Jul
5
BYKI: “Before You Know It” language learning software
I heard about a language learning software that may be of interest to some of you. It’s called BYKI™ Deluxe by Transparent Language.
BYKI stands for Before You Know It, and it’s an interactive flashcard system. Personally, I’m not big on memorizing words off of flashcards but I know that for some people this an effective way to build vocabulary in a foreign language.
BYKI has two versions, BYKI Lite and BYKI Deluxe. The “lite” version is the free one. I downloaded BYKI Lite for Spanish and played around with it for a little bit. They’re not kidding when they call it “lite” because it truly is bare bones. There are only 17 vocabulary categories available covering basic verbs, food, animals and dining out, among other topics. That said, there is enough to work with in their free version to get a good feel for how the software works and to see it in action.
Here are the pros and cons of BYKI:
PROS
- Software interface is simple, easy to read and navigate (at least for Mac, which is what I use).
- There are 5 different learning modes that gradually take you up the ladder to incorporating the new words and phrases into your vocabulary.
- There is audio of a native speaker pronouncing every word or phrase.
- The $49.95 price for the Deluxe version seems reasonable, based on what it offers. You get access to more than 75 different vocabulary categories and you can create and customize your own personal lists of words.
- Additionally, the Deluxe software has a way for you to record your own voice and then graphically compare it to native pronunciation and supposedly help you to isolate and correct problem areas. I didn’t try out this version of the software so I can’t give you any impressions on how well that part of it works, but that capability sounds like a great idea.
- There are 64 different languages to choose from, so if you’d like to dabble in a little Albanian or Urdu, this software seems like just the ticket.
CONS
- The software, at least the “lite” version is ideal for raw beginners. If you are at an advanced beginner or intermediate level, you’re not going to get much out of this. But since it is free, you lose nothing by trying it out.
- The flashcards don’t point out the importance of gender in Spanish and don’t alert the user to the distinction between male and female made in Spanish. For example, the speaker for the Spanish BYKI is male. When he says statements like “Estoy cansado” or “Estoy contento” none of the flashcards point out that if the speaker were female, that the endings would be “cansada” and “contenta.” Not pointing this out to users of the software is a big mistake, particularly since the primary market for this product are English speakers and this type of gender-related change to adjectives does not exist in English.
Final verdict? Worth a look, particularly if you’re new to a language and need to practice basic vocabulary.
Free Version: Free BYKI™ Lite download by Transparent Language
Click on the photo below for the deluxe (paid) version:
July 7th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Thanks for finding this. I played with the lite version yesterday afternoon and it was good fun. Though for me there was another ‘con’; it’s an American programme and I had to struggle to remember to spell things in American and not British English!
I’ve just downloaded the full version and I now have 102 lists. (I downloaded a few extra from their website and these are free. You can download up to 12, I think). However, if anyone is going to do this, look at the list before you download, some of them don’t really fit their descriptions and not all have sound. Also, some of the better ones just wouldn’t download for me.
I have to agree the vocabulary is very basic even with the delux version. However, you can edit and add to the lists or make new ones and by the looks of things you can add sound and pictures to them, too. If that’s the case, I think this might be a really useful teaching aid and I’ll probably use it to teach English to my beginners as well as for learning Spanish.
I have a lot of self-study materials at home but I get bored with them after a while, so any novelty helps!
This programme won’t make you fluent but it’s a useful tool for revision and it’s great for picking up on spelling mistakes and reminding you where the accent goes (I always forget!).
The lists I paid for also show the feminine endings for the adjectives.
As to the advanced pronunciation aids, I can’t get my voice to match those types of graph in English, so I’ll leave that to somebody else to comment on. Also, I think I’ve rambled on enough!
July 7th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Wow, Sereda, this is very comprehensive review! I didn’t want to buy the Deluxe version since I knew there was a good chance I wouldn’t end up using it, but I’m glad that you did and posted your firsthand experience as to how it works. ¡Gracias!
August 13th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
[...] month I wrote about the BYKI (Before You Know It) language learning software. I downloaded the free version but there is a [...]
September 24th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Although I don’t use it regularly, another electronic flashcard system that I have tried and found to be very good is VTrain. It’s great for creating your own vocabulary decks, and it certainly helped my dyslexic daughter study for her science tests.
If anyone is interested, I’ve written a little bit about it and the ‘Leitner System’ upon which it is based here:
http://www.es-xchange.com/2008/09/24/flashcards/
September 25th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
@Graham: Thanks for the link!
Also, if anyone else has come upon a flashcard learning system that has worked for them, please share the details with us.
Gracias y saludos,
Eleena
August 18th, 2009 at 2:45 am
Greetings,
I’ve downloaded this software yesterday and, despite the fact that these are raw flashcards, I found it very useful and easy. I also have Rosetta Stone for Japanese, but it wasn’t very useful at the beginning, it’s a little boring and slow, this program is quick and it really helped me to get some vocabulary.
Of course, I’m not using this as my primary tool to learn Japanese, I just think it’s very useful to construct vocabulary and it’s not boring. You should try it.