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Flashcard Applications Online

I have put a lot of time into designing Flashcard Wizard, and though I designed the program for my own Interval Study, I spend more time fiddling with the application, adding features, and fixing bugs than I do conducting the Interval Study for which it was designed. Along the way, I became interested in finding other Flashcard applications on the net. This was primarily so that I could see what formats they allowed their word lists to be exported and imported from/to. I was rather dissapointed, as few of the applications I found were very good about exporting or importing anything.

However, there are some very useful programs out there, many of them smaller and faster than Flashcard Wizard will ever be and some have innovative features which take a different approach to flashcard and language stuy. Some of these applications may better meet the study needs for many students out there. Thus, I include what information I found during my surfing in the tables below and hope that students will find an application which works for them, even if it turns out not to be my own. I would encourage you to send emails to your favorite developer and encourage them to add export and import functions so that word lists can be easily exchanged between everyone's favorite study program. Also, whatever program you use, consider adding your word lists/files to the Set Library.

If anyone out there is aware of other flashcard programs that I have not included in this list, send me a note with the web info or download link and I'll post it. The more information you provide, the faster I can get it added to this page.

Note: I have just started this page, and testing various Flashcard applications so come back again soon for more info on the dozen or so other apps I have downloaded recently.


Macintosh Flashcard & Language Database Applications

Name (More Info)
WWW
Developer
Import?
Export?
Fool's Review
Notes
Drill http://tc.chem.vu.nl/~visser/drill Olivier Visser Tab Tab
Filo http://translate.homepage.dk/tools.htm netOversœtter ? ? ? Filemaker App
FishCard David Mueller Yes Yes Hypercard Stack
Flash'em http://www.boingo.com/dan/software/Flash-em.html Dan Crevier No No 3 fields, special paste
FlashWorks http://www.teknia.com Teknia Software No Tab
Japanese WordMage http://www.lavasoft.com/whatisjwm.html Lava Software ? ? ? Popular


Windows 95/98 Flashcard & Language Database Applications

Name
WWW
Developer
Import?
Export?
Fool's Review
Notes
Academic Flashcards http://www.memorize.com Settimo Systems Tab No Special paste
Interrogator http://perso.wanadoo.fr/frederic.buche Frédéric Buche No No Many fields
Total Recall Learning System http://www.zoft.com Zoran Sevarlic No Yes* *Export only available on CD Version
WordBlast http://www.Gale-Force.com/blastwords/ Gale-Force No No Still buggy


Drill

(Mac)
Developer: Olivier Visser
WWW: http://www.download.com
http://tc.chem.vu.nl/~visser/drill
Email: visser@chem.vu.nl
Version #: 1.2
App Size: 397K
License: Freeware
Released: June 1, 1997
Fool Says:
This is a small flashcard drilling program which has two fields for entering words in "Language 1" and "Language 2" You then "Drill" yourself by entering the second field. There is a unique way of showing you how many entries you get wrong. A yellow bar along the bottom shows correct entries by allowing the left side of the bar to go green, while a wrong entry increases a bar of red to the right side.

The program can export and import from/to tab-delimited files but I discovered that the program occasionally crashes when you import non-Roman scripts or files which contain 3 fields (it is designed for two). Its default behavior is to display the first and second entries in the first field and the third in the second field.

Drill is fast, small, and does what it claims to do with an innovative way of showing you your progress during a drill.

Filo

(Mac)
Developer: netOversœtter
WWW: http://translate.homepage.dk/tools.htm
http://www.sysinfo.dk/fmfilo.html
Download: http://members.xoom.com/ovrst/filoRT.sit.hqx
http://
www.download.com
Email: mail@netovrst.dk
info@sysinfo.dk
Version #: 6.1
App Size: 3.2MB
License: Freeware
Released: February 4, 1999
Fool's Says: NOT YET REVIEWED
"Filo! is a set of integrated language tools built with FileMaker Pro. Filo! includes five modules: Filo! Word, Filo! Book, Filo! Verb, Filo! Grammar and Filo! Writer." - Author Description.

This is not technically a flashcard program, but will act as a database for vocabulary so I included it.

From the University of Aarhus, Denmark. Their site http://translate.homepage.dk/ has links to many dictionary applications and translation related web sites. They also host some online dictionaries. The main site is in Danish so familiarity with a Scandinavian language is recommended.

Japanese
WordMage

(Mac)
Developer: Lava Software
WWW: http://www.lavasoft.com/jwmmacdemo.html
http://www.lavasoft.com/whatisjwm.html
Download: ftp://ftp.lavasoft.com/japanesewordmagedemo.hqx
ftp://ftp.lavasoft.com/jwmdemo.bin
http://www.download.com/
Email: service@lavasoft.com
Version #: 5.9
App Size: 5.3MB
License: Demo, Registration: $99
Released: May 5, 1999
Reviews: ZDNet: 5 Stars TuCows: 5 Cows
Fool's Says: NOT YET REVIEWED
Japanese WordMage is a Japanese study aid which offers nine highly integrated functions in one package:

* a multilingual wordprocessor
* a HTML web page editor / viewer
* various study systems (with authoring):

* interactive storybooks
* auto-revision flashcards
* 'Kanji Safari' multiplayer game
* reading, aural and visual comprehension

* a powerful Kanji reference dictionary
* a grammar library builder
* a text translation aid

- Author Description

See the PDF data sheet (http://www.lavasoft.com/jwmdatasheet.pdf)

FishCard

(Mac)
Developer: David Mueller
WWW:
Download:
Email: dsm42@iname.com
Version #: 2.21
App Size: 372K
License: Freeware
Released: 1999
Reviews: MacDownload 3 Mice
Fool's Says:
FishCard is a fairly simple but solid Hypercard stack which allows you to create, export or import (alternating lines with question and answer), and review two field flashcards. It is somewhat compatible with non-Roman scripts and you may set the fonts for the fields in the main opening window.

You have several options for customizing your study environment. You may control whether cards are flashed randomly or not, whether questions and answers are spoken (only useful for English),

While the stack serves well for basic two card flashing, it requires the Hypercard player, loads and quits very slowly, and isn't quite as smooth as some other products out there. This said, however, it is one of the few applications which even offers import or export options, and the author could easily improve the interface and features in a future release.

Flash'em

(Mac)
Developer: Dan Crevier
WWW: http://www.boingo.com/dan/software/Flash-em.html
Download: ftp://ftp.boingo.com/%2Fdan/Flash-em1.0.hqx
Email:
Version #: 1.0
App Size: 372K
License: Freeware
Released: 1993
Reviews:
Fool's Says:
This tiny application has almost no special features to speak of, but deserves a great rating. It is fast, stable, and is serves well as a flashcard application. It offers three fields (although can be used in study that only has two) and is fully compatible with non-Roman scripts. In fact, it comes with sample cards which include thousands of Japanese characters (including all the Heisig characters from his renowned kanji study book).

The program opens directly into the editing environment for cards. You may paste words into the program from MacJDict and set fonts for the three fields in the "Preferences" menu. You may also control whether the words flash randomly and in which direction. There is a "Goto" function to jump to a certain card number.

This program also allows the simultaneous editing of as many sets as you like (this is not possible in the majority of other flashcard programs, including my own Flashcard Wizard). Each one is opened in a new window.

Dan Crevier is currently on the MacOS Outlook Express team and is also the author of the freeware "MacJDict" Japanese Dictionary engine for the Macintosh. His "Flash'em" program has virtually no special features but its 3 fields and full compatability with non-Roman scripts along with stability and speed make it a useful program worthy of praise. You certainly can't beat the price.

FlashWorks

(Mac)
Developer: Teknia Software (Bill Mounce)
WWW: http://www.teknia.com/tekniasoftware/software/flashworks/flashmac.html
Download: http://ftp.teknia.com/public/mac/FlashWorks_1.1.hqx
Email: lbbg@teknia.com
Version #: 1.1
App Size: 860K
License: Freeware
Released: 1999
Reviews: MacDownload 4 Mice
Fool's Says:
This tiny application has almost no special features to speak of, but deserves a great rating. It is fast, stable, and is serves well as a flashcard application. It offers three fields (although can be used in study that only has two) and is fully compatible with non-Roman scripts. In fact, it comes with sample cards which include thousands of Japanese characters (including all the Heisig characters from his renowned kanji study book).

The program opens directly into the editing environment for cards. You may paste words into the program from MacJDict and set fonts for the three fields in the "Preferences" menu. You may also control whether the words flash randomly and in which direction. There is a "Goto" function to jump to a certain card number.

This program also allows the simultaneous editing of as many sets as you like (this is not possible in the majority of other flashcard programs, including my own Flashcard Wizard). Each one is opened in a new window.

Dan Crevier is currently on the MacOS Outlook Express team and is also the author of the freeware "MacJDict" Japanese Dictionary engine for the Macintosh.

Windows 95/98 Applications


Interrogator

(Win 95/98/NT?)
Developer: Frédéric Buche
WWW: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/frederic.buche
Download:
Email: frederic.buche@wanadoo.fr
Version #: 2.10
App Size:
License: Shareware ($15)
Released: 1999
Reviews:
Fool's Says:
Interrogator is an easy to use application which quizes users. It is one of the few applications which allows more than 2 fields, in fact, you can have up to 10 fields of information.

After a French install you may change the language to English as soon as you open Interrogator in the "Languages" menu. Interrogator packs almost all the commands into submenus of the "Admin" menu. Here you may make a new file, add/delete "topics", and add/delete "users". When creating a new file you pick a "topic" for the file which determines its location and catagory, give the file a name, and determine the number and names for the fields in the file. When this information is given you may edit the entries in a nice edit window.

To review the information the file is selected after choosing "Quiz me on..." from the "Quiz" menu. The quiz mode is only possible if you choose a "User" as scores from the quizes are saved for each user. If the file has more than 2 fields, you choose a field to act as the "Question" and one to act as the "Answer". Unlike most flashcard programs however, Interrogator does not seem to allow the simple "flashing" of words, as answers must be typed in and are graded by percentage (also accompanied by a cute sound for correct and incorrect). Finally, while non-Roman characters may be entered and displayed, they occasionally look odd when they entered as the answer in the quiz mode.

The program is short on features but is very fast, stable, and its ability to use more than 2 fields is one of its strongest points.

Academic Flashcards

(Win 95/98/NT4)
Developer: Settimo Systems
WWW:
Download:
Email:
Version #: 1.0.26
App Size:
License: Shareware ($15) 30 day trial, file size limit
Released:
Reviews:
Fool's Says:
Academic Flashcards is a very basic application designed in Visual Basic, but one which does what it needs to do. Unlike many applications, it is both easy to use and offers some more advanced editing features. The application also allows the import of tab-delimited databases. Academic Flashcard's own file format is also tab-delminited, and it seems as though only the final line being reserved for its own uses.

When opening the application there is a main menu offering choices between the main features including "Edit" and "Study" Going to Edit will open a new toolbar with the functions necessary to make a new file. Academic Flashcards supports 2-field flashcards only but allows the customization of fonts and colors and also the names of these fields. It also allows the pasting of database entries, even allowing you to choose the deliminiter.

Reviewing the cards through the "Study" option firsts open a configuration page where one can choose between files to study (if they are in the application folder), set which field to show first, set a timer, and modify other settings. If you have stopped flashcard study in the middle of study before it will ask if you wish to start from where you stopped last time. However, this is asked even when the file you are reviewing is not the same as you studied last. You may turn this setting off in the "Settings" item of the "Options" menu.

The program is stable, easy to use, and performs well for those who wish to use it for 2-field flashcard study. It works fine with non-Roman text input. The company also has an online site for downloading various sets of words.

BlastWords

(Win 95/98)
Developer: Gale-Force
WWW: http://www.Gale-Force.com
http://www.Gale-Force.com/blastwords/
Download: http://www.gale-force.com/blastwords/blast100.exe
Email: blastquestions@gale-force.com
Version #: 1.0
App Size: 450k (around 550 after installation)
License: Shareware ($18.95) 45 Days and Max 15 Entries
Released: 1997?
Reviews:
Fool's Says:
BlastWords uses what it claims are traditional advertising techniques to increase your learning rate through their flashcard study program. It colors the questions and answers on flashcards yellow and green, respectively, with these being put on a black background.

I was a bit confused when I opened the program, for when you select "New" from the "File" menu nothing happens. There is a blank desktop like space which later gets filled with the entries of your open set when you press the "Edit" button on the toolbar. In the edit mode you may edit your entries, sort them, search for them, and filter them according to their "Set" which apparently is comment or number you can enter to organize your entries. The filter seems to still be a little buggy and the find command also gives unusual responses. These may be quite useful in later versions.

There are also "Go!" and "Test" buttons which correspond to other two modes of the program. In "Go!" mode, you are flashed the words according to your chosen options (automatically flashing after a certain number of seconds) and you may speed the flashing up by pressing keys or the mouse button.

The test mode prompts you to enter the answers to questions, and even tells you when you are "close" to the actual answer.

There are no apparent problems with using something like "TwinBridge" to input Chinese characters but this program is limited to two-field sets which isn't very useful for languages such as Japanese and Chinese or others that might need three fields.

The program has a number of additions that interesting but of rather questionable use, such as a calculator, the option to change something into Spanish (not sure what), and the option to change commas into semi-colons? However, there are not any options for importing or exporting sets. The sets are saved as text files though, with long runs of spaces. With a little fiddling, BlastWord files can be made to work in other flashcard programs.

This program has the basic needed features and some promising sort, filter, and search features but there are still a lot of bugs and isn't clear if this is an application still in active development. Also, there is a less than comfortable combination of keystrokes and mouse clicks that makes the program a little awkward to use at times. The program however, will do nicely for simple flashcard needs.

Total Recall Learning System

(Win 95/98)
Developer: Zoran Sevarlic and Zoft Systems
WWW: http://www.zoft.com
Download:
Email: recall@zoft.com
Version #: 2.2a
App Size:
License: Shareware (29.95) 15-Day Trial uses the "annoying dialog" method, grows more annoying after 15th day
Released:
Reviews:
Fool's Says:
The Total Recall Learning System is one of the most complete, flexible, and yet esay to use flashcard study environment available in shareware form for the Windows operating system. It is fully documented, rich in features, as well as both stable and fast.

When one opens Total Recall, you are presented with a blue background and the menus, "File", "Study", "Play" "Options" and "Help". It should be noted first that the help files are extensive and fully hyperlinked for easy reference to other related documents. There are even help files for using help. It should be noted, however, that at no point during my use of Total Recall did I feel overwhelmed by options or features and I didn't need to consult the help files to understand the program.

The files in Total Recall are called "Subject Files" When creating new subject files you may set their fonts (Total Recall works very smoothly with non-Roman scripts and has a number of features to help with entering foreign language characters for other European languages). The editing environment includes browsing tools to easily browse through your entries, and a drop down menu with all entries in the file. If you type into the "Search" box, it will select those words which contain the characters you have searched for.

Once you have written your file, you may review and study it in a number of different way. There are two games to help you memorize the words, including a "Concentration" and "Discovery" game both of which I found to work in fairly similar ways. One must find the pairs that match and doing so reveals a picture hidden behind. I doubt this is a very effective method of learning material but it is fun.

The more useful methods of learning words are through their "Auto-Flash", "True-False", "Multiple Choice" and "Written Response" study methods. The auto-flash mode flashes the characters either manually or by a timer (or both) and you may control a number of characteristics associated with this study method. The true-false and multiple-choice methods take answers from other entries to create false answers and answers for the multiple choice test. These are not as effective (time-wise) as flashing but a great feature to include. There is finally a "Written Response" study method which requires a written answer, similar to the quiz features in other flashcard programs.

All of these study methods have various methods of customization and have their statistics saved. The program keeps track of difficult entries which it appears to mark as "Least-Known" These can then be studyied later on for better retention. You may also "reset" set statistics when you have not studied a set for a long time. After completing a study session, a bar graph of your results and previously logged results are displayed.

Overall the program is excellent. On the negative, I would only mention that there are no import features, no support for files which need 3 fields, and the price is a high $29. However, the features are well-implemented, and the program is easy to use.

More to come...this page has just started, I have over a dozen flashcard programs to enter for Mac alone...

  Software, web design, and other foolishness by Konrad Mitchell Lawson.
Updated: August 28, 2000
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