French Crosswords

Crash

Rosetta McLeod

CRASH COURSE By Rosetta McLeod LINGUA FRANCA Recently I attended a national conference on 'The Micro and the Language Specialist' which attracted delegates not only from Britain but also from other European countries. The conference certainly brought home to me the significant role that the microcomputer is now playing in the teaching of languages, from helping young children to read, to encouraging older pupils and adults to master a foreign language. This month, then, Crash Course looks at two publishing houses who have produced programs concerned with language development. The English Language Tutors from Options international aim to teach the basics of the language to primary school children with language difficulties. The author, Edward Ingram, has a degree in Psychology and has had a great deal of teaching experience with children suffering from profound language disorders, such as aphasia and autism. The programs have been thoroughly field-tested in schools. The Options range also includes three foreign language tutors - French, Spanish and German - which have bee designed to help beginners learn the languages and also to provide a revision aid for exam students. The programs cost £8.95 each and come with a detailed information booklet. AVP Computing, too, whose programs featured in Jule Crash Course, have also issued some interesting modern languages programs. I particularly enjoyed the French Crosswords program, and the Dictation package, combining the computer program with audio input, is a worthy study aid. These two programs cost £10.00 each, while the Time programs for French, German, or Spanish cost only £6.00 each. For further information about any of these programs, contact: Options International, [redacted] AVP Computing, [redacted] FRENCH CROSSWORDS Doing crosswords is an enjoyable and painless way of extending your vocabulary, and for those learning French, this program should supply a useful language opportunity. Full instructions are given in French on the screen and in English in the accompanying notes. First you are given a choice of 15 crosswords, though these are not graded according to level of difficulty, and when the selection has been made, a grid appears on the screen surrounded by an alphanumeric border. You have to enter the co-ordinates of the first square of the word for which you want a clue, together with the letter H for 'horizontalement' (across) or V for 'verticalement' (down). You can then type in your answer which, if correct, will be displayed in its position on the grid. If wrong, you can keep trying, or ask for the clue for another word by pressing 0. You can also choose to see all the answers displayed on the grid by entering A, though you are advised to do this only after several genuine attempts to solve the crossword! I thoroughly enjoyed this program and found that much of my long forgotten French was coming back to me. COMMENTS Control keys: letter keys used as normal, though there is no facility for typing in accents Keyboard play: good Graphics: limited to the grid Use of colour: adequate