41 Vocabulary Flashcards

 

 

One of the most important tasks in learning a new language is familiarity with basic vocabulary. BibleWorks makes it easy for you to learn and maintain your knowledge of the basic vocabulary of Biblical Greek and Hebrew. Using the Vocabulary Flashcard feature, you can easily review Greek and Hebrew vocabulary based on word frequency or even verse range. BibleWorks comes with review lists covering the entire Greek new Testament and Hebrew Old Testament. You can easily make your own flashcards, or you can use the ones provided with BibleWorks.

 

Opening the Flashcard Window

Loading a Flashcard Set for Review

Moving Through the List

Marking Words as Learned or Not Learned

Sorting the Word List

Filtering the Word List

Using Sound Files

Changing the Size of Flashcard Text

Automating the Display of Flashcards

Timing Sessions

Printing Flashcards and Review Sheets

Creating Flashcard Sets from Scratch

    Saving the Text - A Special Word of Caution

The Example Verse Finder

 

Opening the Flashcard Window

 

To open the Flashcard modules you can either select Tools | Vocabulary Flashcard Module from the main menu or click on the Flashcard Button . This will open the Window shown below.

 

Loading a Flashcard Set for Review

 

To load a flashcard set for review, click on the Flashcard Window File Menu and select "Open". You can also click on the label under the flashcard that displays the currently loaded set name ("Greek New Testament Vocabulary" by default). You will then be presented with a list of available modules. BibleWorks ships with four modules:

 

gntverbs.vrc

The Greek Strong Verb

hotverbs.vrc

The Regular Hebrew Verb

gntvoc.vrc

The Complete New Testament Greek Vocabulary

hotvoc.vrc

The Complete Old Testament Hebrew Vocabulary

 

Flashcard sets come in two types, compiled and uncompiled. Compiled sets have a .vrc extension. Uncompiled sets have a .vrt extension. More will be said about uncompiled sets later.

 

Once you have a flashcard set loaded, you can begin reviewing. You can cycle through the cards one at a time simply by clicking on the large left and right arrow buttons at the top of the flashcard window. The Greek/Hebrew and English meanings will be shown in alternating fashion. You can also move through the vocabulary list by clicking on entries in the list box to the left, which shows the entire list of words, sorted by frequency or alphabetically. Once the list has keyboard focus, you can also use the up and down arrow keys to navigate through the list.

 

Moving Through the List

You can cycle through the current list by clicking the  and  buttons. You can also use the scrollbars on the flashcard list box to find words, clicking on a word with the mouse to activate it. The arrow buttons move sequentially through the list, alternating Greek (or Hebrew) and English. You can also use the up, down, left, and right arrow keys on the keyboard.  The up and down keys cycle through alternating Greek (or Hebrew) words. The left and right arrows keep the language the same.

 

Marking Words as Learned or Not Learned

 

Once you have learned a word you can mark it as "learned" so it will not be displayed as you cycle through the cards. To mark a word as "learned" click on the  button. If you change your mind you can later click on the  ("not learned") button to mark it as "not learned." You will notice that "learned" words in the list box are grayed out.

 

To mark a consecutive group of words as "not learned," select the words in the word list box by clicking on the first word with the shift key depressed and then the last word with the shift key depressed. Then click on the "not learned" button and they will all be reset. You can also mark multiple words by holding down the CTRL key and clicking individual words with the mouse.

 

Sorting the Word List

 

You can sort the word list in one of five different ways:

 

·         Alphabetically

·         By Frequency of Occurrence

·         By Language

·         By Chapter

·         Randomly

 

Each word in the vocabulary list has associated with it a "chapter number," anticipating that some people may want to mark the chapter number of the chapter in their textbook which introduces a word. If no other number has been assigned, each word in the Greek NT and Hebrew OT lists has a default chapter number of 999. The procedure for assigning other chapter numbers is described later.

 

To sort the list, you can either choose Tool | Sort from the Flashcard menu or click on the column label at the top of  each column in the word list box. Note that you cannot see all the columns: use the horizontal scrollbar at the bottom of the list to look at different columns, or drag the vertical sizing bar to adjust the relative sizes of the flashcard window and the word list.

 

Filtering the Word List

 

You probably will want to work with a small subset of the total word list at a given time. You can use filtering parameters to determine how much of the list to focus on in a particular review session. To set filter options for the word list you are currently using, either choose Tools | Filter from the Flashcard menu or click on the "Word Total" label under the word list. Both will open up the Filter Window shown in the adjacent figure.

 

The Filter Window permits you to set several different kinds of filters and activate or deactivate them individually. These filter types are as follows:

 

·         Chapter Range
When you create your own word lists, you can assign a chapter number to each word. As stated previously, unless another number is assigned each word in the Greek NT and Hebrew OT list has a default chapter number of 999. Unless you have the "Chapter Range" checkbox checked, chapter numbers have no effect.

 

·         Word Frequency Range
You can enter a word frequency range if you want to study words within a particular range of frequencies. For example, if you enter 10 and 99999, only words that occur 10 or more times will be displayed in the word list. Unless you have the "Word Frequency Range" checkbox checked, word frequency numbers have no effect.

 

·         Part of Speech
You can also select one or more parts of speech to filter the list. These parts of speech depend on the text entered in the usage column of the word list, with the part of speech assumed to be indicated by the first letter in that column. You can also enter a string filter to filter on this column as well. This filter is useful for the Verb paradigm flashcard list because the usage column for that list has the morphology code for each entry. So, for example, if the GNT verbs list is loaded an entry of "viaa*" would display only indicative aorist active words.

 

·         Verse Range
You can use the Verse Range filter to limit the list to words used only in the range of verses specified. Just enter a beginning and ending verse, using full book, chapter and verse labels, using BibleWorks standard abbreviations. You can enter more than one range, using a semicolon as a separator.

·         Learned Status
You can also select the "Exclude Learned Words" checkbox if you want the word list to show only unlearned words.

 

These filters will not be applied until you click "Apply". Note that the filters don't actually remove any words from the list, but rather just hide them.

 

Using Sound Files

 

The Flashcard Module in BibleWorks 7 comes with extensive sound files for both Greek and Hebrew vocabulary words.

 

The Greek sound files cover the entire New Testament vocabulary in both Erasmian and Modern pronunciations (the pronunciation used is determined by the setting in the Options Window, accessed by choosing Tools | Options from the Flashcard Main Menu. The Greek is pronounced by John Schwandt, Fellow of Classical Languages at New St. Andrews College and Director of the National Biblical Greek Exam. For details see http://www.biblicalgreek.org/personaldescription.html.  John Schwandt also recorded the paradigm sound files that are with the BibleWorks Greek paradigms (choose Resources | Greek Grammars | Paradigms from the Main Menu).

 

The Hebrew sound files were done by Jan Verbruggen, of Westen Seminary. They cover the 2000 most frequent Hebrew words.

Jan Verbruggen also did the paradigm sound files that are with the BibleWorks Hebrew paradigms (choose Resources | Hebrew Grammars | Paradigms from the Main Menu).

 

You can replace the sound files that come with BibleWorks and even record your own. But make sure you back up the original files in the Init | Sounds directory  first (although you can easily restore them from the Setup Disks). We have made it amazingly easy to add your own sound files to each word in the default word lists. All you have to do, if your computer is equipped with a microphone, is click on the  button to begin recording. When you are finished click on the button again to stop recording. The sound file will then be played back automatically to give you instant feedback. This makes it very easy to record lots of files and keep trying until you get what you want. To play an already recorded word, just click on the  button.

 

Each word in the default word lists shipped with BibleWorks has a predefined sound file name, so you don't have to worry about the names. You can change the names, though, by double clicking on the word entry in the word list.

 

You can select Sound | Set Playback Volume and Sound | Set Record Volume to open system utilities to change play and record volumes.

 

Changing the Size of Flashcard Text

You can change the size of text in the flashcard window simply by clicking on the  and  buttons. The point size is changed one point for each click. Values are stored in the compiled flashcard file.

 

Automating the Display of Flashcards

If you click on the  button the flashcard display will cycle through the words in the word list automatically. The default is for a change every two seconds, but you can change this value by choosing Tools | Options from the Flashcard Menu.

 

Timing Sessions

 

The button just below the right corner of each flashcard displays a cumulative total of how long the currently loaded flashcard file has been in use. The number is saved in the compiled list after each session. You can reset the time by clicking on the time display or by choosing Tools | Reset Timer from the Flashcard Menu.

 

Printing Flashcards and Review Sheets

 

If you want to review your vocabulary when you are away from your computer, you may want to print the words so you can carry them with you.

 

 There are two options. The first option prints on one or more sheets with words and definitions in tabular format. To use this option select File | Print Review List from the Flashcard Menu.

 

The second option prints your vocabulary list in the form of flashcards - with Greek/Hebrew on one side and English on the other. To use this option, select File | Print Flash Cards from the Flashcard Menu. You will have to cut the flashcards yourself or buy perforated sheets. The default settings correspond to the size of most business cards, and this format is commonly available in perforated sheets. But you can just print out the sheets and cut them with a razor blade or pair of scissors.

 

One word of caution: both options print out the entire visible vocabulary list. You will need to set filter options to limit the words printed if you don't want a big pile of cards!

 

Creating Flashcard Sets from Scratch

 

If you want to create a completely new flashcard set from scratch, in an external editor create a table of information describing the card set and save this file with a .vrt extension. Then select File | Import File to import the text file and create a new compiled card set. An easy way to get started is to select File | Export File to export a currently loaded card set. It will be saved with a .vrt extension, but you can load it into any text editor. In fact it is mostly a tab-delimited list and loads very nicely into Excel or another spreadsheet.

 

A spreadsheet is also an ideal way to create vocabulary lists. The first portion of a card file might look like this in a spreadsheet. Note that when you import the list from BibleWorks the first two columns would be in English. You would just need to select those columns and change the font to BWGRKL.

 

VRT 6.001

Title: Greek New Testament Vocabulary     

Language: Greek

Comment: Copyright (c) 2003 BibleWorks, LLC

pa/j

pa/j( pa/sa( pa/n

G

1

1283

a 1283

all, every, all things

pas.wav

ouv

ouv

G

1

1623

b 1623

not, no

ou.wav

ga,r

ga,r

G

1

1041

c 1041

for

gar.wav

o[ti

o[ti

G

1

1296

c 1296

that, because, since

oti.wav

de,

de,

G

1

2792

c 2792

but, and

de.wav

kai,

kai,

G

1

9158

c 9158

and, even, also

kai.wav

o`

o`( h`( to,

G

1

19889

d 19889

the

o.wav

qeo,j

qeo,j( &ou/( o`

G

1

1317

n 1317

a god, God

qeos.wav

 

The table entries are defined as follows:

 

1.       Line one has the Flashcard Module Version number:
Enter "VRT 6.001".

2.       Line 2 has the Title to be displayed in the Flashcard Module:
Enter "Title:" followed by your own title.

3.       Line three has the language:
Enter "Language: Greek" or "Language: Hebrew"

4.       Line 4 has room for a comment:
Enter "Comment:" followed by whatever you want.

5.       Subsequent lines have the card entries, one entry per line. When saved for import to BibleWorks they must be tab-delimited. The columns are as follows:

 

o         Col 1: BibleWorks lemma - this should be spelled exactly as used in BibleWorks morphology versions or verse filtering will not work properly.

o         Col 2: The text to be displayed on the Greek/Hebrew side of the card.

o         Col 3: The language. Use "G" or "H" or "A" (for Aramaic).

o         Col 4: The chapter number: Enter any number you want.

o         Col 5: The frequency of occurrence. This is used for frequency sorting.

o         Col 6: Usage data: Enter a morphology code or codes followed by how often that form occurs. If you have more than one code/frequency separate them by a space. Only the first word in this list is used currently - for part of speech sorting. Use standard BNM/WTM codes or partial codes.

o         Col 7: The text to be displayed on the English side of the card.

o         Col 8: The default name for a sound file to be associated with the word. This needs to be a unique name.

 

Columns 2 and 7 can have formatting codes if you want to mix Greek/Hebrew and English. Otherwise Greek/Hebrew only and English only are assumed. The permitted codes (more may be added later) are:

 

o         <g> ... </g> for Greek text

o         <h> ... </h> for Hebrew text

o         <a> ... </a> for English text

o         <b> ... <b>  for Bold English text

o         <p> for a new paragraph

 

Saving the Text - A Special Word of Caution

 

You should use extreme caution in exporting text from your spreadsheet for use in BibleWorks. The BibleWorks Hebrew font uses the quote character ( " ) as a vowel. If you export your list to a tab-delimited text file, which is what BibleWorks requires, some spreadsheets, like Excel, will do funny things with quote characters. It will add quotes around text, convert single quotes to double quotes, and a few other things.

 

One option is to write your own export macro in Excel. Other than that the only work around that we have found is this:

 

1. Save your Excel Spreadsheet as an HTML page.

2. Read the HTML Page into Word.

3. Inside Word convert the table to text (with tabs between columns).

4. Save the document as a text file.

5. Rename it to a VRT file.

 

Always make backups of your data before your start a work session.

 

There may be other ways to do this but it works with current Microsoft Applications as of 2005.

 

The Example Verse Finder

 

Instructors often spend a lot of time searching through Scripture for example verses that illustrate grammatical points but have a limited vocabulary range. The BibleWorks Flashcard Utility has a feature that can help with the search for such verses.  It can be accessed by selecting  Tools | Example Finder from the Flashcard menu.

 

There are only two option settings to control how the example list is built. You can set the minimum number of list words that each verse must contain and the maximum number of non-list words that verses can contain. If you want to have each list contain only vocabulary list words, set the second parameter to zero.

 

It is important to understand that you must filter the vocabulary list before running the verse finder. It uses only the words that are in the current Flashcard list box.

 

There is also an option for exporting the resulting verse list to the Search Window. You can also just click on a word in the Example list to look it up in the Search Window.

 

Currently, the example finder will work only with the WTM (Hebrew) and BNM (Greek NT) versions, because the flashcard module is based on those two versions.