Hi Leguan,
I am late to this conversation but I am very much interested in what you describe right here. That is, uploading your list as a flashcard list but lacking the pinyin hint in the blank space where the word should be. Is it possible to filter that pinyin out in excel quickly without brute forcing the entire 23k list?
Thanks.
Hi Forrest,
Yes, it is certainly possible to convert any of my or Shun's flashcards to the following format:
Simplified Character Headword: The Chinese word to be tested (ex.
输入法)
Mandarin Pronunciation: The pinyin of the word to be tested (e.g.
shu1ru4fa3)
Definition: The contextual sentence that will be presented to prompt you to enter the Chinese Word to be tested (e.g.:
此___也适用于这个版本.
The input method also works with this version.
A flashcard test would be performed as follows:
1. The Definition above is presented to the user.
2. The user handwrites the Chinese characters for the missing word using the English sentence to know what Chinese word is missing in the Chinese sentence.
3. If the user needs a further hint they can press the show pinyin button and try again to write the Chinese word.
4. The Chinese word is shown to the user and the user self scores (or is scored by Pleco in the case Pleco's "Fill-in-the-blanks" testing mode is usesd)
A brute force conversion of the flashcards could be performed as follows:
a. Combine the Mandarin Pronunciation and Definition fields into one blob as the Definition field. e.g., in the example above the Definition field would be transformed from "The input method also works with this version." to "此shu1ru4fa3也适用于这版本.\nThe input method also works with this version."
b. Replace each pinyin syllable in the Definition field e.g. "shu1", etc. with an underbar character, etc. . e.g., in the example above the Definition field would be transformed from "此shu1ru4fa3也适用于这版本.\nThe input method also works with this version." to "此___也适用于这版本.\nThe input method also works with this version."
c. Remove the Chinese characters from the Mandarin Pronunciation field leaving just the pinyin. e.g., in the example above the Mandarin Pronunciation field would be transformed from "此shu1ru4fa3也适用于这版本." to "shu1ru4fa3".
It could also be done by modifying the original Excel VBA script to produce the above required output, or in the case of Shun's flashcard sets by modifying his Python scripts.
Before going further with this could you please confirm if the above format is what you are thinking of?
One point to bear in mind is that, as per my earlier response above, Pleco does not currently offer the facility to "type" Chinese Words as answers to flashcard tests. So manually scored handwriting, or Pleco's "Fill in the blank" testing (which also requires handwritten input) would still be the basis for inputing answers.
Another point to consider is that the value of the English and Chinese sentences may be less for cases where the Chinese word can be unabiguously translated from the English word without the full English and Chinese sentences as context.
Even bearing the above points in mind, given that conversion of the flashcards to the above format in my Excel spreadsheet does appear to be fairly straightforward, I would be happy to explore further the possiblity performing such a conversion if the above format and functionality is what you are looking for. If you would prefer to use Shun's flashcards, either adaptation of Shun's shared Python scripts or a separate brute force implementation in Python are also possible approaches to realize such a new format.
For further clarity, I have attached two screen shots showing how a flashcard in the above format would look in Pleco in the flashcard test (after showing the full card) and also in the flashcard editing screen - notice that since the English and Chinese sentences appear in the Defintion section, they cannot be shown separately to the user in this flashcard format.
By way of comparison and for your reference, I have also attached screen shots of the full card and editing sceen for the same flashcard in the original format.
Best regards,
leguan
UPDATE: After sending my reply above, I did implement The above described functionality in my VBA code and tried to imagine testing using this format. However, I didn't feel that this new format was as useful for me as the original format - I ended up spending a lot of time reading both sentences and trying to figure out what part or the English sentence was missing in the Chinese sentence. To be honest, it didn't seem to be a natural or productive way to practice Chinese word recall and writing.
I wonder, did I misunderstood the kind of flashcards and practice methodology you were thinking of?