{"id":378,"date":"2013-03-25T11:06:02","date_gmt":"2013-03-25T11:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/dcc\/?p=378"},"modified":"2013-04-11T17:58:15","modified_gmt":"2013-04-11T17:58:15","slug":"vocabulary-study-with-mnemosyne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/dcc\/2013\/03\/25\/vocabulary-study-with-mnemosyne\/","title":{"rendered":"Vocabulary Study with Mnemosyne"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an ideal world all vocabulary would be learned contextually, but when trying to learn Latin in a limited amount of time, we usually need flashcards. Guest writer Alex Lee (alexlee@uchicago.edu<\/a>) describes how to study the DCC Core Latin vocabulary<\/a> using a nifty piece of software called Mnemosyne, and the electronic flashcards he made for it using the DCC Latin core. Mnemosyne allows for targeted and adaptive use of the cards.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/h2>\n

\"alexlee<\/a>Learning any language involves acquiring a large amount of vocabulary. For this reason, I think it is very useful for Latin and Greek students to put time and effort into systematic vocabulary study.<\/p>\n

One effective way to accomplish this is with flash cards. These days, however, we have the additional option of using special software that removes much of the tedium from the process. More importantly, such software can calculate the best time to present cards for review (using a spaced-repetition algorithm). In this way words can be committed to long-term memory as efficiently as possible.<\/p>\n

The value of systematic vocabulary study?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One might reasonably question the benefits of systematic vocabulary study. Strong arguments have been made that vocabulary is better learned in context \u2013 that one really acquires new words through actual use. On this view, in which there is a clear distinction between the memorization of word definitions and the actual acquisition of those words, the memorization of vocabulary only helps insofar as it reduces the amount of time spent looking up words. The words thus memorized are not learned or acquired in the real sense, i.e., one is not able to understand and use these words directly and fluidly. Instead, one\u2019s understanding of the word is mediated by the definition that has been memorized.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m actually very sympathetic to this view, and I think that any word that has been memorized must be reinforced by actual use, in a meaningful context. Indeed, in the post-beginner stages, new words should be acquired through extensive reading. At the beginner level, however, and when the words in question are core vocabulary words<\/i>, the systematic study of these words will serve an important boot-strapping purpose. Students will expend less time and energy trying to figure out the meanings and forms of basic words, and they will be less overwhelmed in trying to understand the texts that they encounter. Because the memorized words appear so frequently, it shouldn\u2019t take long before the initial \u201cvocabulary-list understanding\u201d of each word is converted into actual acquisition.<\/p>\n

Mnemosyne<\/h2>\n

The software that I recommend to my students is called Mnemosyne<\/a>. It is free, it runs on multiple platforms (Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux), and it has a fairly simple interface.<\/p>\n

Mnemosyne keeps cards in a virtual deck. You can add new cards individually, or you can import them in bulk from some other source. Cards are organized according to tags. Each card can have multiple tags, and these tags can be hierarchical. For example, all DCC Latin Core Vocabulary cards begin with the tag CoreLatin<\/i>, and under this grouping they are tagged according to frequency (CoreLatin::1-200<\/i>, CoreLatin:201-500<\/i>, and CoreLatin::501-1000<\/i>) and semantic grouping (e.g. CoreLatin::Measurement<\/i>).<\/p>\n

In the remainder of this post I will describe how to set up and use Mnemosyne to study the DCC Latin Core Vocabulary. (There are similar software packages out there, such as Anki<\/a>, but I am not as familiar with them.)<\/p>\n

This is meant as a sort of quick start guide. For more details and explanation of other features, take a look at the Mnemosyne documentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Installation and setup<\/h2>\n

Go to the download page<\/a> and fetch the appropriate package for your platform. The installation procedures for Windows and Mac OS X are fairly typical. (Linux users, however, might need to do some additional work, but I assume they will be able to handle that.)<\/p>\n

Settings<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When you run the software for the first time, select the Configure Mnemosyne\u2026<\/b> item, which is located under the Settings <\/b>or Preferences <\/b>menu. The configuration options are divided among three tabs: General<\/i>, Card appearance<\/i>, and Sync server<\/i>. For options under General<\/i>, I use the following:<\/p>\n

\"settings_general\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I also recommend looking at the options under Card appearance<\/i> and setting a larger font.<\/p>\n

Import cards<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Now you want import the DCC Latin Core Vocabulary cards into your deck. Download the file dcc_core_latin.cards<\/i> online here<\/a>. In Mnemosyne, go to File \u2192 Import\u2026<\/b>, choose the file format \u201cMnemosyne 2.x *.cards files\u201d, and for the file itself click on the Browse <\/i>button and select the dcc_core_latin.cards<\/i> file that you downloaded.<\/p>\n

\"import\"<\/a>
\nNow that you have imported these cards, you can view them using the card browser. Go to Cards \u2192 Browse cards\u2026<\/b>. You should see something like this:<\/p>\n

\"card_browser\"<\/a>
\n(The filename in the box will look different, depending on where the downloaded file is located on your system.) Leave the additional tags blank, and press the OK button. An additional information window will pop up; you can just click OK again.<\/p>\n

Usage<\/h2>\n

Activating cards<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The tags that have been attached to the cards make it possible for you to mark only a subset of cards as \u201cactive\u201d at any given time. For example, go to Cards \u2192 (De)activate cards\u2026<\/b>, and in the right-side pane unselect everything except for 1-200<\/i>. Click OK.<\/p>\n

Now the software will only present you with cards with the tag CoreLatin::1-200<\/i>, which means that you are studying the cards for the words that fall in the top 200 in the frequency rankings. (There are actually more than 200 such cards, but that is because I have split a handful of entries from the list into multiple cards, e.g., longus -a -um<\/i> and long\u0113<\/i>.)<\/p>\n

In fact, there are twice as many cards as you might expect, because each word can be presented in two ways: for recognition (Latin to English) and for production (English to Latin). The relevant check-boxes are located in the upper left pane, within the item labeled Vocabulary<\/i>. Most people probably want to start with recognition only, so uncheck the Production<\/i> box for now.<\/p>\n

Learning new cards<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At this point the software will prompt you with a Latin entry in the upper box. Try to think of the correct answer and then click the \u201cShow answer\u201d button (you can also press spacebar or enter). The answer will be revealed in the lower box.<\/p>\n

Now you need to grade your response (you can click on the button or press the corresponding number key):<\/p>\n