The Student Room Group

Learning Foreign Languages with Pocket PC

Nowadays as everything is getting global and mobile the knowledge of foreign languages is becoming more and more important - a sign of an educated and cultivated person. You simply can't do without solid knowledge of a foreign language if you lead an active mobile life and communicate a lot. Businessmen, scientists, journalists or students - knowledge of foreign languages gives real freedom to everybody.

Studying foreign languages has always been very popular. Now it has also become incredibly simple and available. Mobile gadgets like Pocket PCs give us the possibility to do it literally on the go without wasting any extra time. This is why in I would like to discuss studying foreign languages, especially pronunciation, with the help of Pocket PCs.

Today there is plenty of software that can help you to learn foreign languages: audio flash cards, vocabulary builders, tons of dictionaries, e-books, various testing applications. We all know and even use some of them in our everyday life to learn how to read and write in a foreign language. This is not enough though for a good mastering of a foreign language. For people to understand what you are saying it should be phonetically correct. How can you master your pronunciation with your Pocket PC?

I found my solution by using VITO SoundExplorer. With my pocket PC and VITO SoundExplorer installed I can always learn foreign language just on the move. Actually SoundExplorer can do anything a regular mp3 does but I find its recording and some of the playback features extremely useful to master my pronunciation. What I do is simply listen to any audio book in SoundExplorer and at the same time read this text as an eBook following dictator's speech. This way I learn how to say foreign words accurately so that they sound as in the native language.

It is also a great experience with VITO SoundExplorer because when I don’t understand something I can always slow down the playback and make out every word the dictator is saying without any slightest quality loss. To do it I start SoundExplorer, and tap the “Change-Mode” button thrice until it switches to the “Dynamic Processing” window. Here you can change the playback speed and also don’t forget to check the “Voice Pitch Lock” box. Now you can have the dictator saying everything twice slow. It is really amazing!

But this is not everything I manage to get out of my VITO SoundExplorer. I decided to record myself speaking foreign language to check my pronunciation. Oh dear! That was something. The thing is SoundExplorer offers the CD quality mp3 recording and you hear your voice as it sounds in reality. I must tell you, listening to yourself recorded is something very different from what you are used to hearing when you speak with the friends. With the help of VITO SoundExplorer I can record my answers for a dialog in the places where you are supposed to answer.

Luckily, in VITO SoundExplorer there is an option to insert your own records where you like right in the track you are listening to. And it is very simple too (see picture 2). I open SoundExplorer, choose a soundtrack and press the red button at the bottom toolbar; next to it there appear three icons for corresponding record options: I can either erase the initial track and record myself instead (icon with a pen), add my record at the end of the track (last icon) or insert it right in the track (middle icon) the one I choose. This way I get a complete dialog with my own answers that I can listen to more carefully and watch my pronunciation.

As you can see all this makes VITO SoundExplorer a highly efficient tool for education. I advise you to try it out for mastering your own pronunciation and it will surely become your favorite tool for leaning new languages. VITO promises us fun and study in one. Actually, it becomes very serious after a few experiments: you won’t like to sound like this anymore, believe me. ;-)
Reply 1
I'll like it, if it is free.
Reply 2
Are you a salesman/woman?

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