentions in the world. The solution is to form this into a habit. Habits are easiest to keep if you do them at the same time every day. Maybe you could always do five minutes of Turkish while you eat your breakfast, or why not learn Turkish during your commute to university or work rather than listen to music? Then, it will become second nature that when you are commuting, you are also learning Turkish and so on. Identify concrete goals such as I will do one Turkish Online task every weekday as this is much more achievable than the open-ended ‘I will study more’. Another key way to encourage yourself to keep this habit is to make it convenient – keep your laptop handy to access the free resources on HandsonTurkish while you wait for the kettle to boil. If you are struggling to form this habit because of distractions, consider removing the obstacles. If you are tempted to listen to music on your commute instead, perhaps you should uninstall your music app.

I hope you find these hacks as useful as I have to cultivate long-lasting effective language learning habits.

Stephanie Scullion

The post Three Language Learning Hacks appeared first on HandsOnTurkish.

With greater flexibility and choice comes an increased need for students to be motivated towards greater productivity. Yet, without the structure and support of lectures, faculty staff and fellow students to hand, that is not always an easy thing to do for busy individuals with multiple commitments. Here are five tips that every student needs to take on board, to avoid becoming just another drop-out statistic.

Be organised

Campus-based student life is set around a structured timetable, and the smart distance learning student will follow the same model. Create a study calendar at the outset, factor in deadlines and milestones, and designate study time.

By being organised, you can set aside time that works around other commitments, for example after the kids are at school or in bed. Too many students merely commit to studying “as and when they get a chance,” which simply means it never happens.

Plan ahead

This means more than just being ready for exams and assessments – look at the “big picture” of your course syllabus, see what is coming and you will be able to make more effective use of your time.

Check in every day

These days, we are better connected than ever. If you are able to engage every day with friends on Facebook to discuss what you had for lunch or last night’s TV, then you are able to check in with your college or university too. It doesn’t have to be to do coursework even – just log in, check what’s happening and feel part of the scene, and you will be better equipped to, quite literally, “stay with the program.”

Don’t suffer in silence

Last, but certainly not least, remember this. Every student struggles to keep up from time to time. The difference between the success stories and the failures are those who do something about it.

If you find you are falling behind or struggling to cope, speak up.  One thing is for sure, your course instructors will understand, and they are in a position to help. Remember, they want you to succeed almost as much as you do yourself!

Text by Jackie Edwards

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Assessment and certification are both key components of language learning for any learner, but ever more so for those in the business and vocational domain, who wish to see their efforts converted into certificates which they can promote on their CVs or LinkedIn profiles. Employers, too, who are inundated with faultless CVs are increasingly eager to see evidence of achievements and skills that applicants claim to possess.

Certification 2.0

Udo Hennig recently attanded the Open Badges conference at Koblenz University. Returning with the latest information, it is becoming clear that we are entering a new wave of certification which, like many innovations, has its roots in the digital economy.

Trust and security have often been key issues in the world wide web and, as a result, solutions have been put forward on how to boost trust in the face of anonymity. Solutions include instant feedback and ratings from users.

Another option is something we use on other websites: SSL (Secure Socket Layer). This is a secure internet connection so that a website user knows that any data transferred between their computer and the server is secured. How do they know this? An icon appears in the URL browser, and a user can follow this link to a central site where the certification can be immediately validated.

The key aspect here is the immediate validation.

This same approach can be used for digital certification and assessment.

The OpenBadges framework is at the forefront. Click on the infographic to find out more:

We are proposing a system which incorporates two components of language learning:

1. Language learning log

The log will monitor the hours spent on the learning interface and the extent of the interactions undertaken. We will also integrate algorithms to assess whether the time spent was actually spent interactively … or whether the user simply logged in and made a cup of tea.

Interaction will be tracked securely from our servers. Users can track their progress and can see for themselves how many hours they have spent. They can then share this data with teachers or make the page publicly visible via a URL if they want potential employers to check their credentials.

2. Assessment results

Test results will also be made available to the user. Again, if the user wishes, they can make this available to the public via the same URL.

At this point the user can download a badge or request a certificate. Badges can be added to online profiles, such as Mozilla’s Backpack or LinkedIn’s AddToProfile with a direct URL to the evidence. The weight of the certificate will then be based on four things:

• The level achieved
• The evidence of participation in terms of hours and interaction
• The course descriptions and criteria
• The reputation of the developers of the course, for example, Pendragon Educational Publishers

All of these can be validated immediately via the URL. Let’s say a future employer is looking through a CV. They can check what grade the applicant received, the hours he spent and the course requirements – instantly.

With LinkedIn’s AddToProfile system users can add the information to their profile with one click:

Development

In our last meeting Jeroen and I sketched out how this will all work on our servers. So far, we have started developing the databases and Jeroen has tested initial php scripts to interact between the interface and the servers. This approach is compatible with the Open Badges framework.

The development is highly innovative and I would wager that we are the first to implement a digital badge for language learning – one which can be referenced directly to internationally recognised levels of attainment: the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the European Qualifications Framework.

For more questions about this, please feel free to contact the developers at:

info@handsonturkish.com

HandsOnTurkish is an EU-funded project from a consortium of publishers, programmers and language learning experts. Learn Turkish online or download the apps (available for iOS and Android).

The post Meeting: Turkish language assessment appeared first on HandsOnTurkish.

On Thursday, July 9th, the German partners of the HandsOnTurkish project, Mrs Beyhan Güler and Mr Udo Hennig, presented the school with 15 new headphones to enable the pupils to work better with the online course and use the recording facilities and role plays more effectively. The headsets were received by the Turkish teacher Frau Ilay and the head teacher Herr Marenbach.

The students reported that they were particularly impressed that they could download the course as an app to their smartphones, iPhone and iPads, which allows them to use the course without being connected to the internet.

HandsOnTurkish provides extensive information about doing business in Turkey, including advice and tips about Turkish business etiquette. This is particularly helpful to learners who have contacts to Turkish firms or wish to have contact with Turkish firms.

As a Turkish proverb says: Bir lisan, bir insan. Iki lisan, iki insan.

Whoever masters one language is one person, whoever masters two counts as two people.

The post Trialling HandsOnTurkish at the Goetheschule Germany appeared first on HandsOnTurkish.

If you are serious about learning a foreign language (especially with a modified Latin or Non-Latin alphabet) then it’s a good idea to install the keyboard onto your device, since typing is a good way to actively use your language skills.

One advantage of a touchscreen device is, of course, the freedom to change the keyboard layout. For any serious Turkish language learner, a Turkish keyboard is a necessary since the Turkish alphabet has a few extra letters that don’t appear on the traditional UK/US QWERTY keyboard.

How to quickly install the Turkish keyboard

1. Go to settings

2. Go to “General”, then tap “Language & Region”

3. Tap “Keyboards” > “Add new Keyboard”. 

At this point select the language you want to add from the pop-up window. The keyboard will then be added.

To select this keyboard, simply tap on the World symbol in the bottom left hand corner. This will then switch between the keyboards.

Changing between keyboards is very quick on an iPad or iPhone.

To delete a language keyboard again, simply go back the settings (as above) and then click on “Edit” in the top right hand corner.

Don’t forget …

If you want to learn Turkish on your iPad or iPhone, remember to download our free Turkish language apps from the iOS Appstore. Also, don’t forget, that if you enjoyed our free apps, make sure you rate them

HandsOnTurkish is a language learning course of Business Turkish, funded by the European Union and available online and on the appstores.

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Livecode is a multi-platform programming language, IDE and compiler that is capable of compiling to mobile devices. The following evaluation is based on Livecode versions 6.6.2 and 7.0 (dp 6).

Flexibility

LiveCode is a very flexible, adaptable programming language. Even though Livecode has a graphical user interface to create objects such as buttons and text fields, all elements can be also be created, modified and deleted from the programming code itself during runtime.

Because objects contain programming code as their editable property, even the program code itself can be changed by the program while running. This is very useful to create interactive objects on the basis of an XML specification, where not only content but the number of objects has to be adaptable.

Using the iOS externals (http://livecode.com/developers/guides/externals/) or modifying the LifeCode software itself by using the open source version, LiveCode can be extended with modules written in C or C++ that make (better) use of platform specific features that are not (yet) available from LiveCode itself.

The procedure of modifying the LiveCode open source version (which is required for adding unsupported functionality on Android devices) is difficult and largely undocumented. However, this is about to change soon, as LiveCode is working on a next generation of LiveCode that will make it much easier to add externals. This will not only make it possible to add your own functionality with basic programming skills, but it is also expected to lead to a rapid increase in the development of third-party plugins and in the frequency of LiveCode updates that integrate some of these plugins into the main LiveCode software.

Ease of Use

Livecode is advertised as a very easy language to program applications very quickly. In our own experience, we found this to be slightly deceiving, or at least a limited view. Yes, it is possible to make an app quickly in a drag-and drop style using the graphical interface of livecode. However, this is only true if you make a deterministic application that runs in only one screen resolution and aspect ratio. An app can be stretched to higher resolutions, but not reduced to lower resolutions. Programming your own screen-adaptation functionality is recommendable

The e-learning tool needs to load its contents from an XML file, to be able to add and change content easily without requiring any software programming. Furthermore, desktop computers and mobile devices come with numerous different screen resolutions and aspect ratios. Because of this required adaptability, we have found that it is not realistic to program the e-learning application using the graphical user interface of Livecode. Instead, we have found it more suitable to (re-)create all screen elements from code upon opening a page of the application. In this way, programming a graphical user interface with livecode is more similar to programming a webpage with html and PHP, where the placing of elements is done by specifying (relative) pixel locations and dimensions of objects.

Multi-Language Support

Livecode has been limited in the support for languages that contain characters different than the English alphabet. Currently, the use of Turkish language is possible in text fields as well as titles of objects and windows, using unicode. Since the release of Livecode version 7.0 in March 2014, there is full support of foreign languages, including right-to-left script. We have not tested this ourselves yet, though.

Reliability & Bugs

Livecode is updated frequently and there is an active community sharing solutions to problems. During my evaluation, a new Livecode release was published several times a week. However, most of these releases were not stable, thoroughly tested versions. A new release that is called “stable” was published much less often.

Note that as of LiveCode version 6.6.2 RC 4, image scaling defaults to lower quality. This might give disappointing results, but can easily be fixed. To get an acceptable quality of scaled images, the resizeQuality property of each image has to be changed to “good” or “best” instead of “normal”.

We have come across two unresolved bugs in Livecode that are worth mentioning to those who might consider using LiveCode in their own projects:

1) On Android, the initial orientation is not adjusted to the actual screen orientation (follow its progress on http://quality.runrev.com/show_bug.cgi?id=11146). After manually rotating the device and back, the orientation is corrected. We have thus far not found a workaround for this, but it’s a problem that the user of the application can easily self-correct.

2) When using automatic full screen stretching on Android, Livecode does not call the function that is needed to adapt to a different orientation (follow its progress on http://quality.runrev.com/show_bug.cgi?id=12023). The workaround for this is to simply not use the full-screen stretching mode, but instead work directly with the true resolution of the device and manually resize and relocate all screen elements according to screen size.

Platforms

For all platforms, the free version of Livecode requires to supply the source code of an application as well. This practically limits the usability of the free livecode version to making free software, since selling software together with its source code is usually not a viable option.

Desktop

Livecode compiles to Windows, Linux and Mac. We have tested it on windows only. When run on a desktop, a livecode app can work in a window as well as full screen. In full screen mode it hides the taskbar of windows even if the taskbar is set to stay on top.

Mobile

Livecode can be compiled for Android and iOS (iPhones and iPads). Playing sound and video needs to be programmed slightly different than for the desktop. This can be adaptively done by including both ways in one program and let the program choose the right one on the basis of whether the environment variable “the environment” is set to “mobile”. Some user interface controls might also have to be adapted to the mobile environment.

Because of the limited screen size of some mobile devices (especially phones), not all exercises might be possible to do on mobile devices.

Compiling to Android

Compiling from Livecode to Android can be done in Windows, Mac as well as Linux. It requires the installation of the Android SDK and the Java JDK. The Android SDK includes an Android emulator that allows testing an Android app on a Windows PC. However, the Android emulator runs very slow, causing a significant loss of programming time. Running the Android emulator with an Intel Atom architecture is faster. However, apps compiled with LiveCode can only run on the ARM architecture (this is a Livecode limitation). Testing on a real Android device is therefore highly preferable over using the Android emulator.

Compiling to iOS

The iOS externals possibility of LiveCode makes it possible to write new modules in C++ that make (better) use of iOS specific features.

Compiling to iOS (and compiling externals) can only be done on an Apple Mac computer. This is not different from programming for iOS with XCode, since that can also only be done with a Mac computer. Compiling to iOS cannot be done with the free version of livecode.

Compiling to Windows Mobile

Currently LiveCode cannot compile to Windows Mobile devices. However, this possibility might be added in the (near?) future: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1755283828/open-source-edition-of-livecode/posts/415346

Web

Unfortunately, it is currently not possible to compile Livecode to an application that can be used through a web browser. However, LiveCode has succeeded to get funding for the development of the delivery from LiveCode to HTML5. They expect this to be ready by the end of 2015.

Currently there is already a separate program/package called “Livecode Server”. This has to be installed on a web server and works similar to PHP. Programming with Livecode server is done in HTML in which script is inserted using  tags. Since it runs on the server, it relies on new page requests for user interaction, just like PHP.

Even though the syntax of Livecode Server is similar to the syntax of LiveCode, an application created with livecode cannot be converted to Livecode Server. It has to be recreated from scratch.

Until the HTML5 version of LiveCode is ready, programming in HTML and javascript directly is the only option to make an application that runs on the user’s own browser instead of on the server. Nowadays, javascript is sufficiently powerful and flexible to be able to implement the e-learning course Turkish. However, unless someone is using a public PC, downloading the standalone application compiled from livecode for their platform is always an option.

Alternatives to Livecode

There are other multi-platform application development tools, such as Phonegap and Titanium Appcelerator, that use HTML, CSS and Javascript.

The advantages are:

• The same code can be used to make a web application as well as mobile and desktop applications.
• No new programming language to learn, apart from the functions to access mobile features such as accelerometer, contact lists, etc.
• Easy to reuse code when switching to another javascript-based app development tool.

The disadvantages are:

• Slow response, due to the embedding of script that makes use of the java engine, which means extra computational load on the already limited processing- and battery power of a mobile device.
• Applications have the look and feel of a website rather than a true app. Several reviews of apps made with these tools report that it is easy to tell that the apps are made using Javascript/HTML.
• Difficulties reported with adapting the app size exactly to the screen size.
• Compatibility with different devices is poor

Conclusion

The paid version of Livecode provides the essential functionality that is needed to make desktop as well as mobile applications for the e-learning course Turkish. The free version is practically limited to non-commercial applications, because of its requirement to provide source code, and excludes deployment to iOS devices.

Livecode is not able to produce online (in-browser) applications, yet. For this, javascript is the most flexible option since this has advanced graphical capabilities. Furthermore, javascript runs entirely on a user’s own browser/computer and thus requires little server CPU load. An appropriate CMS (usually consisting of a mixture of HTML, PHP and javascript applets) is probably the most realistic option for making web applications.

Postscript

Since writing this review, LiveCode has made substantial progress with Version 7 which solved many bugs and issues, as addressed above. LiveCode has also had their HTML5 package kickstarted with a staggering investment of almost half a million euros. Both the project and the sum of money indicates that LiveCode will endure and has substantial backing.

The HandsOnTurkish team was recently interviewed by LiveCode,  read more here:

How to be hands on with LiveCode

Dr Jeroen F Lichtenauer is the HandsOnTurkish programmer for mobile app development. He was previously employed as a teacher and researcher in the Department of Computing in Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom. His fields of research include: translating tools for facilitating emotional awareness and mediation of human interaction into emotional intelligent computer software; robust automatic information extraction , -processing and -understanding in measurements of spontaneous situations.

The new EU-funded HandsOnTurkish project gives individuals and businesses the chance to acquire Turkish for vocational purposes and gain a better awareness of Turkish culture and business etiquette.

Businesses can access the free HandsOnTurkish eLearning course – available online or downloadable for iPads and smartphones via the Apple and Android Appstores.

The post LiveCode review for eLearning appeared first on HandsOnTurkish.

The topics covered included:

• A new exercise for role-plays, code-names karaoke step
• Revising the cultural and language notes for better usability
• Modifying exercises for Turkish script
• Improving the input of Turkish characters such as ş
• Testing facilities and much more.

The HandsOnTurkish course will be available online and on the appstores. It will be cross-platform, hence why the partners must test the materials on as many devices as possible.

Picture related!

The development of the Turkish language content continues alongside the programming development. As the work continues, more content will be released.

The partners have already developed demo versions of the online course and tested the apps.

Turkish is a language of growing importance! To start learning Turkish with our online course, click here!

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We have decided to take this one step further and allow learners to take part in a conversation.

They will hear speak A (usually a question or a prompt) and then the programme will automatically start recording and learners can respond with the answer that they had prepared in previous steps.

After recording all the lines, in a karaoke fashion, they will be able to listen back.

The difficulty of the exercise can be raised by removing the text, or displaying only a snippet of the text.

It is hoped that learners will eventually be able to download their Turkish conversation and share this with friends or indeed and examining body!

The post New Turkish role-play exercise appeared first on HandsOnTurkish.

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